He growls, he snarls, he makes a mess and still they smile benignly and applaud.

BBC: Newt Gingrich and his campaign legacy

Even if events unfold so benignly, however, Britain's discourse on the euro crisis remains alarming.

ECONOMIST: Britain and Europe: No laughing matter | The

Groucho is sitting, chin in hand, smiling benignly - but also knowingly, aware of the turmoil ahead.

BBC: Alex Salmond's night at the opera

And their supporters insist that Downing Street is not behind their activities - although it is "watching benignly".

BBC: What the '22 elections mean

But no matter how benignly intended or carefully designed it would have consequences worse than any good it could do.

CNN: Why the UK should avoid muzzling its free press

It is moving to a new set of rules, but whether their interpretation will be benignly flexible or destructively rigid remains unclear.

WSJ: Lessons for Euro From Two Revolutions

But criminal defense attorney Mark Geragos said Lester might not react benignly.

CNN: Donations pour in to Trayvon Martin's killer

Forget what you think you know about the benignly geeky computer programmer who lives for the thrill of finding a single misplaced semicolon in thousands of lines of code.

CNN: In tech, some bemoan the rise of 'brogrammer' culture

We get some twenty-five songs in all, plus testimony from Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, the benignly indiscreet Guy Clark, and Emmylou Harris (who gives every sign of being immortal).

NEWYORKER: Be Here to Love Me

Politicians on the left, unsurprisingly, see things less benignly.

NEWYORKER: State for Sale

They watched benignly as Suleyman Demirel, now Turkey's president, then its intermittent prime minister, cultivated links with the tarikats, religious brotherhoods outlawed by Ataturk, and oversaw the setting up of more than 200 religious schools known as Imam Hatips.

ECONOMIST: The chill descending on Turkey