TRP's deep American anti-Americanism, so to speak.

[Mark Kohut]

Good NYT piece on new relevance for classic Hofstadter book "Paranoid Style" to explain Palin, tea party, birthers. http://nyti.ms/9NZ7CK 

A...and, Hofstadter starts his "American Political Tradition" with this opening line: "long ago Horace White observed that the Constitution of the United States "is based upon the philosophy of Hobbes and the religion of Calvin. It assumes that the natural state of mankind is a state of war, and that the carnal mind is at enmity with God". 

Let us count the ways P differs and aligns: Pynchon disses at least two of Hobbes' most famous quotes/ideas in his work. We know about Calvinism's Elect vs. preterite in his fiction. P writes of history as a state of seige
in ATD, shows it in GR, it is fair to say and seems to believe that some carnality is next to godliness.

Look up Horace White and besides learning he was a six-time US Senator he was a Cornell trustee in the 40s and has two chairs named after him at TRPs
alma mater. Just FYI> 

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