CT Blue

I stumbled upon this article from the American Prospect today, and I thought I would pass it along to my legions of fans. If you’re a fan of Shakespeare’s it will interest you, as it takes on the question of how the Bard would have treated the Donald, and what, if any characters are similar to him. Allyn Burrows, the Shakespeare scholar being interviewed, sees many echoes of Shakespeare in the various hangers on around the Trumpster, and the various cabals with which he is surrounded, but sees no obvious analog to the Donald in the Shakespeare canon, due to the Donald’s apparent lack of self awareness and inability to reflect on his situation. I don’t consider myself a Shakespeare expert, but I think he’s on to something there.

One interesting thing here is that it is pretty much taken as a given that Trump is not of sound mind. In response to a question from the interviewer (Robert Kuttner):

Well, the classic madman was Macbeth, or Richard III. But Trump is less interesting as a madman than either of those, because I’m not sure Trump is capable of introspection, or regret or remorse. Steve Bannon is a lot more interesting, as a villain, a Iago kind of figure. And in the play Henry VIII, for example, a play that’s rarely done, Cardinal Wolsey was very much a Iago figure to Henry VIII. He was able to manipulate the mind of the man and also was in it for money.

I suspect that over the coming months we will see more of this: matter of fact acknowledgment that the person who holds the office of President of the United States is mentally ill. I think that’s a first.

One thing that was quite amusing in this interview is the almost pathetic insistence by Robert Kuttner that John McCain might emerge as the good guy in the tragedy, the MacDuff to Trump’s MacBeth. It is truly amazing how the Beltway types have held fast to their conception of McCain as heroic “maverick” despite massive evidence to the contrary. McCain is capable of making some anemic noises that suggest that he knows right from wrong, but he has proven totally incapable of putting his vote or his influence where his mouth sometimes strays. His performance in the last few weeks merely proves that point. We must look elsewhere for a Republican good guy, if such an animal exists.

UPDATE: More on the McCain mythology. Here we find that John McCain is perceived as more credible than Donald Trump. If polled, I would have said the same thing, but my question is: Why was this question even polled? I can understand polling about whether the media or Trump is perceived as more credible. But why, of all politicians, poll on McCain? Do they think he’s the leader of the loyal opposition or something? What concrete thing has he done to establish his credentials for that position?