As I watched Vance sane-wash both Trump and himself in the debate, I thought of the sane-washing that occurs in Gay’s “Beggar’s Opera.”
Tag Archives: John Gay
Sane-Washing Vance and Mac the Knife
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged anti-democratic theocracy, Beggar's Opera, Bill Kristol, Donald Trump, Election 2024, J.D. Vance, Kevin Roberts, Lance Wallnau, Leonard Leo, Matthew Taylor, New Apostolic Reformation, Opus Dei, Project 2025, Seven Mountains Mandate Comments closed
Awaiting the Verdict
Will Trump once again escape justice? An Emily Dickinson poem captures the sentiments of those of us who fear he will.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I many times thought peace had come", Alices Adventures in Wonderland, Beggar's Opera, Donald Trump, Emily Dickinson, Lewis Carroll Comments closed
Will Trump Pay? Literature Is Unsure
Will Trump escape all accountability? Literature weighs in.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beggar's Opera, Bertolt Brecht, Candide, Dante, Donald Trump, Henry Fielding, impeachment hearings, Importance of Being Earnest, Inferno, Oscar Wilde, Threepenny Opera, Tom Jones, Voltaire Comments closed
Jordan: Mac the Knife without the Charm
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan has all the effrontery of John Gay’s Mac the Knife, although none of the charm.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beggar's Opera, impeachment hearings, Jim Jordan Comments closed
Which Literary Conman Is Trump?
To understand Trump as conman, I compare him to the King and the Duke, Mac the Knife, Melville’s Confidence Man, Satan & Iago.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beggar's Opera, Confidence Man, conmen, Donald Trump, Herman Melville, Huckleberry Finn, John Milton, Mark Twain, Othello, Paradise Lost, William Shakespeare Comments closed
McConnell as Moriarty, Trump as Figaro
Mitch McConnell is proving himself to be a veritable Moriarty in his ability to weave devious plots to get his way. Trump, by contrast, is more a trickster figure a la Figaro or Mac the Knife.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Arthur Conan Doyle, Beggar's Opera, Caron de Beaumarchais, conspiracy theories, Donald Trump, Marriage of Figaro, Mitch McConnell, Moriarty, politics, Sherlock Holmes Comments closed
Trump & Mac the Knife, 2 Escape Artists
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.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 presidential election, Beggar's Opera, Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton, sexual assault, Trump sex scandal Comments closed
Style, Not Truth, the Important Thing
Truth was missing in action in the GOP’s Wednesday night debate. Oscar Wilde and John Gay would have understood.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged 2016 election, Beggar's Opera, campaign rhetoric, Donald Trump, GOP, GOP debates, Importance of Being Earnest, Marco Rubio, Oscar Wilde, Ted Cruz Comments closed
The Super Bowl, Comic & Tragic Versions
The Patriots miraculously escaped a hanging, the Seahawks did not. It’s the difference between Gay’s “Beggars Opera” and Bierce’s “Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Ambrose Bierce, Beggar's Opera, Football, New England Patriots, NFL sports, Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks, Super Bowl, Tom Brady Comments closed
