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The Weekly Screed
by David Benjamin “I prefer a church which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security.” — Pope Francis MADISON, Wis.—When Pope Francis made his extraordinary pilgrimage to the Congo and South Sudan…
Read More...by David Benjamin “… De Crawfishes, honey. Dey bo’d inter de groun’ en kep’ on bo’in twel dey onloost de fountains er de yeth; en de waters squirt out, en riz higher twel de hills wuz kivvered en de creeturs wuz all drowned; en all bekaze dey let on ‘mong deyselves dat dey wuz bigger…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Wide brimmed and narrow, some tall, some not, some fancy, some colorful, some plaid, some plain. She doted on changing hats at every opportunity. When she met the Prince, she was wearing one hat, when he asked her for a stroll, she excused herself, shortly to return wearing another, equally flattering.” — William…
Read More...by David Benjamin ““January 6 happened, and … I will tell you something. If Steve Bannon and I had organized that, we would have won. Not to mention, it would’ve been armed.” — Marjorie Taylor Greene MADISON, Wis.— During the same week that Kevin McCarthy sniveled, groveled and weaseled his way into an impotent Speakership…
Read More...by David Benjamin “I don’t take responsibility at all.” — Trump WASHINGTON, D.C.—In a shocking Friday the 13th bombshell, Jack Smith, a Justice Department special counsel assigned by Attorney General Merrick Garland to hound Donald Trump to his grave, announced that all investigations of the ex-president have been indefinitely suspended. Smith, who brought to his…
Read More...by David Benjamin “My road of good intentions/ Led where such roads always lead/ No good deed/ Goes unpunished … ” — Idina Menzel, from Wicked THE NORTH POLE — For a few days after Christmas Eve, Santa Claus is dead to the world, sleeping off his whirlwind journey, soothing the bruises from squeezing…
Read More...by David Benjamin “Winter is icumen in,/ Lhude sing Goddamm,/ Raineth drop and staineth slop,/ And how the wind doth ramm!/ Sing: Goddamm…” — Ezra Pound, “Ancient Music” MADISON, Wis.—When does winter start? Although I’ve seen a hell of a lot of winter by now, I hesitate to pin down the exact moment that…
Read More...by David Benjamin “One after another, films for grownups have failed…” — Brooks Barnes, New York Times PARIS — My favorite movie genre is the smart comedy, a category born, I believe, with Charlie Chaplin’s 1936 tour de force, Modern Times. The most cohesive and trenchant of Chaplin’s work, Modern Times set a standard…
Read More...by David Benjamin “He sees you when you’re sleeping “And he knows when you’re awake. “He knows if you’ve been bad…” — J. Fred Coots & Haven Gillespie NORTH POLE — Santa Claus punched his intercom for the fourth time, a moment of frustration that had reduced his jollity to the point of wiping…
Read More...by David Benjamin “I have against me the bourgeois, the military and the diplomats, and for me, only the people who take the Métro.” — Charles de Gaulle PARIS — Hotlips and I indulged last night in our fifth or sixth viewing of Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant in Charade, during which the two…
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