Friday I somehow missed this New Yorker article on Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein when it appeared last year in observance of the novel’s 200th anniversary. Although anti-Trump pundits have frequently cited Frankenstein in recent years to capture how the GOP created a monster it couldn’t control (see here and here), Joan Lepore argues that the novel […]
Tag Archives: GOP
Another Way Frankenstein Is Relevant
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, Edmund Burke, Frankenstein, Mary Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, Revolution, William Godwyn Comments closed
Brecht’s Warning for Democracies
Monday In an important debut article for the Atlantic, former New Yorker writer George Packer mentions a Bertolt Brecht poem to illustrate the threat that the GOP currently poses to democracy. The article contends that Donald Trump is the logical culmination of the Republicans’ 50-year descent into an authoritarian, white identitarian party. According to Packer, the descent […]
The GOP & Trump’s Siren Call
Tuesday The other day I detected one of Atlantic’s excellent columnists misusing a classical analogy. I flag Ed Kilgore, not to show off, but because the analogy is indeed enlightening if used correctly. See if you can find the mistake: This would suggest that the occasional efforts by individual Republican congressmen to show some distance from […]
Light & Dark Wrestle for America’s Soul
An image of darkness and light grappling for ascendency in Silko’s “Ceremony” sums up my view of America at the moment.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Ceremony, election 2018, Leslie Marmon Silko, racism Comments closed
The GOP Marries Its Monster
Shelley’s monster classic is frequently cited in political discussions, especially regarding Trump. Dr. Frankenstein, however, does not enable the monster.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged election 2018, Frankenstein, Honduran refugees, Mary Shelley, Trump Comments closed
GOP Is Jake from “Lonesome Dove”
In failing to hold Trump accountable, the GOP is behaving like Jake Spoon in “Lonesome Dove,” who lacks a moral compass.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged accountability, Donald Trump, Larry McMurtry, Lonesome Dove, rightwing extremism, rightwing terrorism Comments closed
The Trauma of Lost Privilege
Few things are more traumatic that losing one’s privileges, as Amy Tan shows in “Valley of Amazement.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Amy Tan, entitlement, privilege, Valley of Amazement Comments closed
Putin’s Seduction of Donald Trump
Think of Putin as Satan, Trump as Eve, and Adam as the GOP in a reenactment of Paradise Lost.
Will Hollow Senators Stand Up to Trump?
If pro-choice Senate Republicans are like the hollow people described by Dante and T. S. Eliot, we can’t expect them to vote down an anti-abortion Supreme Court justice.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Hollow Men", Donald Trump, Republican moderates, Supreme Court, Susan Collins, T. S. Eliot, Wasteland Comments closed
