Tag Archives: Jonathan Swift

How Swift Would Respond to Trump

By Robin Bates | Published: April 3, 2025

Think of Trump trying to impress the giant king in “Gulliver’s Travels” by talking big–and note how the king, rather than impressed, is horrified.

By Robin Bates | Published: October 17, 2024

Jonathan Swift would have something to say about how the corporate media continues to sane-wash Donald Trump.

By Robin Bates | Published: June 30, 2024

Trump’s torrent of lies in Thursday’s debate brings to mind Swift’s poem “Description of a City Shower.”

By Robin Bates | Published: June 4, 2024

Is civic virtue becoming a relic of the past? Gullliver’s Travels can help keep it alive.

By Robin Bates | Published: May 23, 2024

Swift anticipated ChatGPT in “Gulliver’s Travels,” along with the problems that have arisen.

By Robin Bates | Published: May 15, 2024

The competition to be Trump’s VP resembles the stick leaping and crawling contest in Lilliput.

By Robin Bates | Published: May 7, 2024

Disagreeable measures used to combat Covid were like Gulliver pissing on a palace fire to save the structure.

By Robin Bates | Published: March 27, 2024

Dreams of a strongman freeing himself from Lilliputian ropes is a dangerous fantasy, Swift explains.

By Robin Bates | Published: February 15, 2024

In which I use one of Swift’s birthday poems to celebrate my Julia’s birthday.