Animal Farm

The "fable," a satire on Stalinism and the Russian revolution, could easily have been adapted to fit the goings on in the U.S. since 2008. This includes how wonderfully sounding ideals could so easily be twisted to fit the needs of those who have risen to power. It is testimony to how propaganda could be used to maximum disadvantage to the masses.

Although I started to write this article 72 hours after President Obama was elected in 2008, I now wish that I had published it immediately. Having watched politics evolve over the past two years, I am firmly convinced that my assessments back then were far too correct.

So, for historical and other purposes, here are the Animal Farm commandments (with adaptations that seem to have fit the first two years of Obama's rule). I have also added 8th and 9th commandments. Please let me know if you agree or disagree with my proposed changes.

When reading what follows, realize that in the fable, it was the "pigs" (Napolean, in particular) who took control of the farm and were then removed by the animals (or "common folk"). On election day 2008, it was the "donkeys" (Obama and Pelosi, as a team) that took control of the country and in 2010 were kicked from "absolute" power.

Other symbolisms in the fable include the attack dogs (in the U.S., it's the Department of Homeland Security), the windmill (the economy), the sacrificial lambs (certain Democratic Party loyalists) and the masses of a naïve working class (U.S. citizens who blindly believed catchy political sloganisms in 2008).

If you aren't familiar with Animal Farm or if it's been too many years since you read it, I encourage you to read the book now. There is still too much danger associated with those in power. I'm not just talking about the "donkeys," but also the "elephants" that may just be restarting the fable with their own agenda.

I hope this brief treatise gets readers to pay lots of attention to politics, not only to events in Washington, but also at the state and local governmental levels. I hope that all people stay involved in politics and not let politicians rule with impunity. After all, as Lincoln noted in his Gettysburg address, "...that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."