Trump has shot the messenger in firing the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Plutarch, Euripides and Shakespeare have scenes with this dynamic.
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Tag Archives: William Shakespeare
Killing the Messenger of Bad News
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Antony and Cleopatra, Bacchae, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Donald Trump, Erika McEntarfer, Euripides, Henry IV Part 2, shooting the messenger Comments closed
What to Make of Fascist Authors
In which I explore a Lit Hub article arguing that authors and fascists have things in common, which explains why certain authors have turned to the dark side.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Ed Simon, Eduard Limonov, Emily Bronte, Fascism, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Leo Tolstoy, Merchant of Venice, Tempoe of the Golden Pavilion, War and Peace, Wuthering Heights, Yukio Mishima Comments closed
A.I. and the Tech Bro Accelerationists
AI is the darling of Silicon Valley accelerationists, who sound like the old Italian Futurists and who appear never to have read Shelley’s Frankenstein.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Andy Beckett, climate change, Ezra Pound, Fascism, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, Frankenstein, Greg Olear, Italian Futurism, Macbeth, Mary Shelley, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Tobias Wilson-Bates Comments closed
Pricked and Bleeding Thanks to Trump
A mother, brutalized by federal agents who got the wrong house, seemed to be channeling “Merchant of Venice” in her response.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Department of Homeland Security, Justice, Merchant of Venice, mercy, revenge Comments closed
Shakespeare on Trans Rights
Shakespeare makes a strong case for transsexuals in “Twelfth Night” but also has a caution that progressives would do well to heed.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Tootsie, Transsexuality, Twelfth Night, women's sports Comments closed
Trumpism as the Hamlet Story
Think of Trump as Claudius, intent on overthrowing something noble and great. Hamlet describes his uncle as “a mildewed ear,” which fits.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Charles Pierce, deported immigrants, Donald Trump, Karoline Leavitt Comments closed
Trump Wants to “Kill All the Lawyers”
Trump wants, at least metaphorically, to “kill all the lawyers.” The line is delivered by an insurrectionist and bad man in “Henry VI, Part II.”
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Donald Trump, Henry VI Part 2, lawyers, rule of law Comments closed
A Woman 600 Years Ahead of Her Time
If Chaucer’s created a timeless and transcendent character in the Wife of Bath, it is because he listened–really listened–to women.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged Beowulf, Christian misogyny, Defence of Poetry, Feminism, Geoffrey Chaucer, Harold Bloom, Percy Shelley, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Wife of Bath Comments closed
Trump Doth Murder Sleep
Trump and Musk are current-day Macbeths, out to murder American democracy.