They would do well to remember Pope’s warning, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.”The Alexander Pope in Donald Trump | The American Spectator
My wise and well-read sister, Joan Turrentine’s recent comment to me produced an “aha” moment regarding Donald Trump’s extraordinary popularity. Joan was observing the way the media — particularly as they critique the presidential debates — influence what the public thinks about the candidates, deciding which ones to focus on, which issues are top priority, and which candidate is a “winner.” She summarized her thoughts by quoting Alexander Pope: “Expert criticism, once destined to teach that which is to be admired — the poet’s art — now presumes to be master.”
Indeed, there are many parallels between the literary critics and their skirmishes in Pope’s day with what passes for political commentary and analysis today. Whether it is poets or politicians, wit and creativity are always at war with conventional wisdom, with the latter’s champions demanding surrender to and conformity with its logic and assessments.
First, we have to recognize that Trump’s popularity with his supporters is not totally manufactured. His success with conservatives is also about truth and having the strength and wit to express that truth in a way that resonates. Clearly Americans are “hugely” frustrated with the elites’ dominance of the conversation; it’s about the public’s distaste for having its views and values “dissed.” It’s about having to put up with so much politically correct baloney that Main Street Americans recognize intuitively is “hugely” at variance with truth and reality. It’s about knowing things are going seriously wrong and wanting someone to say so plainly. It’s about wanting someone who is strong and brash enough to effectively rebut the babble that fills the airwaves on the news, in commentaries, that’s expressed throughout the culture in entertainment, on college campuses, around corporate watercoolers, and in everyday discussions in coffee shops and while waiting in grocery store lines,
that even spills into Presidential State of the Union Addresses. People are fed up with demands that they submit and conform to pretentious pseudo-sophisticated nonsense from the elites who presume the superiority of making up their own rules, and who make fun of and treat as ignoramuses those who hold common-sense values in general and Judeo-Christian beliefs in particular.
In short, Trump is someone, in the words of Alexander Pope,
“… whose truth convinced at sight we find,
that give us back the image of our mind.”
Even Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr., while acknowledging that Trump is not the most religious or pious of the candidates, appreciates that Trump is willing to “speak the truth publicly” and that he is not a “puppet of major donors.”
-go to links-
Indeed, there are many parallels between the literary critics and their skirmishes in Pope’s day with what passes for political commentary and analysis today. Whether it is poets or politicians, wit and creativity are always at war with conventional wisdom, with the latter’s champions demanding surrender to and conformity with its logic and assessments.
 |
| Alexander Pope |
that even spills into Presidential State of the Union Addresses. People are fed up with demands that they submit and conform to pretentious pseudo-sophisticated nonsense from the elites who presume the superiority of making up their own rules, and who make fun of and treat as ignoramuses those who hold common-sense values in general and Judeo-Christian beliefs in particular.
In short, Trump is someone, in the words of Alexander Pope,
“… whose truth convinced at sight we find,
that give us back the image of our mind.”
Even Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr., while acknowledging that Trump is not the most religious or pious of the candidates, appreciates that Trump is willing to “speak the truth publicly” and that he is not a “puppet of major donors.”
-go to links-
No comments:
Post a Comment