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Now, the Dodo had evolved on an island with no predators (for Biblical literalists - The Dodo was created in a puff of smoke on an island in which God had given it no predators, in order to have a great joke at the poor Dodo's expense later). And so the Dodo was rather ungainly and beautiful only to other Dodos. The Dodo never saw danger to itself on the island. So when man came by, the Dodo wandered up and said "Hello" (but, you know, in Dodo). A similar thing occurs today in Antartica when a ship of people lands among Emperor or Adelaide Penguins. Those penguins aren't afraid of people either - of course they say "Hello" in Penguin - which is closely related, but not exactly Dodo.
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However, unlike a fatty and unappetizing Penguin - the Dodo was delicious**. And, unlike a pampered group of tour ship passengers, restless to get back to cocktails, hot-tubs and massages - the first human visitors to these particular islands were hungry sailors whose last taste of fresh meat was months before..
And, thus are extinctions born. Had the Dodo evolved where there was a predator (or, for Biblical literalists - If God didn't hate the Dodos, which he created) they might have hightailed it away from the sailors. They might have ran to high ground or caves or the forest; rather than toddled out as if to say "Hey Fellas, look at the neat boat!"
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Now where oh where is the allegory in this story?
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Well, one could say that the American Political System is rather like a Dodo. Ungainly, prone to move in fits and starts - beautiful only to the People themselves. And when a ship full of corporate money sails up to shore, and throws out feed, the first few Dodos grow fat on the feed. So when the ships proliferate, the Dodos line up, squawking for handouts like pigs at the trough.
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And, thus is extinction born. Am I saying that the American Political system is threatened by money and lobbyists and the stupid teeny tiny brains of our elected Dodos - whose quest for personal enrichment comes at the expense of the entire race?
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Yes.
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Enjoy it while you can, because our elected Dodos just as evolved as those great giant birds of yore (or, for Biblical literalists - God is having a big joke at our expense). They believe that the American System is infallible and permanent - thus selling access to highest bidder is fine and threatens nothing. They don't see our system as a beautiful Dodo to be treasured, but as possible dinner to be tarted up with lipstick and falsies and sold to the biggest shipper. Worse (for us Dodos - not for them), once they stop being elected, they get to join the shippers and feast on the tarted up Dodo. It is not a prescription for preservation of the species.
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ps - I happen to love Dodos, both as an animal and as an metaphor as I truly admire the American System of Government - threatened though it might be.
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**The key to good cooking of the Dodo was, apparently, not to overcook it. The breast and belly were best cooked quickly per Dutch sailing manuals.