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Ben Stein's Diary
The Way Life Should Be Lived
Congress and the President need more time on cool mountain lakes.
Wednesday
A beautiful
day in Sandpoint. The sky changed all day from blue to dark gray
and then to blue again. Off to the north I could see immense rain
storms. A workman told me they were having lightning strikes in the
hay fields north of town.
I went to our local bank to get some issues straightened out, was helped by a beautiful young teller, then went out to Wal-Mart, then came home, rested and — with my perfect wifey — went out to meet our pal Tim Farmin on my boat.
We rocketed across the top of Lake Pendoreille in the Cobalt and soon were in the lovely inlet of Hope. The air was cool and crisp with a tiny breeze. We moored at Ivano’s del Lago, a new restaurant on the water. It is part of Ivano’s, a fine Italian restaurant in town, where we (Alex and I) had dinner last night.
The view out over the lake was phenomenal. Clouds, blue water, pink highlights in the air as sundown approached. We ate on a deck with a lovely green lawn running from it to a perfect dock. I wonder who built this dock. It is just a work of art. My friend Dana Martin builds docks. I wonder if he built this one. It is the Sistine Chapel of docks. Concrete and steel. Solid. Just the right height from the boat. I really love it. A good dock makes for a good day.
Then, a spectacularly well-prepared meal, especially delicious fingerling potatoes. Wow, they were good. And great soup and salad and heavenly bread. I am not sure when I have had a better meal. Then a brownie for dessert. I am telling you, this is the way life should be lived. I am on my knees with gratitude to the fighting men and women who make it possible. The meal was inexpensive by big city standards. It was the simple majesty of the setting and the unpretentious deliciousness of the kind of meal a superb backyard barbecue chef would make that made for a memorable evening.
The sky grew more dramatic as we finished. We got in the boat to go and the sky looked as if there were a furnace in the clouds, churning out anthracite gray power.
It was dark by the time we pulled into our dock. A dock at night, lit by small lights, is an evocative scene — to put it mildly. Shelter and adventure all in one place. I never can quite figure out how to get the cover on exactly right but I struggle with it and Tim does if effortlessly.
Then, back to our condo to read about the debt crisis. It is so perfectly heavenly here, just so close to paradise that it’s hard to imagine how torn apart this country is. Everything is together here.
Congress and the President need more time on cool mountain lakes and less time in hot, humid Washington, D.C. As I got ready to turn out the lights, I thought about Somalia. I am going to figure out how much I spent on restaurant meals on this trip and give that much to CARE. Straightforward. I wish I could also give them peace.
About the Author
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (123) | Leave a comment
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W| 7.29.11 @ 6:39AM
Congress and the President spend enough of our money and time in fancy resorts on junkets and "fact finding" missions. They should turn off the air conditioning in DC so they finish their work and go home.
You think spending our money at cool mountain lakes will reduce the deficit?
mames| 7.29.11 @ 12:27PM
Ben has gone soft in the head. As far as I am concerned the congress and our pres belong behind bars with gruel for every meal and sweat running down their back all day long. These are truly evil men.
sly311| 7.29.11 @ 4:52PM
Bravo bravo. We do love Ben though and cut him slack when we need to. It's us who need to spend more time on the lake because I for one am going nuts!
beebop| 7.29.11 @ 5:52PM
Ben puts the zzzzzzzzz in RINO.
joy| 7.29.11 @ 2:52PM
Right on! Like when the conclave of Cardinals gather in the Vatican to elect a pope: Lock down, simple food, shuttered windows, no smoking, no contact with the outside world (nor is the world allowed to penetrate their barrier).
Oh, and Catholic haters don't bother to bore us by responding, you haven't a complaint or insult we haven't heard before.
Alan Brooks| 7.29.11 @ 8:47PM
Many rightist bloggers would rather drown them all in lakes.
Alan Brooks| 7.29.11 @ 10:58PM
why does Margie not like Catholics? she is fair to protestants, Jews, etc.
Even Clint likes Catholics (he is one, after all).
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:19AM
Well, Clint is like a one man band for creating Catholicphobia, but Margie honestly believes the Religion is sinful and masquerading as Christianity.
Me, I stay out of those issues, unless I can twist Clint's tail. As I said before, he's a one man argument for the necessity of Martin Luther.
Alan Brooks| 7.30.11 @ 5:08PM
If Pat Buchanan says the precise same things Clint says, Buchanan gets a book award.
Clint| 7.31.11 @ 10:54AM
He Wouldn't.
And It's Interesting, That The Agnostic ObamaBoy Israel Firster, Brooks Doesn't Practice His Religion.
Clint| 7.31.11 @ 10:56AM
Then Again, Obamaism Is Brooks' Substitute Religion.
Clint| 7.31.11 @ 10:51AM
Interesting, That The Screwball Israel Firster Fanatic Tool Job Uses A Catholic Heretic, As His Monitor.
What's More Screwball, Is For A Jewish American, to Say That Martin Luther Was A "Necessity."
Alan Brooks| 7.31.11 @ 1:18PM
I don't believe , Clint; religion is necessary fiction: people need that escape. Houses of worship are the closest you can get to genuine socialism. Christ, no one is going to agree with EVERYTHING you write, Clint.
my question is, why does Margie-- who is otherwise tolerant-- dislike Catholicism? it's not some Hal Lindsey the-Church-is-Mammon type deal, is it?
