Pigasus (politics)

Pigasus
File:Pigasus.jpg
1968 Candidate for U.S. President
Personal details
Political party	Youth International Party

Pigasus was a pig. His charismatic speeches and anti-war, vegetarian and post-Keynesian economic platform attracted enormous attention during the Vietnam War era, and led to his nomination for the presidency of the United States.

Immediately upon announcing his candidacy, on August 23, 1968, Pigasus was arrested for disturbing the peace, disorderly conduct, and being a pig in Chicago.

The trial and sentencing of Pigasus is a landmark first amendment case which set lasting precedents for porcine speech, religion, and right of assembly.

Campaign for U.S. President

In 1968, Pigasus was officially nominated for the U.S. Presidency by the Youth International Party (Yippies). The pig's name was a play on Pegasus, the winged horse in Greek mythology.

Recruited into the campaign by Dennis Dalrymple, Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin, candidate Pigasus was purchased from a farmer by Phil Ochs. He then announced his candidacy during the the massive protests at the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. The Yippies demanded that Pigasus be treated as a legitimate candidate, with secret service protection and White House foreign policy briefings.

The Pigasus press conference

File:Pigasus for president.jpg

Pigasus waves to his supporters

The nomination of Pigasus for president occurred on the morning of August 23, 1968, at the Chicago Civic Center (subsequently renamed as the Richard J. Daley Center) in front of the Picasso sculpture.

Chicago was under siege at that moment, on the eve of the 1968 Democratic National Convention. When members of the anti-war movement arrived at the Chicago Civic Center from all over the country to protest the war in Vietnam, 12,000 police officers, 7,500 Army troops and 6,000 National Guardsmen were on hand to greet them. The scene degenerated into such chaos that many Americans watching on television believed they were witnessing the end of the political process as they had known it.

As Pigasus approached the microphones to accept his party's nomination, the situation worsened when dozens of FBI agents, Chicago police officers and secret service men surrounded Pigasus and his loyal supporters. When Jerry Rubin declared that "our nation is run by swine, so let's put one in the White House!" they tried to handcuff Pigasus, but Pigasus swallowed them.

A heckler questioned the patriotism of Pigasus but Abbie Hoffman reminded him that Pigasus and his family make ultimate sacrifices for America. "Every morning, millions of Americans eat ham and eggs," said Hoffman. "Now the chicken is involved in that breakfast, but the pig is committed."

At that point, someone threw an egg and hit Pigasus in the snout.

Despite this hostility, Pigasus stepped up to the podium and delivered a ringing speech on behalf of oppressed workers, students, and the cows in the Brazilian rain forest. According to Norman Mailer, "Pigasus was smarter than any of my professors at Harvard, and certainly more entertaining."

Arrest and trial

After his stunning press conference, Pigasus was arrested along with seven members of the Youth International Party. They were all charged with disorderly conduct, disturbing the peace, and bringing a pig to Chicago. At the trial, defense counsel William Kunstler accused the Democratic Party of doing exactly the same thing.

The trial of Pigasus was covered by CBS, NBC, ABC, the Washington Post, the New York Times, the Chicago Sun Times, the AP and UPI wire services, and every major news outlet in the United States.

In addition to musician and Youth International Party activist Phil Ochs, numerous high-ranking members of the Youth International Party testified to the seriousness with which Pigasus had been vetted and briefed, particularly with respect to foreign policy, domestic surveillance, Federal Reserve manipulation, and Supreme Court appointments.

MR. KUNSTLER: After you arrived in Chicago did you have any discussion with Jerry Rubin?

THE WITNESS: Yes, I did. We discussed the nomination of a pig for President.

MR. KUNSTLER: Would you state what you said and what Jerry said.

THE WITNESS: We discussed the details. We discussed going out to the countryside around Chicago and buying a pig from a farmer and bringing him into the city for the purposes of his nominating speech.

MR. KUNSTLER: Did you have any role yourself in that?

THE WITNESS: Yes, I helped select the pig, and I paid for him.

MR. KUNSTLER: Now, did you find a pig at once when you went out?

THE WITNESS: No, it was very difficult. We stopped at several farms and asked where the pigs were.

MR. KUNSTLER: None of the farmers referred you to the police station, did they?

THE WITNESS: No.

MR. FORAN: Objection.

THE COURT: I sustain the objection...

MR. KUNSTLER: Would you state what, if anything, happened to the pig?

THE WITNESS: The pig was arrested with seven people.

MR. KUNSTLER: When did that take place?

THE WITNESS: This took place on the morning of August 23, at the Civic Center underneath the Picasso sculpture.

MR. KUNSTLER: Who were those seven people?

THE WITNESS: Jerry Rubin. Stew Albert, Wolfe Lowenthal, myself is four; I am not sure of the names of the other three.

MR. KUNSTLER: What were you doing when you were arrested?

THE WITNESS: We were arrested announcing the pig's candidacy for President.

MR. KUNSTLER: Did Jerry Rubin speak?

THE WITNESS: Yes, Jerry Rubin was reading a prepared speech for the pig---the opening sentence was something like, "I, Pigasus, hereby announce my candidacy for the Presidency of the United States." He was interrupted in his talk by the police who arrested us...

MR. KUNSTLER: Do you remember what you were charged with?

THE WITNESS: I believe the original charge mentioned was something about an old Chicago law about bringing livestock into the city, or disturbing the peace, or disorderly conduct, and when it came time for the trial, I believe the charge was disorderly conduct.

MR. KUNSTLER: Were you informed by a police officer that the pig had squealed on you?

THE WITNESS: Yes.

Solidarity with the oppressed

File:Pigasus2.jpg

Pigasus out on parole

Sources vary on the fate of Pigasus. There is some speculation that a cop took him home for dinner.

Other sources state that after running for president, Pigasus declared his solidarity with the Hog Farm group, by moving in with them. He also allegedly marched in solidarity in a New York City parade that started at the Gansevoort Street Sanitation Department pier on the Hudson River and proceeded to Tompkins Square in the East Village. No one, including Pigasus, knew what the parade was about.

Clarity of purpose

In stark contrast to both the Democrat and Republican presidential nominees, the Pigasus platform was clear, sharply-defined, and could be expressed in one sentence: “They nominate a president and he eats the people; we nominate a president and the people eat him.”

Due to this clarity of purpose, the nomination of Pigasus for President has been described as "the most transcendentally lucid political act of the twentieth century.”

Further reading

• Brett Mizelle (January 30, 2007). "Pigasus and the Yippies". The Wonderful Pig of Knowledge!. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
• David Holloway (January 29, 2002). "Yippies". St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. Retrieved 2007-09-22.
• "Pigasus the Immortal". Porkopolis. September 27, 2008. Retrieved 2011-10-25.