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Ben Stein's Diary
Back in Touch
This hasn’t been a good time.
Wednesday
Dear Diary,
I am sorry I have not been in touch for a little while. I am besieged. My wife, the glory of humanity, the finest person on God’s earth, has been ill, and this worries me profoundly and also keeps me busy shopping, bill paying, cooking. If she does not get well soon, we will take her to the Mayo Clinic for a work up. She is truly the most wonderful human that I have ever even heard of. Please pray for her.
Second, I am working day and night on preparation for litigation which may come at any moment involving a spasm of totally, absolutely false allegations of misbehavior by me towards a makeup artist, involving employment discrimination and harassment.
To those of you who have come to know me over the years, these allegations will be actually funny if they ever become known. But in today’s world, I have to work like a beaver and spend a lot of money to prepare my defense (and offense). My nemesis is represented by a super star celebrity woman attorney who is also an extremely close friend of the woman in question. This will be interesting but it consumes a lot of time. (On the other hand, it organizes my day.)
I also have been down thinking about Mr. and Mrs. Richard Nixon, the peacemakers. There are some people who start wars and some who finish wars. Nixon was a peacemaker. He just had his 99th birthday. Mrs. Patricia Ryan Nixon (I LOVE THE IRISH) had her centenary.
When I think of their crucifixion by the left and the media pooh-bahs, I still weep. Peacemakers always get crucified. But Mrs. Nixon took all of it with such aplomb, with such courage, with such good humor (I had the extreme honor of knowing her in person although only a little bit — her wit was brilliant… she once said to me, “Julie talks about you so much…it makes me sick.” But she said it with a great colleen’s smile) that it made her a genuine hero.
I think of Mrs. Nixon constantly. There she was — the Christian in the Colosseum, attacked by the monsters in their fur coats and all she had was her “good Republican cloth coat” and the courage and spiritual strength of a saint and the love of a spectacularly good family. Surely she must occupy a special place in heaven.
I will be back in touch soon.
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.
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gearjammer| 1.12.12 @ 7:46AM
Best of luck. Fight back with all you have. If, these kind of monsters can attack and maul a decent president and his good wife, or a fine man like you, a man with some power and resources, well what can they do to the average guy or gal who they decide to target ? Savage people have money, power and other assets at their beck and call, and seem to go unchecked. Lies are their most obvious weapon. We need to identify these monsters and once and for all smash them. The geatest medical system in the world will help your wife. have faith.
Alan Brooks| 1.12.12 @ 9:43PM
After 12 years of the Bushes, one is a mite more appreciative of both Nixon and his wife. Hell, I even miss G. Gordon Liddy-
he was comic relief.
Jeff R| 1.12.12 @ 8:36AM
Yes, prayers for your wife, Ben.
Jack in Wi.| 1.12.12 @ 8:40AM
Prayers and best wishes.
Laura V.| 1.12.12 @ 8:40AM
Makeup artist?
False allegations of misbehavior involving employment discrimination and harassment?
Is this another of Ben's jokes?
But surely he wouldn't make a joke immediately after expressing concern for his wife's illness.
One of Ben's stranger posts, for sure.
Harassment? What kind?
Cabermon| 1.12.12 @ 9:18AM
Laura, I'm guessing that Mr. Stein would like to share the details of the case, but usually legal advice and often judge's instructions are to not discuss any specifics of the case with anyone prior to adjudication. All will become known in the fullness of time.
cvrgrl| 1.12.12 @ 9:38AM
is he just another rat? what is up with the men of today? just like the men of yesterday, alas...
Tim the Enchanter| 1.12.12 @ 2:54PM
Could say the same about the feminine gender. Lots of women, but very few ladies.
Alan Brooks| 1.12.12 @ 9:47PM
Men are much worse than women- BUT, men built this world. I always say to vegetarians:
meat may be "bad",
however the guys who built this world ate meat, and drank, and all the rest of it.
chuck| 1.12.12 @ 8:55AM
Praying for you and your wife.
Vern Crisler| 1.12.12 @ 9:29AM
Hoping your wife gets well soon Ben. We need you in good operating spirits.
Nixon? A little too Machiavellian for me.
Alan Brooks| 1.12.12 @ 9:45PM
But not too Machiavellian for Kissinger's taste.
wally| 1.12.12 @ 9:38AM
Prayers for the Mrs' health and Ben's strength.
kiss and tell| 1.12.12 @ 3:33PM
Prayers for the makeup artist.
beebop2| 1.13.12 @ 6:00AM
I am picturing Gloria Allred standing next to a red head. Book it.
emilio lizardo, PhD| 1.12.12 @ 9:48AM
Sorry about your wife- by all means take her to the Mayo Clinic, no finer health care facility across the board in the world. I hope she is better soon. But Nixon? Peacemaker? Tell that to the hundreds of thousands of innocent Cambodians who were incinerated in the covert carpet-bombing under the direction of Nixon and that other POS Henry Kissinger. And everyone really knows how Nixon felt about Jews. Ben, your continued apologies for that execrable human being is embarrassing and unseemly.
