Disagreeable measures used to combat Covid were like Gulliver pissing on a palace fire to save the structure.
Tag Archives: satire
On Gulliver and Biden Putting Out Fires
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Covid, Covid masking, Gulliver's Travels, Jonathan Swift, vaccines Comments closed
Self-Satire’s Medicinal Properties
In “Wonderworks,” Fletcher contends that self-satire helped Socrates deal with death.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Angus Fletcher, death of Socrates, Douglas Adams, fear of death, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Irony, Phaedo, Plato, Socrates, Wonderworks Comments closed
When News Resembles an Onion Headline
A recent case of an American man arrested for parodying a police department elicited a supportive brief from “The Onion.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged conspiracy theories, Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Modest Proposal, Onion, parody Comments closed
Moliere and Religious Hypocrites
Moliere’s “Tartuffe” is a great satire of religious hypocrisy. It also shook up the 17th century French church in other ways and was banned.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, Hypocrisy, Louis XIV, Moliere, rightwing evangelicals, Tartuffe Comments closed
Jon Stewart Resembled Jonathan Swift
Jon Stewart stepped down from “The Daily Show” just over a year ago. At the time, he was our Jonathan Swift and, like Swift, he was not afraid to satirize satire itself when it became too puffed up.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Daily Show, Jon Stewart, Jonathan Swift, Laura Ingraham, political satire Comments closed
Grendel in Paris
As with other mass killings, “Beowulf” has lessons for the Paris massacre. Defoe and Rabelais, meanwhile, give us insight in the targeted satirical journal “Charlie Hebdo.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf, Charlie Hebdo, Daniel Defoe, Gargantua, Lucille Clifton, Rabelais, Shortest Way with Dissenters, Terrorism Comments closed
Meditation upon a Broom (April Fool!)
Swift’s “Meditation on a Broomstick” could well have been an April Fool’s joke.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Jonathan Swift, Meditation upon a Broomstick, Robert Boyle Comments closed
Freedom (a.k.a. Irresponsibility)
Jonathan’s Franzen’s “Freedom” is written in the John Cheever-John Updike-Tom Wolfe-Don DeLillo tradition, an up-close look at American middle class culture. But it leaves out some of the heroic struggles that are going on.
Lit and Our Impoverished Political Culture
I’ve been thinking about how shallow and dishonest political speech has become in recent years. Then again, maybe it’s always been like this and I’m just noticing it more. When politics enter the picture, it appears that people start becoming stupid. Outlandish claims and ridiculous reasoning are either (1) accepted as factual or (2) seen […]
