The Poet's Eye – 11/25/04

This whole whacky story is symbolic of our government today. It only works if you are a believer. It seems that George Bush has been touched by god in a similar cheesy way as Ms Duyser. Bush claims that when he was being young and foolish, like snorting lines off the bathroom sink at Kennebunkport, that Billy Graham himself laid hands on and made young George come to his spiritual senses.

In an interview this weekend in Los Angeles, Graham said he had no recollection of any pivotal moment like this and he doesn't think that he had anything to do with Bush's rebirth. My guess is that Karl Rove was more the agent of George's conversion than Billy Graham.

But once you see that image of the Virgin on your toasted cheese, you are never the same. You suddenly feel like you are on a mission from god. You take up the evangelical creed and vow to spread the good news to all the world and proselytize freedom and democracy and take back the Holy Land from the infidels. I think George really believes he saw Jesus' face, but it was more likely painted in the powdery residue on his coke mirror than on his grilled cheese sandwich.

This is all quaint, but it's not the reason why I draw a comparison between our government and the grilled cheese scam.

Casino officials flew to South Florida on Monday after the auction closed, so that they could take possession of the sandwich in person rather than risk having it shipped to ANTIGUA.

Antigua?

What we have here is obviously a promotional trick designed to hype an online/offshore casino. In other words, BushCo and the boys at GoldenPalace.com are trying to mask their respective commercial ends by wrapping them in the garb of religion and morality. Pro gamblers, like politicians, know that they are not appealing to the logic or reasoning of their marks, they are appealing to their deeper subconscious/religious side. Even if you know that the house has the edge, you are sucked in by your own desire to believe that you can win and be resurrected and save the middle east from paganism and one day all the world will be like Bill Bennett's idea of America. Greed served with a sauce of hypocrisy.

I don't know whose face you see on your grilled cheese sandwich. It's according to what you believe. If I saw Mohammed's face on a slab of bacon I would be surprised but not mystified. After all, the CIA is basing its whole Al Queda case on a fallafel with bin Laden's image on it that was discovered somewhere on the Afgan-Pakistani border. It will be on eBay soon.

In Mexico City I saw a museum exhibit that displayed the image of the Virgin, Guadalupe on a serape. It was obviously painted on, but millions of Mexican Catholics pray to it anyway. In magic and show business this is called the Willing Suspension of Disbelief. This means that you accept what you want to believe over the evidence that your senses observe. It's necessary in religion and gambling. It's also necessary in politics. Are you willing to bet your soul when you know the house always wins?

The Poet's Eye thinks it sees an image emerging on the Thanksgiving turkey. Can it be? Can it be? the golden brown effigy of Our Lady of the Turkey? Condi Rice?

Happy Thanksgiving. May all your apparitions be small ones (but hopefully worth at least $28,000 on eBay.)

•

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			The Poet's Eye commentary by Lightning Rod the Poets' Eye is skeptical without being cynical, innocent without being naive and critical without being judgmental


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			Mother of God on a Bun for release on 11-25-04 It's about as likely that free and fair elections will appear in Iraq by January as it is for the Virgin Mary to appear on a grilled cheese sandwich. Ooopps.
			Reports Heather Langan BLOOMBERG NEWS: A grilled-cheese sandwich said to bear the image of the Virgin Mary has been sold for $28,000 in an eBay auction, according to the online casino that bought it from a woman in Hollywood, Fla. The Virgin's face appeared to Diana Duyser, 52, after she took one bite of the sandwich, the GoldenPalace.com casino said in a statement on its Web site. That was 10 years ago, and since then she has kept the half of the sandwich in cotton balls in a clear plastic box next to her bed. The sandwich, made from processed American cheese on white bread, has remained free of mold, a phenomenon Duyser attributes to divine intervention. "I would like all people to know that I do believe that this is the Virgin Mary Mother of God," Duyser, a jewelry designer, was cited by the casino as saying. "That is my solemn belief. People ask me if I have had blessings since she has been in my home. I do feel I have, I have won $70,000 on different occasions at the casino near my house." This whole whacky story is symbolic of our government today. It only works if you are a believer. It seems that George Bush has been touched by god in a similar cheesy way as Ms Duyser. Bush claims that when he was being young and foolish, like snorting lines off the bathroom sink at Kennebunkport, that Billy Graham himself laid hands on and made young George come to his spiritual senses. In an interview this weekend in Los Angeles, Graham said he had no recollection of any pivotal moment like this and he doesn't think that he had anything to do with Bush's rebirth. My guess is that Karl Rove was more the agent of George's conversion than Billy Graham. But once you see that image of the Virgin on your toasted cheese, you are never the same. You suddenly feel like you are on a mission from god. You take up the evangelical creed and vow to spread the good news to all the world and proselytize freedom and democracy and take back the Holy Land from the infidels. I think George really believes he saw Jesus' face, but it was more likely painted in the powdery residue on his coke mirror than on his grilled cheese sandwich. This is all quaint, but it's not the reason why I draw a comparison between our government and the grilled cheese scam. Casino officials flew to South Florida on Monday after the auction closed, so that they could take possession of the sandwich in person rather than risk having it shipped to ANTIGUA. Antigua? What we have here is obviously a promotional trick designed to hype an online/offshore casino. In other words, BushCo and the boys at GoldenPalace.com are trying to mask their respective commercial ends by wrapping them in the garb of religion and morality. Pro gamblers, like politicians, know that they are not appealing to the logic or reasoning of their marks, they are appealing to their deeper subconscious/religious side. Even if you know that the house has the edge, you are sucked in by your own desire to believe that you can win and be resurrected and save the middle east from paganism and one day all the world will be like Bill Bennett's idea of America. Greed served with a sauce of hypocrisy. I don't know whose face you see on your grilled cheese sandwich. It's according to what you believe. If I saw Mohammed's face on a slab of bacon I would be surprised but not mystified. After all, the CIA is basing its whole Al Queda case on a fallafel with bin Laden's image on it that was discovered somewhere on the Afgan-Pakistani border. It will be on eBay soon. In Mexico City I saw a museum exhibit that displayed the image of the Virgin, Guadalupe on a serape. It was obviously painted on, but millions of Mexican Catholics pray to it anyway. In magic and show business this is called the Willing Suspension of Disbelief. This means that you accept what you want to believe over the evidence that your senses observe. It's necessary in religion and gambling. It's also necessary in politics. Are you willing to bet your soul when you know the house always wins? The Poet's Eye thinks it sees an image emerging on the Thanksgiving turkey. Can it be? Can it be? the golden brown effigy of Our Lady of the Turkey? Condi Rice? Happy Thanksgiving. May all your apparitions be small ones (but hopefully worth at least $28,000 on eBay.) • to comment on this article email Lightning Rod here