I, however, find all the posturing over Medicare depressing. When the Democrats respond with their own scare tactics, they just become Tweedledee to the Republicans’ Tweedledum.
Tag Archives: politics
Tweedledum, Tweedledee, and Medi(s)care
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Tweedledum and Tweedledee", "Walrus and the Carpenter", Alice through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll, Medicare Comments closed
Believing 6 Impossibilities before Breakfast
Slate Magazine recently had a Jacob Weisberg column that invoked Alice through the Looking Glass in talking about the current Republican Party. Lewis Carroll’s Alice books seem indeed to be works for our times.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Alice in Wonderland, Alice through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll Comments closed
Vote for My Budget or I’ll Shoot Myself
Threats by Congressional Republicans to vote against raising the debt ceiling limit—which would result in the United States defaulting on what it owes–reminds me of the scene in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles where the black sheriff (Cleavon Little) threatens to shoot himself.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Blazing Saddles, debt ceiling, Economics, Film, Mel Brooks Comments closed
George Orwell and Waterboarding
An indication that defenders are not entirely at peace with the practice is their use of a euphemisms. They don’t call waterboarding “torture,” even though the U.S. used to call it torture and it has generally been considered torture since the Spanish Inquisition used it. They instead call it “enhanced interrogation techniques.” Anyone who knows George Orwell’s 1984 recognizes this as classic doublespeak.
Ayn Rand vs. America’s Social Safety Net
Normally I prefer to write on great literature, not on novels that make our lives worse. But given the outsized impact that novelist and social philosopher Ayn Rand is currently having on current American political discourse, literature blogs need to pay attention.
King Lear and Medicare Politics
In the 2010 elections, seniors over 65 voted overwhelmingly Republican, perhaps in response to perceived threats to Medicare. Democrats may respond in kind in the upcoming election. In short, a lot of electoral politics involves firing up seniors. Frightened and angry old people can do a lot of damage. Which brings us to King Lear.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged King Lear, Medicare, Senior Citizens, William Shakespeare Comments closed
Rebelling against Big Nurse’s Nanny State
If Hillary Clinton were currently our president, I have no doubt in the world that rightwing pundits and politicians would be comparing her to a lead character in the work I am writing about today. She would be Nurse Ratched from Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Ken Kesey, One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, Tea Party Comments closed
Reaching Out to the Needy in Tough Times
Yet having nothing, the Joads still share. In the final scene of The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck taps into the legend of “Roman Charity” where a daughter breastfeeds her starving father. In this case, however, Rose of Sharon feeds a starving stranger. A new human family is rising out of the ashes of the old.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck, Medicare, poverty Comments closed
The Immigrant’s Choice
Adrienne Rich has a well-known poem that is powerful in large part because it captures, simply and directly, the immigrant’s plight. Rich depicts immigration as a stark choice—either one goes through the door or one doesn’t. The decision has immense ramifications, both positive and negative.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Adrienne Rich, Anzia Yezierska, Immigration, Rachel Kranz Comments closed
