On this special day, The New York Times runs an obituary for Fernande Grudet, a high-society French madam. What? Under the name of Madame Claude, she ran a deluxe call-girl ring in Paris in the Sixties and Seventies. And? The ring attracted world leaders, business executives, and playboys. Of course, the newspaper fails to mention leading journalists and newspaper editors of renown. Anyhow, she was ninety-two. The obituary delights me, and especially on this day so special across Christendom. It says a great deal about this floundering civilization of ours. While the bells toll and priests go on and on about the one on high, his son, and the holy spirit, even the best among the world newspapers dip into the mire. Homo sapiens in all its glory…