Timothy L. Pennell| 7.29.11 @ 7:01AM
Congress needs more time READING about GOD, and our FOUNDING FATHERS.
Our poor babies, in Washington. It's so hot. It's so hard.
Our Founders gave up their Lives, their Property, and their Sacred Honour, to make this Country. They Sacrificed EVERYTHING!
These THINGS that Lord over us, give up NOTHING. They cannot lose their Sacred Honour. For, one does not LOSE, what one NEVER HAD.
They are CORRUPT, DISHONEST, ARROGANT, PETULANT, LIARS, and they would Kill their MOTHER, to move up a square.
They do what's in THEIR interest. They do what they do, for THEMSELVES. They make Laws for US TO OBEY, while exempting themselves. Use OUR MONEY to enrich themselves, back home.(Earmarks) Use OUR MONEY for taking nice Trips to the Islands. (Junkets) For better Health Care than they're planning on giving US. For nice PENSIONS, after only 5 YEARS on the Job.
How is it, that they GO IN, worth a coupla hundred grand (sometimes, a lot less than that) and LEAVE, with MILLIONS in the Bank?
Hmmmmmmmm?
They might want to remember the words of CHRIST, when HE said: "What does it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and lose his Immortal Soul?"
Indeed.
Keith| 7.29.11 @ 1:43PM
Amen!
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 6:33PM
For example, Haym Solomon, who went broke financing the American Revolution.
Alan Brooks| 7.29.11 @ 11:09PM
Jeremiads are fine-- but don't overdo it, Pennell.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:20AM
Dear Alan,
Tim didn't overdo it. Watch and learn. Sorry, Tim, I forgot you when counting up the good people,. Ken, too---that makes 5. (To prevent the destruction of ourt country a la Sodom and Gomorrah.)
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:21AM
Sorry, "our." And there's Navy Brat and Simon Templar and Dr Right---hey, I begin to see why we aren't destroyed, after all! ;)
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:39AM
And Mr. G, of course. I like Stuart, too. There aree plenty I'm sure I've left out.
skip| 7.30.11 @ 12:43PM
A challenge:
RCV
Purpleguy
Jack London
TheRightIsAnythingBut
Respond intelligently, respond honestly, to this article, and I will cease all references of 'pathetic', and cease all references of 'despicable', and cease all references of 'idiot'.
The article is at National Review, by Andrew C. McCarthy, titled "Against the Boehner Plan".
www.nationalreview.com/article.....c-mccarthy
Alan Brooks| 7.30.11 @ 5:11PM
A conservatism that hankers after good taste is fine, but don't imagine the Antichrist's shadow on every wall.
Alan Brooks| 7.30.11 @ 5:13PM
...this is exactly it:
conservatism means to conserve yourselves, too, not get in a frazzle worrying about things excessively.
tsd| 7.29.11 @ 7:48AM
It must be nice to have something left to give away, my stuff is being stolen by these morons in Washington!
mames| 7.29.11 @ 12:29PM
dont let your right hand know what your left is doing. have a nice glass of shut the hell up Ben
Bill Hussein O'Stalin| 7.29.11 @ 7:50AM
I don't think members of the elite would appreciate your quiet lake. I'm sure it's wonderful, but the Ruling Class simply likes to spend money overseas on junkets while the nation suffers.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/.....83862.html
Summer is upon us and that means only one thing in the nation's capital: time for Congress to take a holiday at government expense.
Friday evening, a government jet carrying six House members, four of their wives, three congressional staffers and five members of the military, including an Army doctor in case anyone gets sick along the way, will taxi down the runway at Andrews Air Force Base. Over the next 10 days, the group, led by Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Europe and Eurasia subcommittee, will visit five capital cities: Rome; Tbilisi, Georgia; Vilnius, Lithuania; Moscow and Lisbon.
Despite a debt crisis at home and an economy that will see many private citizens take 'staycations' this summer, this bipartisan congressional delegation, or CODEL, is hardly unusual. In May, Burton led a CODEL to Dublin, Vienna and Prague.
On board for this European trip are two Republicans and four Democrats -- including the non-voting delegate from Guam: Reps.Tom Marino (R-Penn.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.),Theodore Deutch (D-Fla.), Ruben Hinojosa (D-Texas) and Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam).
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 6:32PM
And what will the idiots learn from this?
Now, if they were visiting Kabul, Cairo, Baghdad, Amman, and then Tel-Aviv, that might be worthwhile. But of the cities listed there, only London is worthwhile to American interests, and only for the next 20 years.
Mimi| 7.29.11 @ 7:55AM
Ben...Even the Picture of the quiet lake looked soothing. Ah..h...h..a boat-ride to dinner. Your description of the whole scene brought us there and RELAX we did... for a little while!
In contrast, the WASHINGTON mess ....There are many reasons that the "O" needs to be defeated in 2012 but the best one will be a respite from Chaos , vigilance, watchful, anxious, tension filled darn vigilance! Thanks for the peaceful READ !!
Clint.| 7.29.11 @ 8:23AM
Ahhhhh !
Detroit, in the morning.
