Monkey, monkey, who's got the monkey ...

In the recent past I have referred to George W. Bush as a monkey because not only did I end up disliking him but I held him in contempt. What the poor monkey did to deserve this abuse I do not know. I suppose the use of monkey to denigrate a human could in some sense show that we view the monkey as being 'a poor cousin' to a human. Perhaps, even by those who wax pale at the thought of Darwin.

While I cannot gather up any image in my mind where I would place the epithet of monkey upon Obama --I have other animals I use for Obama, and Rahm-baby also-- I do not consider the use of monkey as a racist slur. Which does not mean that all of those picking on the poor monkey, as I have done in the past, are not racists. But it also does not prove they are.

As for my animal picks for some of the current administration:

• For Obama I alternate between coyote and weasel depending upon whether I'm feeling inclined to approve or disapprove of something he's done. The coyote is an animal that appeals to me. It is intelligent. It is clever. It learns. It is a survivor. If you leave it alone it will probably leave you, the human, alone but will, if you are not very, very careful, get your chickens, your cat, your small dog. It will also get your large dog if that dog is stupid enough to be lured far enough away from the yard. For me the weasel represents just sneaky without any redeaming value.
• As for Rahm, I view him as a disgusting carrion-eating hyena. Which is probably insulting the hyena.
  

So instead of person-ifying the animal, am I animal-ifying the person?