Tag Archives: Presidential politics

Trollope & Trump’s Willing Enablers

By Robin Bates | Published: May 19, 2016

Trollope describes gentry who enable to a scandalous financier in “The Way We Live Now.” Parallels can be drawn with those members of the GOP who are reconciling with Donald Trump.

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How Trump Is Changing the Discourse

By Robin Bates | Published: May 12, 2016

Adam Gopnik of “New Yorker” and Andrew Sullivan of “New York” are very, very frightened by the rise of Trump. As they explain why, they quote Tom Stoppard, Sinclair Lewis, Mark Twain, J. R. R. Tolkien, and Plato.

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#NeverTrump! Never! Never! Never! Never?

By Robin Bates | Published: May 10, 2016

Many who vowed NeverTrump are backing away from the word “never.” “Never” is an important word in “King Lear” and Lear, unlike Lear’s opponents, doesn’t back away from it.

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Bernie Is Peter Pan, Hillary Is Wendy

By Robin Bates | Published: March 10, 2016

Bernie Sanders is the adventurous Peter Pan, Hillary Clinton is the cautious and pragmatic Wendy. Which candidate you prefer may be related to which character you like better.

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Christie as Prufrock & Other Lit Allusions

By Robin Bates | Published: March 2, 2016

Political pundits have been turning to literature to talk about the GOP primaries. This past week saw citations of Shakespeare, T. S. Eliot, Lewis Carroll, and Richard Adams (“Watership Down”).

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Panicked by Trump? Turn to Lit

By Robin Bates | Published: February 28, 2016

As Trump panic starts to set in, pundits are turning to literature to get an understanding of how it has all happened. This past week saw references to “Oedipus,” “Frankenstein,” “War and Peace,” and “Slaughterhouse Five.”

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Will GOP Base Play the Sap Yet Again?

By Robin Bates | Published: January 24, 2012

Is the Republican establishment simply exploiting its base, like Tom (in “Mill on the Floss”) exploits Maggie and as Brigid O’Shaughnessy (in “The Maltese Falcon”) tries to exploit Sam Spade?

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Presidents as Points of Projection

By Robin Bates | Published: January 10, 2012

Mitt Romney may appear to lack a core, but so did Chance in Jerzy Kosinski’s novel “Being There.” And even Barack Obama is different things to different people.

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