Fast Johnny| 7.29.11 @ 8:35AM
Those in the administration could use some time on Mt Bikes and away from the paparazzi, which are all important to them. The only problem is that according to their theories, people should be sequestered in cities and urban environments and only be driving smart cars (try fitting a couple of Mt Bikes on top of one of those) or taking high speed rail somewhere. Living or recreating in the great expanses of the outdoors is something to do on a yacht for them. For the rest of us, we should be enjoying the artificial parks and walking to the coffee shop for a soy latte or a banana broccolli shake. The great expanses of open country create too much independence in the great unwashed masses which are easier to control and parent when concentrated in the population centers. Besides, according to the greenies and left, Mt Biking is too destructive to the environment. Forget it Ben, there is no way to open their eyes, remember you can not wake a person who is pretending to be asleep.
Purpleguy| 7.29.11 @ 8:51AM
Yes, this government is terrible, just awful ... fortunately, it's better than any other in the world. If only you could get out of your right-wing hate-the government-bubble you might be able to see.
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 9:25AM
Better than any other in the world? It used to be. You greedy, vengeful, parasitic nihilists have fixed that.
Now we're just another sclerotic, inert social democracy ossified by regulation, starved by the cancerous greed of people like you, but sufficiently distracted - for the moment - by our collective wallow in narcissistic decadence and our insistence on believing in fantastical mythology in lieu of reality.
America now resembers Amy Winehouse in her last weeks of frenetic partying: More buzz, more stimulus, more indulgence in that which will kill us.
When Americans like you exist in numbers large enough to elect a reprobate sociopathic boob like Obama to the highest office in the country - and then bask in the glow of his utterly fictitious heroism - we deserve what's coming our way.
Which, I guarantee, will wipe that unctious smile off of your greedy, hate-filled face.
wally| 7.29.11 @ 10:12AM
Amen.
Purpleguy| 7.29.11 @ 11:38AM
You see what's happening in the House? And you call anyone else a boob? You elected a bunch of fools that don't have a clue how to legislate a thing. Actually, Obama has been so far from socialist, many liberals don't like him. He has tried way too much to satisfy your side and he should just shove it up yours.
But 2012 will do that, the American people are seeing what the Tea Party has wrought - and they don't like it. Fix the deficit, but today borrowing by the largest corporations has ceased - so the slide into the Great Depression II has started. Enjoy the ride - your side will be blamed - then you can get in line for soup.
John Corn| 7.29.11 @ 11:27PM
"Actually, Obama has been so far from socialist, many liberals don't like him." your're correct: seizing GM and Chrysler and now, your EPA regulating mileage to a standard that no manufacturer in the world can meet unless they try, but fail, after adding at least $9,000 to the cost of cars that the public won't want. As if that weren't enough, the EPA, non-elected and non accountable is regulating CO2, which every one of us emits, which will shut down coal burning power plants, darkening business and homes and dealing another death blow to our staggering economy.
He's worse than a socialist. November of next year can't come soon enough. It will be a very tough battle to undo all the damage he and his sycophants have wrought.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:36AM
If this is him trying to "satisfy" my side, I don't want to see him attempting to oppose me. The only things he's done that I approve of since taking office:
1)Drone attacks---although I would have preferred capturing and squeezing. Remember---"bones are not organs!"
2) Shooting the pirates (although apparently not ordered by him)
3) Killing Osama (he should have been captured and squeezed and then killed, but satisfactory)---this was an obvious call to a brain damaged skunk; not a "gutsy" call.
4) Preventing tax hikes during a recession---which he was forced to do after the elections.
Otherwise, he has sucked real hard in everything he's done.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:37AM
(Actually, bones are organs---but from the point of view of the interrogator, bones can be set and heal without significant physical problems if the breaking is done right.)
Richard Davis| 7.29.11 @ 11:43AM
Pretty much completely an ad hominem attack replete with an impressive display of adjectives.
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 11:52AM
Not all that impressive; Purple guy is clearly an acolyte of the demented and foolish ivory-tower garden gnome Paul Krugman.
Purple guy thinks that as long as there's a printing press, there's no problem. Just print money! Duh. Fiscal sanity is, like, sooo unhip.
As long as Purple guy gets his food stamps or government grant or whichever method he's using to grift off of the taxpayer, he's happy.
I'm sorry, but anyone who doesn't see that Obama is an absolute puerile phony is willfully blind. Given his obstinate benightedness, I do hope Purple guy doesn't have a driver's license.
Yeah, the Tea Party is evil - god forbid we don't continue to borrow $188 million an hour every hour of every day of every year just to maintain the current level of government spending. Those bastards in the Tea Party actually want fiscal responsibility - or, at a minimum, a return to reality.
What killjoys.
Purpleguy| 7.29.11 @ 12:24PM
Fiscal responsibility is a good thing - but you really think that's what's going on in the House? Seriously? If you think the Tea Partiers are being responsible, I hope you don't have any children to continue your brainpower genes.
All that's going on is grandstanding politics to keep their seat in Congress and to win the game - as if our economy and lives are games to play with. When everybody loses as the economy tanks - no one wins ... that's fiscally responsible? Really?
W| 7.29.11 @ 1:22PM
Purp,what specific cuts would you make and what taxes, to what rate, would you enact, if you were dictator (like O thinks he is). give us you plan for fiscal responsibility. It is easy to criticize the House because they have the only written plan subject to scrutiny. Obama gives speeches and whines, like the lefties here.
skip| 7.29.11 @ 3:29PM
"To make matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more." (Barack Obama (democrat), the President of the United States of America, in a televised speech to the nation, July 25, 2011)
"They don't just want to make cuts. They want to destroy. They want to destroy food safety, clean air, clean water, the Department of Education. They want to destroy your rights. (Nancy Pelosi (democrat), the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, in a televised speech on Capitol Hill, July 26, 2011)
Imminently dendrologic fertilizing idiot.
