History
“I will bomb the shit out of ISIS…”
“I will bomb the shit out of ISIS…” by David Benjamin “I am tired and sick of war. Its glory is all moonshine. It is only those who have neither fired a shot nor heard the shrieks and groans of the wounded who cry aloud for blood, for vengeance, for desolation.” — William Tecumseh Sherman…
Read MoreIt's bean-bag season in America
It’s bean-bag season in America by David Benjamin “ ‘You’re not a politician,’ the man said. ‘You’re a public servant.’” — New Hampshire voter at a Donald Trump forum, 8 Feb. ‘16 “This is real retail politics, the way it’s supposed to be…” —N.H. voter Tom Lovely at the same forum PARIS — Tom Lovely…
Read More"Live long and prosper"
“Live long and prosper” by David Benjamin “To the moon, Alice!” — Ralph Kramden My wife, Hotlips, crack technology journalist, is in year-end listmaking mode. Everybody in the news biz does this. Among my favorite examples of this genre is the New York Times’ annual cavalcade of obituaries. The Times 2015 death march includes Leonard…
Read MoreAn act of God
An act of God by David Benjamin “Killing random people in restaurants and at concerts is a strategy that reflects its perpetrators’ fundamental weakness. It isn’t going to establish a caliphate in Paris. What it can do, however, is inspire fear — which is why we call it terrorism, and shouldn’t dignify it with the…
Read MoreDo-gooders from Hell
Do-gooders from Hell by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — In my childhood hometown of Tomah, Wisconsin, two quietly grand old buildings have survived the march of development. One is the library, underwritten by Andrew Carnegie and designed by one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s more tasteful disciples. The other is the VA Hospital, built of stolid…
Read MoreLying about history, to our children
Lying about history, to our children by David Benjamin “… Soviet pressure against the free institutions of the Western world is something that can be contained by the adroit and vigilant application of counterforce at a series of constantly shifting geographical and political points, corresponding to the shifts and manoeuvers of Soviet policy, but which…
Read MoreThree-word philosophies
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#735) Three-word philosophies by David Benjamin “… And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s…
Read MoreGod's great afterthought
THURSDAY, AUGUST 27, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#734) God’s great afterthought by David Benjamin “…the unborn, though enclosed in the womb of his mother, is already a human being, and it is an almost monstrous crime to rob it of life which it has not yet begun to enjoy. If it seems more horrible to…
Read MoreLand of the aggrieved, home of the whiny
THURSDAY, AUGUST 13, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#732) Land of the aggrieved, home of the whiny by David Benjamin “I am the most fabulous whiner. I do whine, because I want to win.” — Donald Trump MADISON, Wis. — Excuse me for a moment while I compare Donald Trump, red-state narcissist, to the Rev. Martin…
Read MoreGood fences?
FRIDAY, JULY 31, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#730) “Good fences?” by David Benjamin “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall…” — Robert Frost MADISON, Wis. — The only fence I ever loved was here in Madison, erected around an immense construction site for what became the Elvehjem Art Center. Known modestly as the University…
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