Sleight of Hand

Why would anyone believe a person they claim to be a liar in the first place?

Sleight of Hand

by C.A. Matthews

Sleight of Hand (from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary online)

1a : a cleverly executed trick or deception b : a conjuring trick requiring manual dexterity 2 a : skill and dexterity in conjuring tricks b : adroitness in deception

Synonyms: legerdemain, fakery, front, scam, swindle, cheating, duplicity, chicanery, fraud, subterfuge, trickery, hoax, feint, dupery, skulduggery

I’m always amazed how easily adult human beings are taken in by the masters of sleight of hand. I don’t mean just professional magicians and jugglers, either. I mean some seem to believe every word that comes out of Donald Trump’s mouth while simultaneously insisting they detest the man because he’s a big fat liar.

Now, that’s some Grade A legerdemain on Trump’s part! He not only fools his own followers and devotees, he fools his avowed enemies as well.

But why would anyone believe a person they claim to be a liar in the first place? Why get upset over toddler-like antics such as shouting matches and name-calling? And perhaps the biggest question, why do they spend so much time and energy whining about the antics of a big fat liar?

Could it be...could it really be so simple? Are Trump and company simply acting like magicians practicing sleight of hand tricks? His job for our true rulers (the billionaires/oligarchs) of our corrupt capitalist system is to keep us distracted from what’s really going on? You got to admit it, Trump does have the perfect qualifications for the job of Distractor-in-Chief.

First off, he’s a failed businessman who makes used car salespersons look good. Secondly, he was the “star” of a TV reality show for several years, so he actually knows how to follow a script and improvise from a prompt. (You do realize that reality TV shows are all scripted, don’t you? I’ve met people who think everything they watch on TV reflects reality. Those who can think for themselves and practice critical thinking skills know how far from the truth that is.)

So, here you have Trump in his role as Distractor-in-Chief recently getting into a televised knockdown, drag out fight with Mr. Zelensky. All of a sudden people are crying and wringing their hands over how “rude and obnoxious” Donald Trump was to that “brave, honorable man” Volodymyr Zelensky.

Remember: Everything on television is not real—and neither is Mr. Zelensky. Zelensky was also a professional actor and comedian for many years on Ukrainian television. Funny how people seem to have forgotten that, up until recent times, Zelensky’s most famous televised act was his playing the piano with his penis.

Here’s a little more background I gathered from a comment online about the unelected Ukrainian leader:

From an article by Peter Goodgame:

For three years, Volodymyr Zelensky has been America’s darling, a khaki clad symbol of defiance, pleading for billions in aid and NATO’s embrace amid Ukraine’s self-inflicted war.

To many well-meaning Americans, he’s a hero battling overwhelming odds. But behind the curated image lies a far uglier truth, a stooge comedian turned president, propped up by a criminal oligarch, surrounded by cronies, and presiding over a regime of corruption, repression, and broken promises.

This is the real Zelensky, an actor playing a role he’s woefully unfit for, which was proven yesterday in the Oval Office…

Let's start with Kvartal 95, The Oligarch’s Launchpad, Zelensky’s story starts not in politics but comedy.

Born in 1978 in Kryvyi Rih, he co-founded Studio Kvartal 95 in the 1990s with a group of friends that had hit it big by the 2000s, ironically their big breaks were made in Russia, performing in Russian and focusing on Russian and Ukrainian political and cultural life. The key to all this success? Ihor Kolomoisky, a billionaire ukrainian oligarch with a laundry list of crimes, including fraud, money laundering, and brutal violence.

Kolomoisky then owned 1+1, the TV network that handed Zelensky's Kvartal 95 a national platform starting in 2012. He didn’t just offer airtime. He bankrolled Zelensky with cash, security, and legal and criminal muscle. This wasn’t mentorship. It was a transaction. Kolomoisky, later sanctioned by the U.S. for “significant corruption,” saw Zelensky as a pawn in his game. By 2019, when Zelensky ran for president, Kolomoisky’s DNA was all over the campaign providing vehicles, lawyers, bodyguards, and a media blitz.

Zelensky was never an outsider; he was a "made man"

This is where it gets almost unbelievably bizzare. In 2015, Zelensky starred in "Servant of the People," a hit satire aired on Kolomoisky’s 1+1 channel, where he played a teacher turned president railing against corruption. Ukrainians, tired of the endemic corruption in the post Soviet state, lapped it up. Then, in 2018, his Kvartal 95 crew decided to turn fiction into reality, registering a political party called, you guessed it, "Servant of the People." It had absolutely no manifesto, no policies, and no plan of action, just a TV title and Zelensky’s face.

Running in 2019, Zelensky promised to end corruption and the Donbas civil war, which had erupted after the CIA backed Maidan Coup, winning in a landslide thanks to Kolomoisky’s media machine. An actor who played a president on TV was now remarkably in the real job…

Zelensky’s laughable anti-corruption pledge met reality in 2021 with the Pandora Papers. The leak revealed he and his inner circle,including Bakanov, were funneling cash to Kolomoisky with Zelensky stashing millions offshore.