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 11:57AM
Oh, excuse me - I thought you were responding to Purple Guy.
I didn't realize you were part of his band of thieves.
My mistake.
Purpleguy| 7.29.11 @ 12:24PM
Just pay your taxes and go back to your cave...
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 12:28PM
Zzzzzzzzing!
Whoa! Your wit is blinding me!
So I have to pay my taxes so you can pick you your welfare check, right?
If you had to live away from the teat of the nanny state, you wouldn't last five days.
Which is yet one more reason why the nanny state should be abolished.
barryjo| 7.30.11 @ 12:27AM
I don't think "hate for the government" is only a right-wing emotion.
Intelligent Design| 7.29.11 @ 9:04AM
We got a lot of new faces in DC last November. We need a lot more new faces, new ideas.
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 9:12AM
Happily, I have lowered my blood pressure and improved my overall health - both mental and physical - since I decided to avoid every single sentence uttered by Ben Stein, both in print and via his all-too-frequent appearances on TV, in which he invariably begs the government to take more of his money, the poor schmuck. I feel his pain.
Limousine liberals just aren't my bag, man.
Also, the last time I read one of his treacly, mawkish homages to the good life, I went into insulin shock and damn near died.
Purpleguy| 7.29.11 @ 11:39AM
Troglodyte conservatives are better?
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 12:12PM
That's an oxymoron, moron.
Fiscal conservatives are enlightened. They have met reality. They believe reality is their friend.
Among other misconceptions/fantasies/lies under which you operate, you think liberals/Democrats/leftists/progressives are GOOD. They CARE. They are going to little secular heaven.
You think conservatives/Republicans/Constitutionalists/libertarians are selfish, greedy, evil troglodytes who are going to secular hell.
And that simplistic duality is the extent of your world view, amplified by the echo chamber of propaganda propounded by mendacious enablers like Krugman and our very impressive class of liberal crooks - excuse me, leaders - like Obama, Pelosi, Reid and their lickspittles in the media like NBC/CBS/ABC, NY Times, Huffpo, Daily Kos, Media Matters, Maher, Stewart, Letterman, Michael Moore, etc.
And so all of the empirical evidence that government is destructive, greedy and wasteful, and that liberals are hypocrites who have no intention of living as they want to force others to live, just washes over you.
Must be nice to have the freedom to be an utter parasite but absolved of all of your flaws because you pay lip service to insisting that one group of people you don't know give their hard-earned money to another group of people you don't know.
Gee, the requirements to get into secular heaven are pretty minimal, aren't they?
So cocooned are you in your little NPR fantasy - or is it an opportunitistic scam? - that cause-and-effect do not impinge on you one iota.
Of which fact you are apparently very proud.
To the extent, aparently, that you can look at Barack Obama and not see a monument to stupidity that rivals the Colossus of Rhodes for sheer obviousness.
Purpleguy| 7.29.11 @ 12:28PM
Conservatives needed Christine O'Donnell in the Congress for some witchcraft to match the magical thinking in the House that a far-right wing bill will ever become law. By defaulting, or now it may be too late, we lose our AAA bond rating, 1.5 Trillion additional dollars or more will be incurred on the deficit to pay higher interest on the bonds the Treasury issues - Moreover, EVERYONE will be taxed a hidden tax coming to you via the Tea Party Imbeciles on your mortgage, your credit card, anything you owe. And, you think America will forget who did that? Not a chance ....
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 12:37PM
Hey, earth to idiot:
The debt ceiling debate is moot.
We are already over the cliff. And interest rates are going to HAVE to go up. Bernanke's zero-rate canard hasn't done squat to move this economy off the dime, in case you haven't noticed.
So he'll continue to do what they've been doing since 2008 - debauch the currency. Which will do what? Raise the cost of everything. Or does your Keynesian magic want prohibit you from understanding inflation?
Guess what happens when that transpires, thief? The triple A rating - which is a bullshit scam in and of itself - will be just one drop of water in the deluge of fiscal assumptions that will be washed away by reality.
At least it'll wash parasites like you down the drain.
Purpleguy| 7.29.11 @ 1:37PM
Yep, thanks to the Tea Party and the House ginning up this self-inflicted wound - good job jerk. Yep, over the cliff, you first ... but I'll be fine ... a lot of others may not be. I have plenty put away - but you will lose your government supported paychecks.
Those who will not see must suffer. You deserve what you get idiot-boy.
Al Adab| 7.29.11 @ 2:30PM
Sorry Purp:
Clearly it is the Senate under the direction of Reid that is refusing to compromise. If there is an impasse it is because that august body refuses to offer any rational alternatives. Obviously the WH is stonewalling fofr some erstwhile political gain.
Have a great weekend GRZ.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:31AM
Mr. G: Perfect, as usual. Of course, do consider that to be sentient, a certain amount of neural tissue "hardware" is necessary. Evidence that Purpleguy has met that criterion?
Al Adab| 7.29.11 @ 2:31PM
Purp:
Bad analogy. According to Plato all humankind lives in the cave.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:22AM
Yup. TCs are better than Libs.
idalily| 7.30.11 @ 5:14PM
Ben's right about Sandpoint and Lake Pend Oreille though. Speaking as a native Idahoan, I can say that area is one of the Earth's most beautiful and tranquil places.
