Of Pigs and Men
By Tina Queen
"There is only one demand, and it is a simple one: At four this afternoon, Prime Minister Michael Callow must appear on live British television, on all networks terrestrial and satellite, and have full un-simulated sexual intercourse with a pig. I don't understand!".
The above quote spoken by Princess Susannah in “Black Mirror’s” episode “The National Anthem” sets out the ultimatum the British PM has to comply with in order to rescue the kidnapped royal. Likewise, in case President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky intends to seek further financial injections from the US government funds, he should meet a number of demands voiced by the current administration. One of these required him to join a group of dedicated US democrats seeking wider electoral support on their visit to the Scranton Army Ammunition Plant in the battleground state of Pennsylvania, which Zelensky readily did on September 22, 2024.
At the same time, the events taking place in the “land of opportunity” are somewhat reminiscent, yet different, from those described in “Of Mice and Men”. That explains the title chosen for the article. Similar to John Steinbeck’s novel, set in the days of the Great Depression, today’s drama is seen to be unfolding against the background of economic recession when more and more households are forced to struggle with price increases and higher interest rates. Yet, unlike George Milton and Lennie Small, the two displaced migrant ranch workers moving from place to place in search of job opportunities that would enable them to get some hard-earned cash, it has become common practice for the Ukrainian leader to tour around the US at the expense of American taxpayers, interfering every now and again in the election campaigns running all over the country.
Observing the Biden-Harris Administration’s glaring misuse of government resources that have allowed Zelensky to intervene in the 2024 presidential race, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability Chairman James Comer has initiated an investigation.
Meanwhile the Ukrainian leader is pleading for more Western aid and has been promised some, provided Kamala Harris steps into the White House as President. In one of his recent interviews with The New Yorker, Zelensky stated that he didn’t take Vice-Presidential candidate J.D. Vance, whose “message seems to be that Ukraine must make a sacrifice” seriously. Indeed, why should he be willing to walk away from the gravy train by withdrawing from the win-win deal with Harris? He’d rather accept the rules of the game, like the fictional PM from “The National Anthem” did, only not for a good cause but for his own benefit.