Monthly Archives: May 2019

Robert Mueller as Jane Bennet?!

By Robin Bates | Published: May 30, 2019

Friday In The Maltese Falcon, Sam Spade explains to femme fatale Bridget O’Shaughnessy why he’s arresting her for the murder of Miles Archer, even though he’s madly in love with her. “When a man’s partner is killed,” he says, “he’s supposed to do something about it.” That’s essentially what Robert Mueller was telling Congress in […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Mueller Is Our Delphic Oracle

By Robin Bates | Published: May 29, 2019

Thursday Robert Mueller resembles an oracle more and more with each passing day. By this I mean he makes elliptical pronouncements that frustrate people desiring a clearer statement. Trump critics hoped Mueller would forthrightly state that (a) yes, the president and his campaign encouraged and applauded Russia’s 2016 election attack and (b) that Trump has […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments closed

When Fiction Trumps Truth

By Robin Bates | Published: May 28, 2019

Wednesday Writing last week for the New York Times’ “What Is Power?” series, Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari argued that fiction is a more powerful force than truth in politics. I extend the discussion to literature (which Harari does not discuss) because of its reliance upon fabrication in the service of a higher understanding. Camus, […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments closed

Borges and the Impeachment Labyrinth

By Robin Bates | Published: May 27, 2019

Tuesday Last week I cited a passage from Jorge Luis Borges’s “Death and the Compass” when pondering whether we are overanalyzing Donald Trump. I turn to the same story today to address whether the Democrats are overcomplicating their response to the president’s behavior. While many commentators believe launching an impeachment inquiry is a no-brainer given […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

How Sleep the Brave

By Robin Bates | Published: May 26, 2019

Memorial Day Looking back over the blog, I’m surprised that I have never posted William Collins’s “How Sleep the Brave” on Memorial Day. According to Samuel Johnson’s Lives of the Poets, Collins “loved fairies, genii, giants, and monsters,” and we see him merging fantasy, nature imagery, and high-minded allegory in this tribute to fallen soldiers. […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Comments closed

C.S. Lewis’s Book of Revelation

By Robin Bates | Published: May 25, 2019

Spiritual Sunday C. S. Lewis’s Last Battle draws heavily on the the Book of Revelation, which has been furnishing the lectionary readings for the last few Sundays. Even though I didn’t know this when I read it as a child, it still struck me as too didactic, at times more allegory than adventure. Therefore, although […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Comments closed

Book Proximity Makes You Smart

By Robin Bates | Published: May 23, 2019

Friday Scientific American recently reported on a study claiming that a childhood surrounded by books makes you smarter, even if you don’t actually read them. According to Karen Hopkins, Australian researchers have proved that “growing up in a home with a sizable library enhances literacy, number sense and even technological know-how in later life.” Apparently this […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , | Comments closed

Brecht on the Rejection of Refugees

By Robin Bates | Published: May 22, 2019

 Thursday As some Americans harden their hearts against Central American immigrants, shrugging off the 2600+ children who have been separated from their parents, the six children who have died in (or immediately following) border patrol custody, and the cages in which people have been housed, we would do well to remember how in 1942 America […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , | Comments closed

Fathers & Sons: He Goes His Way, I Mine

By Robin Bates | Published: May 21, 2019

Wednesday The talk with my son that I described in Monday’s post reminded me of talks with my own father where I was sure he was wrong. I’ve since concluded that I was not as right as I thought I was and that our disagreements came down to our different life arcs. Our arguments came […]

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments closed