Steve A| 7.29.11 @ 9:23AM
Grz, I feel your pain, man. This guy is truly a piece of work. Every now & then, he will mix in a winner, but when it comes to Econ 101, he throws up a clunker every time. He knows just enough to be dangerously ignorant of any & all historical accounts of taxes & liberal economic theology. He has a good heart, but is truly a moron when it boils down to the realistic results of his utopian vision.
Grzmlyk| 7.29.11 @ 9:40AM
Hi Steve:
I agree - but I'm not sure how good a heart he has. He suffers from the guilt of success combined with a fatal liberal perspective on the world (notwithstanding the occasional sop he tosses to neoconservatism).
And so he wants to tie himself to the government whipping post and be flogged in the public square simply because he wants the peasants to love him.
He wants to pay more to the Nanny State because he's purchasing a decadent luxury, like a chocaholic who can't wait bite into the silken texture of an expensive truffle. Ah, the creamy nougat of absolution for all of your sins is positively delicious.
And if you can afford to indulge your every vanity-inspired whim, I guess that's your right. But I'm not keen on him shoving it in my face like a kindergartner proud of his drawing and wanting everlasting praise for it.
Ben, shut the hell up and just sign over all of your damn wealth to Uncle Sam. Live on $50k a year if you really want to purchase sainthood.
Until then, you're just buying a really cool toy.
W| 7.29.11 @ 6:14PM
G-man, sheik Al, Skip, OT, all great posts.have a good weekend
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 6:27PM
You too, W. I will not be posting next week as I will be listening to a fantastic series of lectures in my specialty from Dr. Fred Goodwin. I am superstoked.
Mr. G, magnificent work in dealing with the underbridge dude, and the rest of you guys know that I appreciate you much. G-d Bless.
Al Adab| 7.29.11 @ 6:37PM
You will be missed O/T but maybe W and the rest of us can share a couple thoughts.
W| 7.29.11 @ 10:11PM
Will try AL, but can't replace Occam. By the way,OT, you referenced Maimonides a while back, and had been meaning to read about him. Today I bought Joel Kraemer's biography titled "Maimonides, the life and world of one of civilization's greatest minds." The first chapter about Jewish life in Cordoba under the Muslims is revealing to today's problems. At first there was a "liberal" Muslim regime, but then the hardliners,like today's Wahhabists, took over, and you can guess the rest. Fascinating man.
Enjoy yourself, OT, and you can enlighten us on your return.
Al Adab| 7.30.11 @ 12:13AM
That is a good enlightening read W. Hope you enjoy it. The book of course has an honored place on my shelf. See you next month (Monday) in Ramadan.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:23AM
You are so nice, W! This blog gives me a place to think. I love it, even with the trogs.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:30AM
How nice you thought of me, W. That is very meaningful. Thanks.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 2:27PM
I forgot. Steve A is another great guy.
W| 7.29.11 @ 10:05AM
Ben's father was Herbert Stein, economist to Richard Nixon. I like Nixon, especially his foreign policy, but he ageed to wage-price controls, which even Dems have not tried. Stein had to influence Nixon on the terrible economic decisions Nixon made such as the controls. Like father , like son.
Al Adab| 7.29.11 @ 11:02AM
Very good point. The less time they spend "solving problems" for us, the safer we are.
Maybe it would be worth our while to give the agency and department employees about 250 leave days per year. Keep them on the payroll at no additional cost, but with the buildings closed up we would see big savings on operations. Also there would be no further regulations emanating from the hallow halls of bureaucracy. Just a modest proposal.
RCV| 7.29.11 @ 11:06AM
Thanks, Ben, once again. You are a good and decent person.
Bob K.| 7.29.11 @ 11:38AM
That's it Ben! Rub it in!
Next time invite Henry Regnery, Wlady and RETjr to join you there for a week of rejuvenation far away from all of the underclass.
Your visit to that great chinese outlet store on your arrival was a nice touch! Helps you to keep
in touch, doesn't it?
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.29.11 @ 11:42AM
Ben,
I'm guessing you have worked very hard, (mentally), for a very long time. Right or wrong, you have been a presence...for a very long time.
Question: did you dip a line for fresh fish on your trip? Or...did you simply enjoy...again...the hard work of a fisherman.
Ben,
a personal request; since you have profited hugely from "America" won't you please RAISE SOME HELL so maybe a lot more hard-working Americans can enjoy some of your neat times?
Your diary has become miss Pollyanna.
Our country is choking, and you talk about sunsets.
Sorry. I am still trying to save our republic.
RCV| 7.29.11 @ 1:40PM
Yes, by bringing it crashing down. (See Ken's other post today.) There is a big difference between the real "producers" -- the bright, entrepreneurial young folks in Silicon Valley and elsewhere around our great nation who, every day use their brains and their energy to create new modern technology -- and the tired old whiners who think that by hunkering down and "keeping their powder dry" they can transform the country back into their memories of life in "the good old days." This isn't one of those silly Ayn Rand fantasy novels.
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 7.29.11 @ 3:41PM
I don't bother with silly reality of providing the answer for any reader wondering if it is conceivable anyone can post more intellectually dishonestly than Purpleguy while providing yet another post on intellectually dishonest fantasy on wondering how enormous was the national debt exactly and how many 'legal' partially born abortions were there exactly in "the good old days" anyway matters.
RCV| 7.29.11 @ 7:22PM
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz......
