Talismanic Incantations, Updated

Just shy of eight years ago, in July of 2017, I wrote a post called "Talismanic Incantations." The theme of the post was that there are certain words and phrases that, when used in legal and political discussions, were the equivalent of the magic words we used to believe in when we were children. The title of the post came from a marvelous line in the 9th Circuit Court's decision in the case "State of Hawaii v. Donald Trump, John Kelly, and Rex Tillerson," which struck down Der Furor's proposed ban on travel to the US from six majority Muslim nations:

"National Security is not a 'talismanic incantation' that, once invoked, can support any and all exercise of executive power under §1182(f)."

Sadly, National Security has, in fact, become a talismanic incantation, as it invokes protection and deflects accountability for government agencies which exceed their lawful authority on the most tenuous of grounds. And it led me to suggest a number of talismanic incantations useful to justify all manner of otherwise objectionable actions, among them:

Freedom - the quintessential American incantation, generally combined with the type of freedom desired;

 

Religious Freedom - invoked only when one's own religion is inconvenienced;

 

Choice - applies only to the option desired by the person delivering the incantation; its use does not imply that others should enjoy the same equality of choice;

 

Fake News - casts doubt on spells invoked by others with which one does not agree;

 

Keep and Bear Arms - invokes the mystical power of guns, but must be accompanied by the frenzied waving of a firearm;

 

Job-Killing - counters economic spells one cannot counter with statistics or logic;

 

Government Overreach - counters spells which invoke powers not aligned with one's political philosophy;

 

Obstructionist - damages an opponent's image by characterizing them as unable to cast spells of their own, able only to interfere with spells cast by others; and,

 

Racist and Sexist - employed when no other spell works, they have no particular power other than to cast aspersions on spells cast by one's opponents.

 That was in 2017. In 2025, several new talismanic incantations have entered the language:

National Emergency - this is probably the most powerful incantation after National Security, because its use allows the invocation of all sorts of other incantations of legally and constitutionally questionable authority;

Fraud, Waste, and Abuse - a very powerful incantation which invokes the ability, without the need for specific evidence, to make large sections of government vanish; 

 

Anti-Semitic - similar to the previous list's Racist and Sexist, equates criticism of the government of Israel to hatred of the Jewish people as a whole, thereby deflecting legitimate criticism of legally and morally questionable actions*; 

 

Open Borders - shifts blame for Congress's failure for decades to legislatively address the full range of immigration reform issues to illegal immigrants**; and,

 

DEI - a catchall incantation useful for stifling debate in situations where no other incantation works. 

A DOGE employee demonstrates the proper invocation

of the "Fraud, Waste, and Abuse" incantation.

There are also a few talismanic incantations that ordinary citizens can use without special training, among them:

Vote - an incantation, either written or verbal, which can, when cast in sufficient numbers, make undesirable officeholders disappear; 

Call - a verbal incantation used to impart knowledge of one's concerns to an elected official or a member of their staff and inform them of the likelihood of losing one's support if those concerns are ignored; 

Write - an incantation delivered in written form to impart knowledge of one's concerns to an elected official and, like Call, inform them of the likelihood of losing one's support if those concerns are ignored; and, 

Demonstrate - an incantation usually delivered by groups of individuals to remind elected officials of their duty or to call their attention to some undesirable condition.

The last four cost little and help to make your voice heard. And you don't need a magic wand ... only a telephone and writing materials.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* I know I'll take heat for this one from those who will claim (wrongly) that I am equating the actions of Israel to those of Hamas. Both sides claim the absolute right of vengeance for the misdeeds of the other. All I can do is remind them of the old adage that taking an eye for an eye only leaves everyone blind.

** Useful scapegoats who, after all, can't vote.