Learn from Shakespeare

Re “The stage is set for tragedy,” Opinion, May 21

One of the terrible ironies of the Bush administration is that history and literature have taught us the lessons that Niall Ferguson writes about, and yet “King George” and his loyal yes-men have not learned from these examples. One would think they’d be wiser, but their hubris, the tragic flaw that leads to the downfall of so many great ones, has blinded them to these realities. They are more than “in blood, steeped so far,” as Ferguson quotes from “Macbeth”; they are steeped in the same arrogance and overconfidence that led Macbeth to his unseemly end. Bush and his cronies seem destined for similar ignominy. The president would serve himself and the country well to read Shakespeare’s tragedies again and learn from them.

ERIC MALSTROM

Ontario