Tony Bender, Forum Communications Journalist Profile

Articles

Post election

Nov 19, 2024 | wahpetondailynews.com | Tony Bender

I realize we’re in our post-election honeymoon period during which everyone has amnesia or hangovers, and platitudes are the order of the day, but in consideration of journalistic integrity — if we’re still doing that — honesty is in order. We can’t “sane-tize” this. This has been the weirdest damn thing. And it may get even weirder. kAmx H6?E E@ 365 62C=J 6=64E:@? 6G6[ 27E6C AC24E:4:?8 7@C E96 A2DD286 @7 |62DFC6 d 367@C6 H2<:?8 H:E9 2 DE2CE :? 2 D62 @7 ~C6@ 4CF>3D[ 4=:4<65 @?
Surviving Thanksgiving

Nov 13, 2024 | wahpetondailynews.com | Tony Bender

Editor’s note: A memory from a Thanksgiving past. I’m going to end the suspense right now. No one died from my Thanksgiving Day dinner. kAmx 5:5 ?@E C62=:K6 E92E 7@C E96 >2?J J62CD x 92G6 366? >2<:?8 EFC<6JD 7@C E96 9@=:52JD[ x 92G6 366? AFEE:?8 A6@A=6 :? >@CE2= 52?86C]k^AmkAm%9:D 2== DE2CE65 =2DE H66<[ H96? x H2D D6EE:?8 FA E23=6D 2?5 492:CD 2?5 7:?2=:K:?8 A=2?D E@ 9@DE @FC 72>:=J %92?<D8:G:?8 :?
Bender: Post-election wait-and-see

Nov 13, 2024 | inforum.com | Tony Bender

I realize we're in our post-election honeymoon period during which everyone has amnesia or hangovers and platitudes are the order of the day, but in consideration of journalistic integrity — if we're still doing that — honesty is in order. We can't “sane-tize” this. This has been the weirdest damn thing. And it may get even weirder.
Bender: Not in Kansas anymore

Nov 5, 2024 | inforum.com | Tony Bender

I was reminded by an email from a friend that May 31, 2017, marked the eighth anniversary of Dr. George Tiller’s assassination. I realized then that it was time for me to finally write about the reality that life is rarely starkly black and white but a palette of grays. I still remember the wail I heard from the cellphone as my wife drove from the hospital in Bismarck. “There’s something wrong with the baby!” Those words echo in my head. That wail.
Spirits in the material world

Nov 5, 2024 | wahpetondailynews.com | Tony Bender

After my Grandma Bender died, my mom could smell whisps of her perfume in our house from time to time. I don’t know the brand — some fruity-sweet old lady perfume — but I think I’d remember it if I smelled it again. I took my Grandma Spilloway for a walk in her wheelchair the day before she died, and a sparrow hopped behind us cheerily. Some believe they’re escorts to heaven. Messengers. Signs. I sensed at the moment that it meant something.
That’s Life: Not in Kansas anymore

Oct 31, 2024 | devilslakejournal.com | Tony Bender

I was reminded by an e-mail from a friend that May 31, 2017, marked the eighth anniversary of Dr. George Tiller’s assassination. I realized then that it was time for me to finally write about the reality that life is rarely starkly black and white but a palate of grays. I still remember the wail I heard from the cell phone as my wife drove from the hospital in Bismarck. “There’s something wrong with the baby!” Those words echo in my head. That wail.
Bender: It's a spiritual battle

Oct 30, 2024 | inforum.com | Tony Bender

It was Labor Day Weekend 2016, and Dylan and I were at Standing Rock when protesters began an unscheduled march. In violation of a restraining order, Dakota Access Pipeline workers had resumed construction of the oil pipeline, scraping away with bulldozers on what Water Protectors called an Indian cemetery. I stopped at a water station under the blistering sun and a man handed me a bottle. Ahead, private security forces set their dogs loose on the crowd, biting men, women, horses … children.
Not in Kansas anymore

Oct 28, 2024 | wahpetondailynews.com | Tony Bender

I was reminded by an e-mail from a friend that May 31, 2017 marked the eighth anniversary of Dr. George Tiller’s assassination. I realized then that it was time for me to finally write about the reality that life is rarely starkly black and white but a palate of grays. I still remember the wail I heard from the cell phone as my wife drove from the hospital in Bismarck. “There’s something wrong with the baby!” Those words echo in my head. That wail. kAmkDA2? 4=2DDlQAC:?E0EC:>Qm%96 H@>2?
Vote for America

Oct 22, 2024 | wahpetondailynews.com | Tony Bender

My bedroom window has begun to glow. Groan. I’ve got problems. It’s Sunday morning. I’d really like to sleep in, but my bladder may have something to say about that. Then there’s that hunk of goo hung up in my bronchial tubes. All impediments to sleeping in. If I just don’t move maybe that tickle in my chest will subside. Gus the Wonder Pug may even let me sleep in. He instinctively seems to know when it’s the weekend. My bladder seems to be quieting down ...
That’s Life: The Big Easy Again

Oct 18, 2024 | devilslakejournal.com | Tony Bender

I couldn’t control my face when we landed. Big smile. I inhaled the familiar air, heavy with humidity and ghosts. Like breathing moss. Hello, old girl. I’m back. Greetings from the prairie. Turn off the news. Ignore the messages. And rules, what rules? It’s impossible to draw New Orleans in precise lines. It’s Dali upside down. It’s Jackson Pollack. Who knows what’s right side up? Paint spilled and lines blurred. Picasso in his Blues Period. Impressionists. Degas after seven glasses of absinth.