Dear Editor:

Welcome to our real national zoo. The world of politics is filled with uncivilized, snarling, rapacious beasts that devour everything we hold dear.Aristotle said, "Man is a political animal." He was right. In ways he could never have imagined. What's more, today's political man is the most bestial of the herd. Just look around. Like untrained mutts raise their legs and urinate on everything we hold dear.I scarcely exaggerate. Even your humble dog behaves better than most political animals. Like just about all dogs, he is loyal. He protects, or at least tries to. He doesn't bite the hand that feeds him. He is man's best friend. Politicians, by and large, are none of the above.Aristotle would have fit in perfectly in today's political arena. He thought government could function best if we all behaved like bees. His ideal society was one in which every citizen-drone served the queen bee, and the queen bee ensured the survival of the hive and governed the issues of life and death with an unquestioned authority. Today's queen "B" Hillary Clinton would love nothing more.You see, Aristotle had a very low view of the average person. He thought they wouldn't or shouldn't be able to make their own decisions. He thought they should be told what to do. Trained like dumb animals.Our American founders knew better. They knew that men and women could band together for the common good as they did when they were declared their independence from King George. But the founders also knew that maintaining such a free democracy would be a challenge. And so as Benjamin Franklin left the long convention that had finally drafted a Constitution, he announced what kind of government had been created, but added a warning, "A republic if you can keep it."Well, the verdict is still out. Today, the free thinking men who founded and formed our great country have been replaced by the greedy ZOO creatures that now run wild through our streets, across our TV screens, and down and into our hallowed halls of government. Darwin was not only wrong. It appears he had it exactly backward.And the risk of losing our republic continues to grow along with the swelling of our government, our taxes, our illegal immigrant population, and our cultural degeneracy. Still, it's not the people of America who should be enslaved and caged up. It's our leaders.The American political system is a zoo. It's filled with an amazing array of animals: the squawking birds of the liberal aviary; the chatter-class of monkeys, disdainful of the average American citizen; the microscopic political slime molds of the capital reflecting pools and the tidal basin, the deceptively cute denizens of the progressive petting zoo, hand-fed with tax-dollars; and the big game, including elected elephants and jackasses, all too comfortable in their collegial preserve and unaware of the lethal hold of the Potomac Pox that has infected them.So join your trusty zookeeper, as we pass the cages of today's political beasts. But remember to obey the rules: Do not try to pet the animals. Although many appear domesticated, almost all have a worse bite than a week-old rattle snake; do not feed the animals.They receive far too many handouts, and most of their bellies are already stuffed with government pork; do not leave your valuables unattended. Many of these scavengers are experts at taking your hard-earned money and using it to feather their own nests. Be careful where you step these animals have different standards of hygiene, to say the least, and take great pleasure in leaving their droppings everywhere. Like rabbits, they are not above eating it and might expect the same of you. Be aware and enjoy the tour. And, don't stand too close to the cages.Joseph L. KopernaE. Broad St.,Tamaqua, Pa.