The Weekly Screed

Who is Ben Gozzy, and why the hell doesn’t he shut up?

By David Benjamin | 05/08/2014 | Comments Off on Who is Ben Gozzy, and why the hell doesn’t he shut up?

FRIDAY, MAY 8, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#675) Who is Ben Gozzy, and why the hell doesn’t he shut up? by David Benjamin “Gowdy’s rapid ascent in the party fits closely with what House Republicans are doing in this midterm election year: abandoning any pretense of legislating in favor of unremitting hostilities with the White…

Read More...

Why must I be a (filthy rich, 80-year-old) teenager in love?

By David Benjamin | 05/02/2014 | Comments Off on Why must I be a (filthy rich, 80-year-old) teenager in love?

FRIDAY, MAY 2, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#674) Why must I be a (filthy rich, 80-year-old) teenager in love? by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — If you listen to the full nine-minute dialog between L.A. Clippers erstwhile owner Donald Sterling and his mistress, V. Stiviano, you come across one of those prickly been-there, done-that moments…

Read More...

Movie treatment: "North by Southwest by Way of Queens"

By David Benjamin | 04/25/2014 | Comments Off on Movie treatment: "North by Southwest by Way of Queens"

FRIDAY, APRIL 25, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#673) Movie treatment: North by Southwest by Way of Queens by David Benjamin (Opening scene, the Oak Room of a luxury New York hotel) Ad exec Roger Thornhill [played, ideally, by George Clooney but Matt Damon would be OK] phones his mom. Afterwards, he’s intercepted by suited thugs.…

Read More...

Going "nuclear"

By David Benjamin | 04/18/2014 | Comments Off on Going "nuclear"

FRIDAY, APRIL 18, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#671) Going “nuclear” by David Benjamin TO: Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) FROM: Me Dear Senators Baldwin and Johnson: One of America’s stickiest dilemmas, lamented equally by Republicans and Democrats, is the decline of the single-breadwinner household, in which there’s always a parent at home…

Read More...

Is sex Republican?

By David Benjamin | 04/11/2014 | Comments Off on Is sex Republican?

FRIDAY, APRIL 11, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#671) Is sex Republican? by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — After studying the sexual assault allegations by two women against Wisconsin state Rep. Bill Kramer, I can finally understand Missouri Congressman Todd Akin’s seemingly benighted views — blurted out last year — about “legitimate rape.” Evidently, Republicans like…

Read More...

“In the battle, we're tried and true…”

By David Benjamin | 04/05/2014 | Comments Off on “In the battle, we're tried and true…”
Read More...

“Mammy’s power forward loves short’nin’ bread…”

By David Benjamin | 03/26/2014 | Comments Off on “Mammy’s power forward loves short’nin’ bread…”

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 26, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#669) by David Benjamin “Harry, that son of a bitch is ordering me to get some niggers in here. What am I going to do?” — Adolph Rupp MADISON, Wis. — The Badgers of the University of Wisconsin have the whitest team left in the NCAA basketball tournament.…

Read More...

Back to the Future IV

By David Benjamin | 03/21/2014 | Comments Off on Back to the Future IV

FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#668) Back to the Future IV by David Benjamin “You ain’t nothin’ but a gutless yellow turd.” — Mad Dog Tannen MADISON, Wis. — Have you noticed how it’s downright freakish sometimes the way foreign affairs imitate art? I mean, I know I’m not the first to observe…

Read More...

Trays, entitlement and the little brown bag

By David Benjamin | 03/13/2014 | Comments Off on Trays, entitlement and the little brown bag

THURSDAY, MARCH 13, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#667) Trays, entitlement and the little brown bag by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Representative Paul Ryan’s frequent outbursts of pseudo-sociological insight are little noted nor long-remembered in the greater scheme of American rhetoric. But they tend to make me lose my cool and go all high-school. This…

Read More...

A natural woman

By David Benjamin | 03/10/2014 | Comments Off on A natural woman

MONDAY, MARCH 10, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#666) A natural woman by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Hotlips, who was born in Hiroshima ten years after the Bomb, was among 51 honest-looking people who raised their right hands last week in a Milwaukee courthouse and lied their way into America. It would be nice to…

Read More...