Even though I've always been a voracious reader, I struggled with reading assigned classics when I was in school. Two books, however, did stand out: East of Eden and Animal Farm. Now, a couple of decades later, I'm feeling a sense of déjà vu, as author Robert Ross Williams' satire, Rainbow Farm 2.0: Impeachment and Virus, is somewhat reminiscent of the latter classic.
Covering events in the political realm during the time of the previous administration, this yarn casts farm animals in the roles of prominent players in the United States, including - using their roles at that time - future President Biden, Hillary Clinton, Speaker Pelosi, Senator McConnell, Senator Sanders, President Trump, and many others. Even Russia's President, Vladimir Putin, makes an appearance, as do news personalities Rachel Maddow and Megyn Kelly. As indicated in the title, this short read very loosely re-enacts the recent impeachment proceedings and coronavirus snafu. Rainbow Farm 2.0 is less of a linear story and more of a series of events taking place. Two of the events are interviews: first, Irish Setter Regan Smelly (Megyn Kelly's stand-in) speaks with Sly, the fox (Putin), and a few chapters later, Ellie Madcow (Rachel Maddow's exemplar) has a sit-down with WOO, the wise old owl (Newt Gingrich's proxy).
I really admired Williams' cleverness in both casting and in illustrating certain concepts. Pete, standing in for Donald Trump, is a cocky peacock, as is fitting, while Bernie Sanders is portrayed by Old Red, an aged bear. Old turtle Hitch wears Mitch McConnell's shell, and hound Sniffy takes on Joe Biden's role. Appropriately, a fox plays Vladimir Putin. There's also a bull named Justice - and I'm not sure if he's supposed to stand for the concept of justice, a specific person in the political arena, or the Supreme Court - playing the ringleader in a series of games involving the left attempting to take Pete down. During the impeachment proceedings, actual peaches in a basket - albeit rotten ones - are toted to the senate, and in a later chapter, many of the Donkeys are literally drained from a smelly swamp. My favorte section was Chapter Four, "Assassination," wherein Jake and Sam - I'm not sure who either of them is supposed to be - attempt to assassinate Pete with a plan that gives meaning to the phrase, "The best laid plans of mice and men (in this case, a coral snake and a brown bear, respectively) often go awry." The volume as a whole also appealed to my not-quite-grown-up side with a few images that further illustrated the ludicrousness of the action; while the drawing style wasn't my favorite, I did appreciate the pictures, which were certainly worth a thousand words or more.
Before starting this book, I did read the two available OBC reviews of Rainbow Farm (the first book), and the reviewers noted that the book seemed to criticize both conservatives and liberals. Well, in this book, the gloves came off, and the author came out swinging at those on the left. Sly and WOO, in particular, worked hard at excusing Pete's many mishaps, while bat Fancy - Nancy Pelosi's representative - and her cronies were portrayed as Anti-Peters on a witch hunt. As a left-leaning moderate, I felt like the satire deviated a little further from the facts than I was expecting. Even so, I have thick skin, so I was able to put my personal feelings aside and enjoy the pseudo-narrative. In fact, I've already purchased book one, which I also intend to read, though I will note that reading the first book is not necessary before partaking of the second book, as I had no problems following along with 2.0.
One thing I could not excuse, however, was the lack of editing. Rainbow Farm 2.0 was riddled with punctuation errors, hyphen mishaps, capitalization missteps, and verb tense issues. I'm not sure if the author has a third book in mind, considering "Pete's" not-so-grand exit, but I would still encourage him to have this tome properly edited and put out a revised edition as well as have any future books professionally combed. After waffling between a score of two and three for a long time, I decided to rate this book 3 out of 4 stars because it is entertaining enough and succeeds in its literary aim. This publication does have a few instances of profanity, but there's no sexual content in it. Therefore, I recommend this text for right-wing readers and fans of political satire. Leftist bibliophiles who aren't easily alienated may also enjoy it.
- Robert Ross Williams, Rainbow Farm 2.0: Impeachment and VirusAnd whoever wins the next election as CoF, give him your support. We are all Rainbow Farm animals. God bless the Rainbow Farm.
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Rainbow Farm 2.0 Impeachment and Virus
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