After all the stuff that happened last year, and the total disrespect that his administration has for these founding documents and ideas, I was curious how the page looks today.
Just like the animals on the farm, that were confused about the swine not keeping themselves to the rules that were set up... I went back to the wall of the barn, that is the White House, to look what was originally been written down. And lord and behold, George Orwells' criticism of authoritarian and totalitarian regimes holds up here too.
Let's just pick one example... an example that was particulairly damadging for the Trump administration, when suddenly peoples' rights were getting denied... people, that weren't citizens. I'm talking about the 5th amendment of the US constitution. This is the original text:
Fifth Amendment
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Now... it's pretty easy for the White House to copy paste this article... for this is what it actually is. But the current White House needs to freestyle to keep themselves from looking unlawfull. So things get rephrased, changed and...
The Fifth Amendment provides that citizens not be subject to criminal prosecution and punishment without due process. Citizens may not be tried on the same set of facts twice and are protected from self-incrimination (the right to remain silent). The amendment also establishes the power of eminent domain, ensuring that private property is not seized for public use without just compensation.
... So, we went from "people", to "citizens"... If you don't think about it that much, like the animals on the farm, you might think that there is nothing going on here. But in practise, this means that non-citizens, loose their right on US soil to due process. Meaning, they can be arbitrarily punished, just because they aren't citizens. This is a significant change to the text, and this interpretation has been dismissed by the supreme court on several occasions... but as the MAGA-cult will tell you: "Trump ha sempre ragione.". (Trump is always right)
On the White House page, the amendments also stop at number 10, which were the original 10 amendments written down in the Bill of Rights. For the other 17 amendments, I guess you'll have to look for other sources then the White House page. Which is kinda normal, for a movement that wants to reset the USA, to it's 18th century founding principles, including all the white supremacy that came along with it. For the big project, it's better that the animals on the farm, just forget certain parts of their history and the lessons that were learned from it.
It was about this time that the pigs suddenly moved into the farmhouse and took up their residence there. Again the animals seemed to remember that a resolution against this had been passed in the early days, and again Squealer was able to convince them that this was not the case. It was absolutely necessary, he said, that the pigs, who were the brains of the farm, should have a quiet place to work in. It was also more suited to the dignity of the Leader (for of late he had taken to speaking of Napoleon under the title of "Leader") to live in a house than in a mere sty. Nevertheless, some of the animals were disturbed when they heard that the pigs not only took their meals in the kitchen and used the drawing-room as a recreation room, but also slept in the beds. Boxer passed it off as usual with "Napoleon is always right!", but Clover, who thought she remembered a definite ruling against beds, went to the end of the barn and tried to puzzle out the Seven Commandments which were inscribed there. Finding herself unable to read more than individual letters, she fetched Muriel.
"Muriel," she said, "read me the Fourth Commandment. Does it not say something about never sleeping in a bed?" With some difficulty Muriel spelt it out.
"It says, 'No animal shall sleep in a bed with sheets,"' she announced finally.
Curiously enough, Clover had not remembered that the Fourth Commandment mentioned sheets; but as it was there on the wall, it must have done so.
“In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely.”
- Hunter S. Thompson, The Great Shark Hunt: Strange Tales from a Strange Time
What an enlightening post. I read every word, although I know Animal Farm very well. This is indeed the kind of subtle, yet crass way in which rights and promises are removed or explained away. If any media want to keep their credibility, they need to stop fawning and call this out. Great post.
