BEN STEIN'S DIARY: I've Been Everywhere
Stein, Benjamin J.
b e n s t e I n ’ s D I a R y I’ve Been Everywhere by Benjamin J. Stein MsatuRDay ay i tell you where i have been since this year started? Well, I think I might have already told you....
...You have to get one and get to work...
...9) Income inequality on a stunning, staggering scale: the top one-tenth of one percent of Ameri cans own about 50 percent (very roughly) of the nation’s wealth...
...Nations are not ruined by having too many rich people...
...Naturally, we pulled off and looked at it...
...1) The Islamic terrorism challenge at home and abroad...
...5) The energy shortage...
...Anyway, now it’s Saturday and I am doing one of the best things ever on this planet: I am lying on my bed in our home in Malibu (one of the very most modest homes in the 90265 zip code...
...J u l y / a u g u s t 2 0 0 8 t H e a M e R I c a n s P e c t a t o R 8 7...
...I want to especially mention work...
...ben stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu...
...What superstar heroes to save our Capitol or the White House...
...Vulgar, Where is the example of how to fix it...
...Everywhere the military and the military family still show us the way...
...It is all perfect...
...But they are wrecked if the anger of the many toward the few gets out of control...
...How can they have been so utterly without feeling for human life...
...Finding myself in a lovely setting...
...I am making a list in my head of the best things in life: God’s love...
...The music is perfect...
...The dogs are perfect...
...3) The retirement challenge...
...I am watching the palm (12) Lack of community...
...Having lots of good friends...
...It is in the middle of absolutely nowhere...
...So I could see the scenery...
...Plus, they had excellent senses of humor...
...If I have ever been at a more pleasant place, I cannot think what it was...
...My wifey...
...Pennsylvania is an amazingly lovely state, with mountains and valleys and immense swaths of forest...
...If it’s at all possible, even if it takes five or six hours, I go by car...
...Again, both candidates are delusional here...
...Being conscious of the goodness that God has showered upon me...
...So, I think I will just concentrate on enjoying my day...
...Is this how to keep the nation going indefinitely...
...And you can only see a tiny bit of the airplane...
...They are often just coming out of movies, just watching TV series, just shopping...
...Let’s pray that we appreciate them and learn from them...
...This is going to come to a bad end...
...It was also interesting to me that with one or two exceptions, they all worked their way up in their business lives from modest origins...
...11) The absence of civility from the public forum...
...There I was, in my comfy little bed at my apartment at the Watergate, watching the lights of Northern Virginia and imagining that I was being looked after by the spirits of my parents...
...Well, I would guess nothing I can say will change them...
...A war is going on in America and only the police pay any attention...
...The others came from middle-class or lower–middle-class backgrounds...
...This scares me...
...sunDay However, I want to make a list of what the biggest challenges to America are, and send it off to John McCain...
...But just since mid-April, I have been to Toronto, Chicago, Orlando, Dallas, San Diego, D.C., Chicago again, Burlington, Vermont, Henderson, Nevada, Kiawah Island, South Carolina, Ligonier, Pa., D.C., and Toronto again...
...4) The trade and budget deficits...
...I think it’s “Exsultate, Jubilate,” if I have the spelling right...
...And what beautiful scenery it was...
...In Baghdad and ar-Ramadi...
...The situation is far worse than we dare dream about...
...It was compelling to me just how outgoing and selfconfident the board members were and are...
...Having interesting work to do...
...In Kirkuk...
...It is as beautiful a place as I have ever seen, not counting northern Idaho...
...I hate to say it, but I can imagine that happening...
...6) The collapse of education in this great country, at all levels, especially among non-whites...
...But the cards and letters and notes and mementos people have left are really touching...
...Their bank has been carefully managed and they face no serious subprime problems...
...Horrible dirty words everywhere...
...America is falling apart from the bottom up...
...But what heroes there were on that plane...
...The event was at a club called Rolling Rock...
...Simply stunningly bad ideas about energy are coming from Senator Obama and this is going to be very bad news for all of us...
...If and when your bills are paid so you have a roof over you, a modicum of food in your fridge, your car payments made, then you can and should see a movie...
...There are plenty of jobs out there...
...But where will the money come from to save them...
...In Fallujah...
...It was built by the fabulously rich Mellons as a hunting club...
...They are all smart, and all well informed...
...Even amazingly touching...
...2) The war in Iraq...
...How can those highjackers have been so cruel...
...In Walter Reed Army Medical Center...
...10) Wild, insane underfunding of the military...
...7) The collapse of the family in all racial groups but especially among non-whites, where the situation is a super crisis...
...They are the backbone of the nation...
...Again, America is collapsing from the bottom up...
...They literally do not know how to do sustained work that pays their livelihood...
...Yes, two were from socially prominent families...
...We are all sleeping peacefully, listening to Mozart...
...In fact, it’s not “imagining” since I am sure I am...
...Here is what I would say to them if I were not so polite: Folks, you have no right to go to movies or watch TV shows until you have paid your way for the day...
...I have a driver and a comfy Lincoln Town Car, and I get in, go to sleep, wake up, go to McDonald’s, eat one of their fabulous new Southern Chicken sandwiches, look at the faces, get back in the car, and watch the scenery...
...I don’t think so...
...8) Domestic crime, especially gangs...
...Next to me 8 6 t H e a M e R I c a n s P e c t a t o R J u l y / a u g u s t 2 0 0 8 b e n J a M I n J . s t e I n are our two German shorthairs, Brigid and Cleo...
...Then, on to Ligonier to speak at a meeting of the board of directors of a large bank...
...Cr m ude jok r es o . o n i late t a - - great to be alive...
...Well, I think I might have already told you...
...Having plenty to eat...
...Lately Senator McCain has been doing some major delusional thinking about that and Senator Obama doesn’t even have a clue...
...This leads to crime, loo e v g t time in Beverly Hills...
...Too many baby boomers have no money...
...The board of directors were extremely cordial and cheery...
...It is terrifying that these are the people we face in our fight for freedom and security...
...the next day, so we drove through the night, stopped for another Southern Chicken sandwich, and we were home...
...As we were making our way through the landscape we saw a sign for the United Flight 93 Crash Site Memorial...
...Gosh, it’s damn about our neighbors...
...I often find them calling me just to chat...
...It has to stop...
...Ntrees shiver in the slight breeze...
...It is causing problems now and will get a lot worse...
...We need a much bigger, more modern defense force at every level...
...This is inexcusable...
...Lying peacefully next to my dogs...
...I really hated to leave...
...Waking up in America...
...I have a new way of travel...
...We just do n t i i p n s a u e h h o t ng t n a e m e s d t . I V t T h i n ow, i am lying in bed with my dogs again, this se g x-filled m ’ ovies and i TV shows...
...In Mosul...
...ing, lawsuits, every sort of bad thing...
...Just as an example, I had myself driven by my ace driver, Bob Noah, up to Ligonier from D.C...
...What amazingly brave, resolute people...
...We are now largely defenseless against anyone on this planet except by using nuclear arms...
...The sun is perfect...
...They now have golf, a lot of fishing, tennis, and a superb lounge...
...Until then, we people who pay your way want to see you working...
...I was darned impressed...
...With Americans like this, we cannot lose...
...b e n s t e I n ’ s D I a R y I’ve Been Everywhere by Benjamin J. Stein MsatuRDay ay i tell you where i have been since this year started...
...However, I had business in D.C...
...Amazingly, I have a number of friends, plus a close relative, who do not know how to work...
...a few days ago...
...The sun is soaking the ocean and making it glitter...
Vol. 41 • July 2008 • No. 6
