Former President Regan told Mikhail Gorbachev, ‘Trust but verify. So it goes with leadership claims today. Blind Trust is usually a prescription for disaster. We want to believe. If a leader makes a statement that we believe is true, we accept it at face value. We dot every I and cross every T, but leave more important things to chance. Cult devotees follow the leader without question. We crave a good story. A story that scratches us where we itch. Our social circles mirror our internal theories. When things go wrong, as they oftentimes will we have a Strawman to blame. Our failures are someone else’s fault. The deck was stacked against us. We are not part of the Club.

The leader says he alone can fix it. He certainly is confident in his ability. Perhaps he is the one we have been waiting for. No leader before him has ever gotten back to us. We have never risen to the top of the list. This President talks nonstop, and it is said that regular people can reach him on his cell phone. He says some distasteful things but he is accessible.

‘Pastor says I should speak to him before purchasing a new car,’ Chet noted. ‘He does not want us to take a vacation, saying that the money is needed for the church,’ Chet continued. ‘He drives a Lincoln Continental and recently returned with his wife from Hawaii, Chet observed. ‘First there are tithes of 10% and then special offerings that are 10% or more. I am having trouble paying my bills,’ Chet said somberly. ‘He preaches to me in his sermons that are thinly veiled and obvious who he is talking about,’ Chet said quietly. ‘Pastor notes that if we do not do what he says, we will get sick and fail financially,’ Chet said quizzically.

‘I am the Chosen One,’ the President said. ‘Follow me, and you will get tired of winning,’ the President continued. ‘Affordability is a myth,’ the President proclaimed. ‘I am not concerned about the price of bacon or eggs or milk; I am consumed by the building of the White House Ballroom,’ the President danced and sang. ‘I have come down from my throne to help you common people, and there may be one less doll for Christmas to facilitate my goals of world domination and Ballrooms,’ the President noted with a laugh. ‘If you go against me, I will destroy you and your kids to the fifth generation,’ the President’s eyes glowing with anger.