Monthly Archives: June 2018

Will Hollow Senators Stand Up to Trump?

If pro-choice Senate Republicans are like the hollow people described by Dante and T. S. Eliot, we can’t expect them to vote down an anti-abortion Supreme Court justice.

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Iago Trump Whispers Poison into Our Ears

Of all Shakespeare characters, Trump, driven by racial resentment and thriving on chaos, may most resemble Iago.

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Imagining the Poor as Breeders

Donald Trump has been using words like “infest” and “breeding” to dehumanize people of color. Swift’s Modest Proposer does the same.

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Mann on Nationalists’ Faustian Bargain

Thomas Mann’s “Doctor Faustus” shows what could happen in the U.S. if we continue to close our hearts to immigrants.

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Trump’s Faustian Bargain: Stop Caring

The bargain of Goethe’s Faust includes not caring about others. Trumpists are entering into that bargain with Trump’s child separation policy.

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What Really Happened with Goliath

In Robert Graves’s version of the David-Goliath story, confident righteousness can get you killed.

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Trump Policy Is Oliver Twist Redux

Dickens would have a field day with the Trump administration’s decision to separate children from their families.

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Hair That Jumps Up and Dances

Lucille Clifton’s “homage to my hair”lifts up those who have doubts about having kinky hair.

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Dante’s Place for GOP “Moderates”

Dante has a place in inferno for people like current Republicans “moderates” who talk a good game but refuse to stand up to Trump.

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