Reprobate Charlatan Vomitus| 7.29.11 @ 8:47PM
I don't bother with silly keeping practizzzzzze on standard pathetic lacking any shred of intelligenzzzzzze same old responzzzzzze on pondering the pending mazzzzzzive quantity of abuzzzzzze to be received here at AmZzzzzzzpec during the democratic national convention next summer when the petulant dithering idiot liar in chief publicly breaks down trailing in polls to Perry 56% to 37% and falling even as delegates implode over determining an actual nominee preferably anybody but the petulant dithering idiot liar in chief the geniuzzzzzz RZV guaranteed will be reelected while wishing for the good old dayzzzzzz matterzzzzzz........
Ken (Old Texican)| 7.29.11 @ 7:54PM
Yep,
keep your powder dry, guys. If you don't, the RCVs and the IRS will bleed you to death with a ball-point pen.
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 2:17PM
Ben,
instead of giving to CARE, why don't you give some money to this organization, GI Pizza, and buy some pizza for for our guys overseas.
http://gipizza.org
There's also one for Clint: http://pizzaidf.org that does the same thing for the terrorist fighters of Zahal.
GI PIzza
Pizzaidf.
I have no financial interest in either. Now I go back to my cave in Barbados to further screw up Clint's money supply. Cheers.
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 2:20PM
I love the way Ben brags about our troops each time, and then gives money to assholes who do NOT support our troops.
The USO is also worthy, Ben.
Al Adab| 7.29.11 @ 2:26PM
USO is on my list O/T.
Interesting isn't it how the Left funds it's groups through taxpayer money while the right (and real charities) are funded privately.
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 4:54PM
I would expect that of a Prince among Men like you, Al. (No sarcasm; pure admiration)
Al Adab| 7.29.11 @ 5:40PM
Only a simple bedoin sheik, but thank you for the thought.
Someday, we all really do have to meet up for bar-B-que and beverage
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 6:27PM
Indeed. ;)
Stefan Stackhouse| 7.29.11 @ 12:59PM
Mr. Stein:
In my more uncharitable moments, my wish would not be that they be sent TO the lake, but rather dropped IN it!
A good ignominious soaking in chilled mountain water might actually have a positive effect. Something is surely needed.
Best regards,
Stefan Stackhouse
Black Mountain, NC
idalily| 7.30.11 @ 5:17PM
The way Idahoans feel right now, Stefan, they might not get as far as the lake. Tar and feathers might make a very quick comeback if those idiots from DC ever showed up in my state.
shipley130| 7.30.11 @ 11:54PM
Good idea. I suggested a nice drag down the Salmon River in Idaho. Something to jar their noggins in DC.
Ken Winzen Sr.| 7.29.11 @ 4:51PM
Great Article, Mr. Stein,
I like your articles and listening to you on the radio and TV.
I am a Senior Citizen of almost 73, and I tired of hearing about this Debt thing. Just run the Government like a good home finance, you don't spend what you don't have. My older brother that I lost over 10 years ago, used to spend what he though he might make. His children always had great things that my kiddos did not have. I tried to explain to my youngsters that you need to have the money before you spend it. Now that they are older and have their own families they understand why their uncle never owned a home, and was always having Cars and Furniture reposed. All my children have their own homes and own several businesses, and my grandchildren think they are way to tight with their money?
Enjoy the Lake and the Boat rides, and keep telling good stories. God Bless!
Chris Ruetenik| 7.29.11 @ 5:19PM
I always enjoy your musings, Ben. Thanks for another great read.
D.A. Williams| 7.29.11 @ 5:23PM
Mr. stein tells a great story, and I agree with everything he said but one. I can't imagine Obama in good conscience could take yet another vacation. Thats just the problem He has been playing too much golf, taking too many vacations, been out of the office too many times of bogus trips. He needs to be locked in his office, and required to fulfil the duties and responsibilities of the office he unfortunately holds. My theory is that the reason his is "out of the office" so much, is due to the fact that he is so intimidated by the great people who have occupied it, and is so incompetent, that the office is a very scary place for him. He knows he cannot hold a candle to any of his predessors, including Jimmy Carter, so instead of digging in and working, he relys on what he know best. Giving inane, meaningless speeches that are mostly B.S., or flying to all points of the globe, doing his community organizing pep rallys, that also are B.S. The one good thing, is that finally a good majority of people who voted for him, now realize his incompetence, and that he is an empty suit!! So Mr. Stein. No more trips to anywhere for Obama!!!!!
sandpiper| 7.29.11 @ 6:39PM
Every time Ben Stein pays homage to our troops it is to thank them for protecting the opulence he enjoys - in Malibu, in Beverly Hills, in Idaho, in first class on a plane, in the cushy back seat of his limo, for his kow-towing limo driver, the five-star restaurant, the soft bed in the presidential suite, the Godiva chocolate he found on the pillow, now melting in his mouth. And all because troops don't mind choking on sand in some God-forsken hell-hole dodging car bombs to preserve your way of life.
Where are they sleeping tonight Ben? What did they have for dinner? A better way to show your appreciation would be to send a fat check to the LAX USO, every time you go out to dinner - for returning troops to have a decent meal.
Talk is cheap, Ben. When you express your thanks, make it for something less "entitled" than your personal lush life. It is getting tedious.When you aren't talking about the wonderfulness of your life, you are whining about the chore of writing checks.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:29AM
Absolutely correct, Sandpiper. Instead he spends it on CARE, which no doubt derails some into the pockets of a Left wing asshole administrator.
