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Professor Robert Paul Wolff


In September 2019, after President Trump (first time around) fired John Bolton, a distinguished philosopher wrote the following in that philosopher's blog.

John Bolton:  Bolton is a genuinely dangerous man, and I am delighted to see him gone.  His summary dismissal highlights the odd but welcome fact that Trump is a dove.  A belligerent dove, a bullying dove, a bombastic dove, an ignorant dove, a feckless dictator-loving suck up of a dove, but a dove nonetheless.  This is a dangerous world.  We must take our comfort where we can find it.

The philosopher was Robert Paul Wolff, and I quoted that at the time in this blog, without commentary. Dr Wolff passed away early this year. Here is a link to an obit.  

North American Kant Society - In Memoriam: Robert Paul Woff (1933-2025)

I'm afraid that his analysis of the Trump/Bolton pairing does not seem as sound now as it did at the time. 

Trump is not a dove -- he has used our military to destroy random boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific. He has threatened war with Nigeria and Venezuela, apparently angling for a "splendid little war."  Heck, with Canada and with Denmark over Greenland, too. 

I don't take any dovish comfort from Bolton's absence from the administration, or his potential presence before a jury. 

Here is the source of the quote though:  The Philosopher's Stone: THREE LITTLE THINGS

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