General Discussion

One monstrously funny fellow I heard tell about: Pantagruel.



The American Pantagruel has declared himself the enemy of the United States.

LUCIAN K. TRUSCOTT IV
FEB 19, 2025

It took us just thirty days into the second administration of Donald J. Trump to reach a signature moment in American history. In calling Volodymyr Zelenskyy a dictator and accusing him of starting the war that his country has suffered through from Russian aggression for nearly three years, Trump has loudly and clearly taken the side of a real dictator against our ally, Ukraine. It's no longer as if Trump is acting like a Russian asset. He has raised the white, blue, and red flag of Russia over the White House. In military terms, Trump has switched sides and begun firing from Russian lines at American troops.

Snip…

There is only one good thing about what Trump has done over the last two days. One of the readers of this column, Reed Bonadonna, put it better than I could in his comment today, which I will quote in full:

“As a military type, I feel a sense of excitement that the enemy has declared itself, looming like a hideous, toupéed Pantagruel. This, I begin to wondering see, is the battle for which we have always been preparing ourselves.”

I had to look up Pantagruel to discover how apt is Bonadonna’s comparison of Trump with this character created by Francois Rabelais in 1532. Pantagruel first appeared in his book, The Horrible and Terrifying Deeds and Words of the Very Renowned Pantagruel King of the Dipsodes, Son of the Great Giant Gargantua.

Rabelais has been described by critic John Parkin, author of “The Rabelais Encyclopedia” as “the world's greatest comic genius,” and his grand series of books about Pantagruel are seen as championing "the advancement of humanist learning, the evangelical reform of the Church, [and] the need for humanity and brotherhood in politics.” I mean, how perfect is it to compare Donald Trump to a character from the 16th century who used his own urine as a weapon in war and his tongue to shelter his army?

Humor may provide a lens through which we can consider anew this hideous monster who has been elected to the highest office in our land. But it is the fact that he has declared himself an enemy of his own country and indeed of all civilized human beings that marks this date as one we should remember and act upon.

We need to take comfort in the idea that our history has prepared us for a battle such as this one. We have risen to the occasion before, once to fight a Civil War to free enslaved human beings and make them our fellow citizens. Freedom is at stake again, this time for all of us. Donald Trump has declared himself our enemy. It is past time to square the circle and fight.

Continues…

https://luciantruscott.substack.com/p/the-american-pantagruel-has-declared

PS/ETA: Appreciate learning about Pulcinella, originally a symbol for the people and strata of Naples, is the Trickster — a role I believe different in character and nature from evil personified as the case with Mussolini, Hitler and Trump.