Con[gress]

Con artists come from diverse backgrounds. They may come from a broken home or the most stable and well-adjusted of families. They may have been afforded an excellent education, or very little. Such backgrounds do not set them apart.

Nor are they set apart by their country of origin, sexual preferences, political bent, religious beliefs, or ingrained social values. Actually, pertaining those last three, the con artist is a free spirit. His own personal welfare far outweighs any such considerations.

What does set con artists apart is the natural ability, often discovered at a very young age, to manipulate the people around them. Added to this is the fact that such manipulation leaves them without any feeling of guilt or remorse. On the contrary, it leaves them with an intense feeling of satisfaction - a particular glow that encourages them to continue manipulating to get whatever they want, regardless of the cost to the giver.

They have the innate ability to juggle several balls at once without missing a beat. They easily compartmentalize their different characters, victims, and on-going scams. Gifted with an exceptional memory, the con artist can access each current script with the speed of a computer; and if they cannot quite remember a fact (or lie), they can dance around the lapse so convincingly that you will seldom, if ever, notice.

A con artist will tell you everything and anything you want to hear - up to the point where you start asking pointed questions. These are the questions a con artist will not answer, or will answer with false information, or lull you with excuses.

Con artists scam because it gives them infinite pleasure to "put one over" on anyone who stands still long enough. The compulsion to scam is so strong that a con artist will produce a scam even if he/she gains no money out of it.

Con artists even scam each other!

Those controlling the American government have focused primarily on illusion. They back up their illusions with bribery, with payoffs, with secrecy, with manipulation of the laws, and with a dozen or so more scams and tricks such as the Federal Reserve and Enron-style, creative accounting. Whenever necessary, they revert to intimidation, threats, and violence. In terms of maintaining power and control, they have been phenomenally successful.