And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that the nuns at St. Patrick’s prepared me well enough in high school that I did not have to suffer the indignity of taking “communications skills” as a university freshman, so I could take an American literature course instead.

It was there that I met author/poet T. S. Eliot (in print, not in person) and became acquainted with some of his works. He was still very much alive in the middle 1950s, and I admired the gall of someone who could write such works as “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” and the epic “The Wasteland.”

So when I saw a quick reference to the name of the judge presiding at the Manafort trial, I mistakenly thought that was the judge’s name. Turns out, it is T. S. Ellis. Judge Ellis has become known for his impatience with Mueller’s minions, accusing them of taking too much time developing insignificant things.

Or as T. S. Eliot might have said (and did): “Hurry up please its time.” No apostrophe in its. Is that significant? Or as in Prufrock, with slight adaptation: “(You are) polite, cautious and meticulous. Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse. At times, indeed, almost ridiculous.”

Opportunity missed, I guess.

I am a news junkie. The first thing I do in the morning is turn on the bedside radio to catch the news of what happened overnight.

Except on Saturday mornings.

When all radio stations seem compelled to offer yard and garden shows.

There was a time, when I was able to maintain my yard and grow a large garden, that I found some helpful tips. But no more.

I had thought maybe FM radio would be more erudite and stick to news, but at least Wisconsin Public Radio has followed suit with pretty much the same type of show. Except on public radio, if your tomatoes are blighting or your ash tree is suffering, you just might hear that it is President Donald Trump’s fault!

Wisconsin Public Radio continues to insult and belittle about half of that state’s residents by spending a lot of time critical of President Trump, members of his cabinet, and those who elected him.

But I was really surprised Sunday to hear a joke about the Amish farmer who was offering Uber or Lift type rides with horse and buggy. The show host said there is no difference; that your driver is a religious wacko in either case.

That sentiment does not seem to apply to Iowa’s Amish, of which there are quite a few.

I suspect there are some Amish in Wisconsin, too. But maybe they are conservative Republicans who voted for Trump.