https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2021/01/15/curse-your-sudden-and-inevitable-betrayal/ Culture, Politics, Academia and Other Shiny Objects Thu, 21 Jan 2021 17:59:23 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.4.15 https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2021/01/15/curse-your-sudden-and-inevitable-betrayal/comment-page-1/#comment-73740 Thu, 21 Jan 2021 17:59:23 +0000 https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=3363#comment-73740 Three obvious extensions of this dynamic spring to mind: Star Trek red shirts, legions of henchmen supporting supervillains in James Bond flicks, and any of the standing armies around the world. The bargain with each is definitely mixed, as the training and perks can be significant if one isn’t first killed, sacrificed, or badly damaged.

]]> https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2021/01/15/curse-your-sudden-and-inevitable-betrayal/comment-page-1/#comment-73738 Sun, 17 Jan 2021 14:40:29 +0000 https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=3363#comment-73738 One other piece might be personal background. This is hypothetical, but I wonder if Trump feels like home to people who were raised by narcissists.

]]> https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/blog/2021/01/15/curse-your-sudden-and-inevitable-betrayal/comment-page-1/#comment-73737 Sun, 17 Jan 2021 11:39:53 +0000 https://blogs.swarthmore.edu/burke/?p=3363#comment-73737 On the comic-book supervillain theme, I’ve thought this myself, but in Trump’s case, alongside the malice and menace, has also come comic ineptitude. The Giuliani Four Seasons Landscaping press conference is a case in point, which brought to mind the Adam West Batman TV series of the 1960s, where there was often a voiceover announcing something like, “Meanwhile, on the other side of town, at the villains’ hideout …”

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