The Weekly Screed

Abominable masterpiece

By David Benjamin | 08/19/2022 | Comments Off on Abominable masterpiece

by David Benjamin “The Negro race has had enough trouble, more than enough of its share of injustice, oppression, tragedy, suffering and sorrow. And because of the social progress which Negroes achieved in the face of these handicaps, it is best that The Birth of a Nation in its present form be withheld from public…

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The wail of the weakling

By David Benjamin | 08/11/2022 | Comments Off on The wail of the weakling

by David Benjamin   “In the fell clutch of circumstance       I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance       My head is bloody, but unbowed…” —William Ernest Henley, “Invictus”   MADISON, Wis. — Jeez Louise, whatever became of the strong, silent type? For all my life, and yours, the first commandment of…

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A hot time in the old town

By David Benjamin | 08/05/2022 | Comments Off on A hot time in the old town

by David Benjamin “Hot town, summer in the city? Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty…” —John Sebastian MADISON, Wis. — You don’t have to guess what city John Sebastian was thinking about when he — along with Steve Boone and his brother Mark — wrote “ … All around, people looking half-dead, Walking on…

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What they don’t see is what they get

By David Benjamin | 07/28/2022 | Comments Off on What they don’t see is what they get

by David Benjamin “… laws are being shoved through Congress that specifically restrict certain firearms, armor, ammo and the like. The Obama administration made it clear that their agenda was to disarm patriots, just like Hitler, Stalin, [Pol] Pot and Mao did. We are headed for disaster…” —Lisa Haven, The Millennium Report (dated Feb. 2018)…

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Variation on a theme from Aristophanes

By David Benjamin | 07/22/2022 | Comments Off on Variation on a theme from Aristophanes

by David Benjamin “… Without sex what will happen to our great State? Democracy will end if we can’t copulate.… ” —Aristophanes, Lysistrata MADISON, Wis.— It’s a dubious distinction to occupy a province in which, by the decree of white Judges Sam and Amy, John and Brett, along with America’s foremost Self-Hating Negro, abortion has…

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Whaddya gonna do?

By David Benjamin | 07/15/2022 | Comments Off on Whaddya gonna do?

by David Benjamin “… I looked and behold, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by the gale; the sky vanished like a scroll that…

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“Small moveable forts and magazines”

By David Benjamin | 07/08/2022 | Comments Off on “Small moveable forts and magazines”

by David Benjamin “… You may see a file of soldiers, colonel, captain, corporal, privates, powder-monkeys, and all, marching in admirable order over hill and dale to the wars, against their wills, ay, against their common sense and consciences, which makes it very steep marching indeed… ” — Henry David Thoreau MADISON, Wis.— It was…

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“Delay is the deadliest form of denial”

By David Benjamin | 06/30/2022 | Comments Off on “Delay is the deadliest form of denial”

by David Benjamin “… Having seen Trump survive too many other scandals that should have ended his disgraceful political career, I cannot be overly sanguine that he has finally reached his rightful reckoning. The cancer has been exposed but could still continue to metastasize.” — Max Boot, The Washington Post MADISON, Wis.—Donald Trump’s political epitaph…

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Why not the “Yankee Doodle Dandies”?

By David Benjamin | 06/24/2022 | Comments Off on Why not the “Yankee Doodle Dandies”?

by David Benjamin “After years of contemplation, Washington announced in January that the team’s nickname search had been cut down to seven options: Armada, Brigade, Red Hogs, Presidents, Commanders, RedWolves, and Defenders.” — Jack Dougherty, Sportscasting MADISON, Wis.—I’m wearing a t-shirt that honors the 1932 Jersey City Skeeters. This somewhat silly but unique monicker derives…

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“Takes soap and water for to keep it clean”

By David Benjamin | 06/17/2022 | Comments Off on “Takes soap and water for to keep it clean”

by David Benjamin “The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid ‘dens of crime’ that Dickens loved to paint. It is not done even in concentration camps and labour camps… But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white…

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