Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a new character in the Pearls Before Swine comic strip: a very dim, incompetent elephant policeman named Officer Potus.

Officer Potus is on a quest to create peace between Zebra and the crocodiles who’ve been trying for years to kill and eat Zebra. Though he acts as if he’s impartial, the officer’s “solutions” usually end up asking Zebra to let the crocodiles eat PART of him, or to let the crocs eat one of Zebra’s relatives.

Now, it sure looks/sounds to me as if SOME kind of political metaphor is being attempted, though I’m not at all sure what it is… and I’m not sure if Stephan Pastis has it fully figured out, either.

“POTUS” is an acronym used for the President of the United States. Is Officer Potus supposed to represent Obama, then? But he’s an elephant, which is usually supposed to represent the Republicans.

Let’s see… Zebra is surrounded by stupid enemies who have been trying to kill him for years, and yet HE'S the one being pressured by others to compromise with the folks trying to kill him, and to give them what they want, in the name of peace.

So, is Zebra Israel? Are the crocodiles the Palestinian Arabs? Am I reading way too much into this?

Your thoughts, please?

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