Monthly Archives: December 2019

How Trump’s GOP Enforces Loyalty

By Robin Bates | Published: December 10, 2019

Trump’s GOP has ways of disciplining members who depart from their leader’s talking points. Koestler’s “Darkness at Noon” explains how such pressure works.

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Trump as Sadist

By Robin Bates | Published: December 9, 2019

Thinking of Trump as a sadist helps us better understand some of his initiatives. It’s therefore worth looking at Sade’s novels.

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What Baldwin Would Make of Barr

By Robin Bates | Published: December 8, 2019

William Barr’s recent comments to police officers reveal an attitude toward people of color that James Baldwin would recognize instantly.

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With the Second Coming, Peaceful Animals

By Robin Bates | Published: December 7, 2019

Spiritual Sunday Today’s gorgeous Old Testament reading (Isaiah 11:1-10), which captures the spirit of messianic hope, has images that Milton uses in Paradise Lost. While Isaiah is envisioning the coming of the Messiah, however, Milton is looking back to the world before the fall. It can be again in the future asit once was in […]

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Chaucer & a Trump-Enabling GOP

By Robin Bates | Published: December 5, 2019

For a story that captures GOP readiness to believe all that Trump says, there’s Chaucer’s “Merchant’s Tale.”

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GOP’s Best Case: We’re All Mad

By Robin Bates | Published: December 4, 2019

Two literary allusions by a Trump defender in yesterday’s impeachment hearings don’t bode well for the president.

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What Is This Thing Called Literature?

By Robin Bates | Published: December 4, 2019

Arthur Krystal battles those who don’t want to distinguish between greater and lesser literature. He has a point.

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Wycherley Describes Self-Deceiving GOP

By Robin Bates | Published: December 2, 2019

In Wycherley’s “Country Wife,” self deception defines the society. The parallels with Trump’s GOP are startling.

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Doubling Down on Trump’s Lies

By Robin Bates | Published: December 1, 2019

Defending Trump’s lies is like covering for Sam Spade’s implausible story in “Maltese Falcon.”

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