Author Archives: Robin Bates

Kamala Harris Can Be Our Jane Eyre

America’s relationship with Trump has been toxic. Jane Eyre shows us how to exit such relationships and Kamala Harris follows suit.

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Zelinsky–Hamlet or Henry V?

Ukraine president recently quoted Hamlet’s great soliloquy, which does in fact lay out his situation.

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Comstock and L. Leo as Hugo’s Javert

Billionaire and Catholic fanatic Leonard Leo wants to bring back the Comstock Act. In his relentlessness, think of him as Hugo’s Javert.

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Why Books Banned? They Change Lives

Good lit can function like social dynamite, but it’s dynamite that’s needed for growth. Parents against growth therefore attempt to ban them.

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The Tongue: A Restless, Poison-Filled Evil

James in his epistle warns about the damage caused by malicious tongues, a worthy caution. Jean Blewett agrees in her poem “Scandal.”

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Idaho Libraries & “My Brilliant Friend”

Idaho libraries are under attack and children must now have parent-signed waivers to use them. Thankfully this is not the case in Ferrante’s “My Brilliant Friend.”

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6 Impossible Trump Lies before Breakfast

Lewis Carroll’s White Queen challenges Alice to believe 6 impossible things before breakfast. Six is a bare minimum for Trump supporters.

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Bunyan on Fiction vs. Lying

Camus wrote that “fiction is the lie through which we tell the truth.” J.D. Vance has tried the same defense for his Haitian lies.

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Pushing Back against Cultural Genocide

Ukrainian poets are actively pushing against Russia’s attempts at cultural genocide. I feature one of the best today, Serhiy Zhadan.

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