Zelensky swore to end corruption and the Donbas war. Instead, he’s delivered more of both, a million lie dead, the free media crushed, billions stolen, languages and religion banned. This criminal is no hero. No Churchill. And no friend of America. He should be treated accordingly.

There you have it. Two television actors – Trump and Zelensky – pretending to be something they’re not, that is, “honorable men.” In reality (not on TV), they’re both working for billionaires/oligarchs. Trump works for Elon Musk and others, while Zelensky works primarily for Ihor Kolomoisky. I wrote about the situation in Urkaine three years ago, but I thought this blurb explained things well about what’s happening in Ukraine and Zelensky’s part in it.

(This story just in: Majority of Ukrainians Want Peace Talks To End War With Russia. The Gallup poll found that 52% of Ukrainians wanted talks. Trying to keep the proxy war going isn’t what the people of Ukraine want—so why do so many American neoliberals want even more people to suffer and die there? Only way I can explain it is that US government propaganda works.)

There’s no need for folks to get all upset and indignant over Trump’s “mistreatment” of Zelensky then. They’re both actors doing as they’re told, acting out a “script” they were given beforehand by their bosses (the billionaires/oligarchs) who have profited greatly from the proxy war at the expense of thousands of innocent lives. You have been tricked by masters of skulduggery.

So, what’s actually been happening in the world while we’ve been distracted by a reality TV star/failed businessman and a European comedian-actor who can play the piano with his penis? Quite a lot. Here are just a few stories that you probably haven’t seen or heard in the mainstream media that you should know:

UN Food Agency Says It Has 2 Weeks of Food Left in Gaza Amid Israeli Blockade https://truthout.org/articles/un-food-agency-says-it-has-2-weeks-of-food-left-in-gaza-amid-israeli-blockade/

Israel Cuts Electricity to Gaza, Ramping Up Collective Punishment https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/09/israel-cuts-electricity-to-gaza-ramping-up-collective-punishment/

Israel Wiped Out at Least 1,200 Entire Families in Gaza, Analysis Finds https://truthout.org/articles/israel-wiped-out-at-least-1200-entire-families-in-gaza-analysis-finds/

People in Gaza are being deliberately starved and ethnically cleansed by the Israelis. This, of course, goes against the ceasefire agreement signed by both parties. It also goes against all international humanitarian laws and is just immoral and plain wrong. But the propagandists for our billionaire rulers don’t want us to think too much about this horrific situation or else we might rise up and shut it down. So they use their sleight of hand tricks to make us focus on inconsequential things such as “The Donald and Volodymyr Show” instead. (It’s much more entertaining. Feel better?)

Don’t forget that Syria has now been transformed into a raging wildfire of civil war thanks to the Israeli invasion: Civil War Is Now Official' - Syria Erupts Into Worst Bloodshed Since Assad's Fall https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/civil-war-now-official-syria-erupts-worst-bloodshed-assads-fall

Over 1,300 Reported Killed, Mostly Civilians, as HTS Syrian Forces Attack, Execute Alawites https://news.antiwar.com/2025/03/08/over-1000-reported-killed-mostly-civilians-as-hts-syrian-forces-attack-alawites/

Billionaire-backed Global Citizen whitewashes Kagame’s invasion of DRC https://thegrayzone.substack.com/p/billionaire-backed-global-citizen

Rwanda invades Congo—mostly on the behest of powerful Western interests that want to get their hands on all the lovely mineral wealth in the eastern portion of the DRC. Think like the mostly white billionaires/oligarchs think for a moment. This is how they see the rest of us: “Who really cares what happens to Africans? We’re obscenely wealthy! We don’t care about the fate of brown-skinned Arabs in Gaza or Syria, so why would we care about what happens to black people in the Congo? There’s so much money to be made from all those minerals!”

Trump orders swathes of US forests to be cut down for timber https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/mar/03/trump-national-forest-executive-order

Closer to home, the US National Forests are now all up for the chop. Soon it will include all your favorite national parks as well, such as Yellowstone and Yosemite. And it won’t just be excessive logging—it’ll be mining and fracking and drilling for oil as well. Buffaloes and wolves make great designer rugs, too.

Hey! Don’t get bent out of shape! Billionaires don’t live on just fresh air and sunshine, you know…

They most certainly don’t need Canadian energy, either: Ontario slapping 25% surcharge on U.S.-bound electricity Monday, Ford says: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/ontario-electricity-surcharge-us-tariffs-ford-1.7476515

And there’s nothing quite as American as our First Amendment right to free speech… Unless you’re a Green Card holder from Algeria of Palestinian heritage married to an American with a baby on the way—then you no longer have this right (although by law you should): Columbia complicit in Trump arrest of student leader Mahmoud Khalil https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ali-abunimah/columbia-complicit-trump-arrest-student-leader-mahmoud-khalil

Now, I don’t want to be accused of saying that only Trump (a “Republican”) is using sleight of hand tactics to distract the public. Just this past week, Democrat Party members in Congress practiced some rather flamboyant legerdemain of their own. They made a big show out of dressing in bright pink and carrying signs into Trump’s State of the Union Address. One Democrat, a Representative Al Green from Texas, stood up and spoke out in protest during the middle of the president’s speech. For that action, he was escorted promptly out of the chamber.