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 7:32PM
Ben: My life is wonderful, I know a beautiful Call Girl/Waitress/Stewardess, my meal was great, I have a great wife, I have a driver for my car, I have a home in Beverly Hills AND Malibu, my taxes should be raised, Goodness how I agonize about my finances as I'm not rich, psychotropic drugs are dangerous things, thank goodness for my shrink.
Oh, and important people should be treated differently by the Law.
Did I miss anything, folks?
Al Adab| 7.29.11 @ 7:55PM
How many case studies for your specialty might you find among those posting here? Enjoy your conference and see you on the flip side.
BTW, Monday is first day of Ramadan; a good day for bar-B-ques and beverege. Have one and think of us.
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 9:40PM
Indeed, I shall participate in the eating of Pork in a Higher Cause on Monday.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 11:27AM
Lots, I 'm sure---but some very cool people, as well. Have you read Stuart Koehl's military works? Really good stuff.
I am fortunate in that the nurses and SWs I work with know I'm weird, but love me any way. I do fascinating work, work with very dedicated people, treat very sick folks in a rural isolated area, have 2 great kids, a Saint for a wife, and very good friends. I am truly blessed because G-d has blessed me. Geez Ben hacks me.
Margie| 7.30.11 @ 1:17PM
You are blessed indeed, O.T!
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 2:28PM
Margie, you are very very right. I also have great pen pals! ;)
scott tucker| 7.29.11 @ 7:48PM
Ignore the angry anarchist haters like Sandpiper Ben! Wealthy people should never be ashamed of spending money, thus STIMULATING THE ENONOMY! HELLO! I don't know any poor people offering jobs, do you? I've been unemployed more than two years, and I love Ben! Liberal elitists like Barack Obama is who Sandpiper should be angry at! Doesn't everyone want to have the opportunity to be even half as wealthy as Ben? Peasants is what liberals think are good citizens, allowing them to continually screw them over and tell them it's for thier own good. God forbid Ben should become another liberal hack who says "I support our troops," while they seek to slash the military they overtly despise! People like Sandpiper are the thorns in life, who always piously claim to be "open-minded" as they are telling everyone they disagree with to SHUT UP! A Taliban mind not only thinks all other viewpoints are invalid, but something to be destroyed. You can't fix stupid, and you can't have a rational conversation with a crazy person. I wonder, is Sandpiper the same burly jerk that that Ben had the displeasure of running into in that remote Militia Bar on his last trip in the woods?
Occam's Tool| 7.29.11 @ 9:42PM
Now, it's not Ben spending money, Mr. Tucker, that we find annoying. It's his desire to raise taxes on people who might invest in Jobs and believing that important people are entitled to more consideration under the law that annoys.
May G-d Bless you and may you get work soon. You are a patriot who deserves to.
Russ| 7.30.11 @ 8:32AM
You don't know any poor people offering jobs? Well they may not do so directly but look at all the openings they create in the penal system, the welfare system, the police department... just to name a few. I'm not bashing those who are truly needy through no fault of their own, but the ones who have been raised that being "poor" and living off the government is just a valid life choice. Those folks create a lot of jobs - which they themselves do not want, heaven forbid, nor do they contribute a thing to society to help pay for them.
Fred Campbell| 7.29.11 @ 9:43PM
Thank you, Ben, for reminding us to treasure the little things. Things that help keep us human and appreciative of God's blessings and our need for each other.
POST American| 7.29.11 @ 11:53PM
---Nice piece.
BTW ---for a highly relevant '70's Show'
blast from the past CHECK OUT
Declassified State Department memo 200
You will see then US Ambassador to RED
China Bush Sr. laying out 'the agenda'.
--------------------RESOLVED----------------------
RED China to be 'brought in and brought up'
as world industrial base and eventual top of
the NWO pyramid.
The US to be systematically sold out and
brought down to third world status via
de-industrialisation and a 'service' economy.
ALL this contingent on RED China, already
history's undisputed leader in genocide,
embracing aggressive EUGENICS programs,
and selective extermination of elements of
their own society.
AGAIN, check this out.
And then break out the etymology on those
words TRAITOR and TREASON.
Just a little '70's Show' fun you might have missed
out on first time around.
And IF you enjoy it start getting into some 50's and 40's show fun too -----like HUAC and NUREMBERG.
Seems this fun has no bottom!
REALLY
Russ| 7.30.11 @ 8:30AM
Yes, this is how life should be lived - with the rewards of education and work being some comfort and pleasure and (gasp) luxury - not a government guaranteed minimal existence in an apartment with coupons to buy food and programs to provide ones basic needs. Those who work and prosper built this country; those who sit and draw off the work of others are bringing it down. That I might add includes our pathetic Marxist President Obama.
Nightwing| 7.30.11 @ 1:47PM
Thanks Ben for a glimpse into the carefree leisure lifestyle of the rich and comfortable.
I'm glad you had a pleasant evening.
Oh....just one small thing, in case you didn't know.....
Beautiful sunsets are FREE.
Even us peasants can enjoy them.
Occam's Tool| 7.30.11 @ 2:31PM
Again, you understand---I don't mind that Ben enjoys the benefits of a wealthy lifestyle in a great country. I do resent his desire to see people taxed more, and his support of litigation as a social good. I resent his giving money to CARE instead of the USO, when he praises servicepeople but does not support them with his wallet, instead supporting a Left Wing charity.
