Tag Archives: 2016 presidential election

Toni Morrison Explains Hillary Hatred

By Robin Bates | Published: October 31, 2016

The rage against Hillary Clinton is probably the result of primal male fears. Toni Morrison captures such male fear and rage in her novel “Paradise.”

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Trump & Mac the Knife, 2 Escape Artists

By Robin Bates | Published: October 13, 2016

Donald Trump’s apparent ability to escape unscathed from gaffes and revelations that would sink any other campaign invites comparison with Mac the Knife, John Gay’s glamorous escape artist from “Beggar’s Opera.”

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Ahab Obsession and the Clintons

By Robin Bates | Published: October 11, 2016

The right wing’s obsession with the Clinton has prompted one pundit to invoke Ahab’s obsession with Moby Dick.

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Hillary Clinton Is Hermione Granger

By Robin Bates | Published: September 27, 2016

Hillary Clinton is like Hermione Granger in many ways, but there is one very important difference.

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You Never Did the Kenosha Kid

By Robin Bates | Published: September 21, 2016

An aide to Ohio governor John Kasich recently labeled Republican National Committee chair Reince Priebus a “Kenosha political operative.” This gives me an excuse to revisit Thomas Pynchon’s extended riff upon “the Kenosha Kid” in “Gravity’s Rainbow.”

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Trump’s Pleasure Dome (with Caves of Ice)

By Robin Bates | Published: September 18, 2016

Coleridge’s Kubla Khan and Donald Trump have a lot in common: both build sunny edifices that prove to be sterile at the core.

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Trump, “FDA Food Police,” & The Jungle

By Robin Bates | Published: September 15, 2016

Donald Trump yesterday floated a proposal to roll back food regulations. It’s worth remembering that such regulations were first put into place in large part because of a novel, Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle” (1906).

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For Hillary, Witch Hunts Never End

By Robin Bates | Published: September 14, 2016

Alexandra Petri of the Washington Post alludes to Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible” as she wonders whether Hillary Clinton should be subjected to witch trials to figure out what’s wrong with her.

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Twain Anticipated Trump’s Crazy Talk

By Robin Bates | Published: September 8, 2016

Donald Trump is popular with certain fans not despite but because of his outrageousness. Mark Twain has a humorous piece, “The Presidential Candidate,” that captures how much fun such outrageousness can be.

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