Oh, dear! How rude! Aren’t you upset over this (if you’re a Trump fan) or aren’t you proud of Rep. Green (if you think the Blues and Reds aren’t on the same team)?

Lots of folks are acting like Al Green being escorted out of the chamber was the end of the world. They’re livid at how poorly Rep. Green was treated. Everyone is upset except for Green’s fellow Democrats oddly enough. When Rep. Green was brought up before Congress for breaking protocol the next day, ten members of his own “party” voted to censure him!

(Rep. Marcy Kaptur, my Congressmember, was one of the Dems to vote to censure Mr. Green. I’m not surprised. She’s a huge supporter of Israel, too.)

All the wearing of pink and the signage is just a hoax to make us think that the Dems are actually a different party from the Republicans. But when push comes to shove, apparently they’re not. They choose to side with Trump quite often. They’re working for the same billionaires as Trump is, after all. Their campaign war chests prove this to be true.

The Democrats are skilled in sleight of hand techniques such as the Ratchet Effect. They figure they can fool at least some of the people all of the time. It works. Two “forever feuding parties” make for a terrific distraction as to what’s really going on in the world… Like what’s happening to our Social Security? The Dems don’t seem to care as much about it as they do wearing pink to Trump’s address to Congress.

Luckily, my readers aren’t so easily fooled. We know that reality TV is fiction. We know there are plenty of “bad actors” in the world who have no qualms in deceiving us in order to make a fast buck—or several hundred billion.

Remember to keep your eyes open (and subscribe to this Substack). Ignore the distractions.

Power to the PEOPLE—not the billionaires!

Don’t get distracted! Read these related articles and other interesting links

Yes, Trump is vulgar. But the US global shakedown is the same one as ever https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/yes-trump-is-vulgar-but-the-us-global

Some Thoughts On Ukraine https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/some-thoughts-on-ukraine

Ukrainian nationalists commemorate Nazi collaborator https://www.rt.com/russia/613897-ukrainian-nationalists-commemorate-nazi-collaborator/

Trump's Demented Gaza Threats, And Other Notes From The Edge Of The Narrative Matrix https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/trumps-demented-gaza-threats-and

Arab leaders endorse Egypt's $53bn plan for Gaza reconstruction, reject forced displacement of Palestinians https://thecradle.co/articles/arab-leaders-endorse-egypts-53bn-plan-for-gaza-reconstruction-reject-forced-displacement-of-palestinians

A great protest song! War Isn't Murder by Jesse Wells https://peaceandplanetnews.org/war-isnt-murder/

The West's Support For Israel Is The #1 Threat To Free Speech https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/the-wests-support-for-israel-is-the

Speaking of Nationalism: New Policy Makes English the Official Language of the US https://austinkocher.substack.com/p/speaking-of-nationalism-new-policy

When Bigotry Backfires: A Receipt, a Reckoning, and the Everyday Cost of Anti-Immigrant Rhetoric https://austinkocher.substack.com/p/when-bigotry-backfires-a-receipt

Facebook Cybertruck Owners Group Copes With Relentless Mockery https://www.404media.co/email/5fe4b793-d6df-4a2d-a524-4cee94ff7d74/

If You Want To Fight The Machine, Don't Move To The Right https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/if-you-want-to-fight-the-machine

It's 1929 again https://julianmacfarlane.substack.com/p/its-1929-again

Why Israel Has No ‘Right to Exist’ https://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2019/03/15/why-israel-has-no-right-to-exist/

Trump Helps BlackRock Buy Panama Canal Ports To Weaken China https://popularresistance.org/trump-helps-blackrock-buy-panama-canal-ports-to-weaken-china/

Hoping for DOGE Transparency, The Intercept Publishes Musk’s Government Email https://truthout.org/articles/hoping-for-doge-transparency-the-intercept-publishes-musks-government-email/

To Effectively Fight Against Trump, You Have To Fight Against More Than Trump https://realleecamp.substack.com/p/to-effectively-fight-against-trump

BREAKING: DHS Detains Palestinian Student from Columbia Encampment, Advocates Say https://zeteo.com/p/breaking-dhs-detains-palestinian

Zionism Is Strangling Free Speech In Australia https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/zionism-is-strangling-free-speech

Even More Assaults On Free Speech To Silence Criticism Of Israel

Media Obscure Message of Oscar-Winning Documentary No Other Land https://fair.org/home/media-obscure-message-of-oscar-winning-documentary-no-other-land/

Palestine’s Indigenous History Pre-1948: The bride is beautiful, but she is married to another man. https://x.com/HandalaPali/status/1846204775500497226

The ISS Has a Hygiene Problem, But It's Not What You'd Think https://www.sciencealert.com/the-iss-has-a-hygiene-problem-but-its-not-what-youd-think

Killing a Nuclear Watchdog’s Independence Threatens Disaster https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/killing-a-nuclear-watchdogs-independence-threatens-disaster/