These are things that bug me about Ben. Please, enjoy your steak---just don't make it harder for me to enjoy it, too.
Chris Ruetenik| 7.30.11 @ 4:25PM
Wow, I see a lot of very ugly comments from a lot of very ugly Americans. Class envy and jealousy are rampant above. Some of you people are completely unhinged.
wodiej| 7.30.11 @ 6:28PM
I agree. Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference.
wodiej| 7.30.11 @ 6:25PM
This was a great story and apparently the meaning was lost on many. This story represents the American dream that many of us have. We don't want to live in a mansion, have a million in our bank account and drive a porsche. We just want to know that we can have steaks on the grill, take a boat ride on the lake, take a weekend trip, have friends over for a cocktail, go visit a loved one in another state, donate to our favorite charity or just help someone in need or attend a political rally without having to worry if we can FRIGGING AFFORD IT!
D Roamer | 7.30.11 @ 7:40PM
Take some time to just sit and stare.
shipley130| 7.30.11 @ 11:50PM
I would like to take some of those DCers on a trip in my Idaho. Hog tie their feet with one end of the rope, tie the other end to a raft and set the raft adrift down the Salmon River. Now that's refreshing.
shipley130| 7.30.11 @ 11:58PM
Ben Stein,
I think you are a well meaning person, but why don't you write that check to the US treasury instead of CARE? These third world countries have survived for thousands of years without our "interference" and it's time we let them get back to their own nature.
rob| 7.31.11 @ 12:02AM
Peace in Somalia and elsewhere, like here in the US in 1813, comes after the threats have gone away.
To favor Peace is to favor breathing. The question is, what is one [person, nation] willing to do to achieve it/secure it? It seems we are willing to do less and less.
I don't usually respond to articles, but I like yours, and a close friend was in command of the sniper team that was our last best effort to shoot Adid in Mogadishu. He hunted that S.O.B. for weeks, but could not put crosshairs on him. The result was that we sent in Rangers and a Delta Team that became BlackHawk Down. My friend still bears the guilt of those men's deaths.
It is the effort to separate the monsters from the meek, that we pray will provide the atmosphere for Peace.
mzk1| 7.31.11 @ 2:06AM
Occam: How do you know Ben doesn't give to the USO?
P.S. My Dad is always greatful to them for what they did when he was in the Service (Korean era).
mzk1| 7.31.11 @ 2:07AM
Oh, BTW, our capital is in Jerusalem, not Tel Aviv. Tel Aviv is too much like Manhattan, anyway, Otherwise a good idea.
mzk1| 7.31.11 @ 2:17AM
Monday is the beginning of Ramadan? Co-indecentally, it is also the beginning of the month the Temple (you know, in Jerusalem, on that mountain the Moslems are turning into one huge mosque), starts, and Western Jews do not eat meat or drink wine until after the anniversary of the destruction. (Eastern Jews stop next week.)
BTW, whatisname in the IMF was basically found to be innocent, so it looks like Ben had a point. Famous people are constant targets, and we wnned to take that stuff with a grain of salt. Remember the idiotic allegations that Bush I had an affair? (Not that whatisname did not have a reputation; I am referrignto the rape charge.)
Clinton Lovell| 7.31.11 @ 10:24AM
Ben, Ben, Ben... Just saw your segment on Sunday Morning and - once again - had to listen to you try and explain away why the Bush Tax Cuts raised record revenues and watch you try to say that government spending produces prosperity.
Your place in history will be right by that of your father - a man who failed to see the forest because he drowned in a sea of corruption.
Government spending can't produce prosperity, Ben. If it could, we would have no poor people in our society; they would simply mimic the government and borrow and spend and consume until they were prosperous once again. That hasn't happened in your lifetime, in your father's lifetime or that of anyone else.
Time to find a quiet lake and throw yourself in it.
Tim smith| 7.31.11 @ 10:55PM
Mr. Stein
While I appreciate your passion for the beauty rural parts of the West it would have been nice if you would have fought the fight we who are tied to the ground and its resources have for the last 30 years. Somehow your words ring hollow as we see the only ones who are left to brag and opine of the virtues of rural life are the one who made their living elsewhere and then came in to enjoy what the true stewards of the land and its resources have maintained for all these years, just to have it turned over to city folks who really have no clue what it really means to live with the land. Have a nice life in the world we working people left to the elitists.. We are not the proud military you praise and we love, but we have fought our battles long, hard and unrelenting so you can come to our world and find peace here. Remember that also when you lay your head down each night.
John.in.Georgia| 8.1.11 @ 12:28AM
Hey Ben, Those jokers in D.C. spend enough of our money traveling around on their junkets. And to think that you want them to share in your peace and tranquility boggles the common sensical mind. I only wish I could afford to find a place so far removed from those dingbats and their shenanigans that I would never see or hear of their imcompetence again.
Bill S| 8.1.11 @ 1:42AM
Hitler often came down from cool mountain lakes with more ideas of the evil deeds he could commit. So do American liberals.
fwb| 8.1.11 @ 1:59PM
Why would we want to ruin two places? Leave the azzholes in DC and let the rest of us enjoy the lakes and mountains.
Dinah| 9.8.11 @ 1:40AM
Next time try out another local fav, Dover Bay Cafe. Also, donate to Kinderhaven, Sandpoint. They do amazing work for kids in immediate crisis. Be safe and come in the wintertime too...