I dreamt that an evil magician had cast a spell on my country. For those who had fallen under his spell, anything he said became true. Most of us knew better - we could see right through him. But it was hard to mount an effective resistance, since those under his spell included many judges, governors and senators. Others, well aware of his trickery, simply gave up resisting it - or shrugged it off as unimportant. Still more played along for their own venal reasons. Then one of my friends fell under the magician's spell. I tried to reason with them, I pleaded, I begged them to shake off the enchantment - to no avail. With an increasing sense of horror, I eventually woke up, twitching in my bed.
