Language
The wealth of knowledge
by David Benjamin “On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” — H.L. Mencken MADISON, Wis. — As best I can guess, I became an elitist during a spelling bee in fourth grade…
Read MoreImpure wind
Impure wind by David Benjamin “In our age, there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics.’ All issues a political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. When the general atmosphere is bad, language must suffer.” — George Orwell, Politics and the English Language (1946) MADISON,…
Read More"… Many sides, many sides…"
“… Many sides, many sides…” by David Benjamin “We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump.” — David Duke, former Imperial Wizard, Ku Klux Klan MADISON, Wis. — Well hooray for David Duke. Duke…
Read MoreBrevity is the soul of politics
Brevity is the soul of politics by David Benjamin “Being president is like being a jackass in a hailstorm. There’s nothing to do but stand there and take it.” — Lyndon Johnson MADISON, Wis. — Herbert Hoover sealed his political fate when he said, “Prosperity is just around the corner.” His problem? Verbosity. In politics you…
Read MoreStop Saying That!
Stop saying that! by David Benjamin “Literally for Figuratively. ‘The stream was literally alive with fish.’ ‘His eloquence literally swept the audience from its feet.’ It is bad enough to exaggerate, but to affirm the truth of the exaggeration is intolerable.” — Ambrose Bierce, from Write It Right: A Little Blacklist of Literary Faults MADISON,…
Read MoreThe blurb culture
The blurb culture by David Benjamin “Question: Does it turn out that social media is better at breaking things than at making things?” — Thomas L. Friedman PARIS — How would Einstein “tweet” the Theory of Relativity. I thought about this after reading Dennis Overbye’s lyrical New York Times story about physicists working with the…
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 MoreThe thing is…
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 The Weekly Screed (#706) The thing is… by David Benjamin “The thing is to put a motor in yourself.” — Frank Zappa LAS VEGAS — According to all the banners, keynote speakers and shameless self-promoters at this year’s Consumer Electronics Saturnalia (CES), the thing is the “Internet of Things.” The very…
Read MoreThe unbearable irrelevance of reading
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#686) The unbearable irrelevance of reading by David Benjamin MADISON, Wis. — Nobody reads. This is a shattering admission for a writer to make, and as of the moment, it’s a slight overstatement. Think of those two words as a mixture of prophecy and surrender — with a…
Read MoreYou gonna argue with a guy named Hensleigh Wedgwood?
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2014 The Weekly Screed (#665) You gonna argue with a guy named Hensleigh Wedgwood? by David Benjamin “… But at night, brother howlet, over the woods, Toll the world to thy chantry; Sing to the bats’ sleek sisterhoods Full complines with gallantry: Then, owls and bats, Cowls and twats, Monks and nuns,…
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