Lear Redux

Gloucester has been cruelly blinded by Cornwall and Regan, the latter one of Lear’s deceitful daughters. Edgar, Gloucester’s banished son, dressed as Poor mad Tom, comes upon his father being led about by an old man. and sent out into the world. After Gloucester is blinded by Cornwall and Regan, he wanders out into the world and there he comes upon his banished son, Edgar, disguised as Poor mad Tom. He requests that mad Tom lead him to a cliff in Dover off of which Gloucester intends to jump and end his life. Edgar leads his sightless father to a plain near Dover and then tricks him to believe that he has indeed, jumped from the heights and miraculously survived. Then, changed dress from Mad Tom to that of peasant, Edgar leads his father on towards Dover where Cordelia has brought an army to regain the kingdom from her sisters.
     Gloucester and Edgar headed toward Dover come upon Lear, still suffering in his madness. Gloucester recognizes Lear from the tenor of his voice as Lear speaks, and recognizes in Lear’s state the fate of the world. “O ruined piece of nature! This great world/Shall so wear out to naught,” Gloucester laments. Lear continues to speak from his madness. Staring at eyeless Gloucester he says, “A man may see how this world goes with no eyes. Look with thine ears. See how young justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear. Change places and, handy-dandy, which is the justice, which is the thief.” In his madness Lear speaks perceptively about the world and about himself: he had once been guilty of passing justice on Cordelia. But Lear has learned. He asks Gloucester: “Thou hast seen a farmer’s dog bark at a beggar. And the creature run from the cur? There thou might’st behold the great image of authority: a dog’s obeyed in office.” And I thought immediately of Trump and his administration: dogs barking at the helpless.
     The nation is being governed by a pack of ignorant, egotistical and greedy thieves. Every day a new assault on the public is perpetrated by this cadre of dangerous incompetents. Trump believes he is playing some reality board game but his pieces are deadly weapons that could actually blow up the world. He governs by tweet and ignorance and the Republican majority cravenly (with some isolated exception) with little objection allow the dog to bark.  To enrich themselves and their gang they would destroy the world. They are despicable. Lear advises Gloucester: “Get thee glass eyes,/And like a scurvy politican/Seem to know the things thou dost not.” This is our reality. We live in a very dangerous moment, and I awaken every day to fear.