John McCain is John of Gaunt to John Kelly’s Coriolanus. Guess which one loves his country more.
Tag Archives: Fascism
Kelly as Coriolanus? Dear God, No!
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Coriolanus, Donald Trump, Henry VI Part I, John Kelly, John McCain, popular rule, Richard II, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Nazis and the Classics
Do the classics make us better people. F. R. Leavis thinks so while Terry Eagleton disagrees and cites as an example concentration camp commandants who read Goethe.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged book burnings, Goethe, Nazis, Terry Eagleton, William Shakespeare Comments closed
A Fascist Novel & Immigration Policy
Raspail’s “Camp of Saints” is currently influencing White House policy in ways similar to how “Atlas Shrugged” has guided Speaker Paul Ryan. The novel needs to be taken seriously.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Atlas Shrugged, Ayn Rand, Camp of Saints, Donald Trump, German Freikorps soldiers, immigration policy, Jean Raspail, Steve Bannon Comments closed
Freikorps Fantasies and Trump’s Policies
David Brooks of “The New York Times” wonders whether Donald Trump’s policy preferences all come down to a preference for masculine hard over feminine soft. Klaus Theweleit’s study of fascist fantasies in the 1920’s describes such tendencies.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged emasculation anxieties, fascist fantasies, Freikorps, Klaus Theweleit, male fantasies, misogyny Comments closed
Why the Alt-Right Austen Takeover Will Fail
The alt-right has tried to appropriate Jane Austen. Their readings are alternately hilarious and horrifying.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged alt-right, Jane Austen, Mansfield Park, NEH, Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, William Bennet Comments closed
The “Buried Giant” of Fascism Stirs
Kazuo Ishiguro’s fantasy novel “The Buried Giant” works as a fairy tale parable of the shakiness of the European Union and the rise of rightwing parties.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Brexit, European Union, Kazuo Ishiguro, rightwing nationalism, rightwing parties, tribalism Comments closed
Trollope & Trump’s Willing Enablers
Trollope describes gentry who enable to a scandalous financier in “The Way We Live Now.” Parallels can be drawn with those members of the GOP who are reconciling with Donald Trump.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Anthony Trollope, Donald Trump, GOP, Presidential politics, Way We Live Now Comments closed
How Trump Is Changing the Discourse
Adam Gopnik of “New Yorker” and Andrew Sullivan of “New York” are very, very frightened by the rise of Trump. As they explain why, they quote Tom Stoppard, Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Plato.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, GOP, Huckleberry Finn, It Can't Happen Here, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jumpers, Lord of the Rings, Mark Twain, politics, Presidential politics, protofascism, Sinclair Lewis, Tom Stoppard Comments closed
Could Fascism Happen Here?
Sinclair Lewis’s “It Can’t Happen Here,” about the election of a fascist in a 1930s presidential election, seems suddenly relevant again. The novel turns 80-years-old this year.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged American values, Donald Trump, It Can't Happen Here, Marco Rubio, Sinclair Lewis, Ted Cruz Comments closed