Al Adab| 1.12.12 @ 11:48AM
Dr:
We have agreed on other things, but in this instance Mr. Stein is much closer to the truth of Richard Nixon than you imagine. Nixon led this nation through its greatest crisis since the civil war; accomplished his connections with both USSR and China which helped create a stable world order; strengthened the national economy and paid a huge (unwarrented) price for his success. His international policies held the world together untill in good time The West won the Cold War. Seeds of that victory were laid during his administration. To make peace it is sometimes necessary to wage war. War is by its nature hateful and immoral and the best one can do is end it quickly. It was not Nixon, but rather the NVA and Pol Pot who murdered millions AFTER Nixon was hounded from office. Twice in his life, once in 1960 and again in 1974, Richard Nixon put his country above himself. He should be remembered and honored for that.
emilio lizardo, PhD| 1.12.12 @ 12:38PM
Sorry Al, you're on the wrong side of this one. Nixon and Kissinger ordered a 4 year bombing campaign-Operation Menu-over a neutral and peaceful agrarian country that damn near destroyed Cambodia: 100,000 dead, millions homeless. The instability we caused- including the ousting of Prince Sihanouk- allowed the Khmer Rouge to become radicalized and to flourish and enable the murderous reign of Pol Pot. So much for Nixon as peacemaker. Back home, Nixon railed against the "Jew bastards" in Washington, and held McCarthyite views regarding a national Jewish conspiracy. Whatever he did to normalize relations with China is overshadowed by the disgrace he brought to the office of the Presidency, with the drab cast of crooks and thugs he surrounded himself with and his own disgraceful conduct. This is the man poor old Ben lionizes.
Observer| 1.12.12 @ 4:29PM
Sorry, Dr Lizardo, but you are the one who's wrong. The bombings in Cambodia were to stop supply lines to the NVA. These largely succeeded (as did the bombing campaigns bring the murderous NVA to the peace table, just as RN and Dr. Kissinger had thought). Prince Sihanouk's ouster was regrettable, though that must be laid at the feet of Lon Nol and his opportunism while the Prince was abroad in 1970. In the meantime, Prince Sihanouk didn't exactly help himself by taking residence at a palace built for him by Kim Il Sung (remember, this is N. Korea we're talking about. N. Korea, "Dr" Lizardo) in the late 1970s.
Richard Nixon did many things, some good, and some unquestionably bad and disgraceful, but to blame the destruction of Cambodia solely on a bombing campaign that he directed against supply lines into North Vietnam is akin to blaming President Roosevelt for the devastation of Holland (and not the Nazis) for the allied bombing of Dresden. That's as inane and insane as blaming the coup in Chile on CIA officers, rather than the mental instability, economic shortages caused by the socialistic policies of, and the eventual suicide of Salvador Allende. God Bless, Mr. Stein, for you and your family.
emilio lizardo, PhD| 1.13.12 @ 9:49AM
so how did bringing the NVA to the peace table work out? With folks clinging like rats to the last chopper out of Saigon as it fell in '75 as I recall. It is incontrovertible that the covert bombings of Cambodia radicalized the Khmer Rouge. This was supposed to be about Nixon as "peacemaker", an outrageous assertion about a vile human being
Observer| 1.13.12 @ 8:52PM
The bombing of Cambodia brought them to the peace table, and the war effectively ended (or, did you wish it to go on, with "Landslide Lyndon's" perennial bombing halts, alternating with partial bombings, and never with a strategic factor, as the bombings under Nixon were. Those and the mining of Haiphong Harbor). As a result of those bombings, men like John McCain were finally let go from their POW camps (or, is that something else that Nixon's not to get credit for; read "Faith of My Fathers" for a very, very good read, if you want to open your mind), and peace was achieved for a couple of years. Now, if you wish to make the point that we should have kept US troops there longer than we did, then your argument is with the really most crooked man to have ever held that office, that of LBJ; all you need ever do, "Dr." Lizardo is pick up "Dereliction of Duty: Lyndon Johnson, Robert McNamara, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Lies that Led to Vietnam" by HR McMasters).
Richard Nixon could do many things, but he couldn't sustain the American people's faith in winning Vietnam after nearly a decade of the previous government's criminal incompetence and public admission (much, much later) that they never really tried to win (hello, Pentagon Papers). Nixon's lucky that he was able to accomplish what he did, given what he was given (and, unlike President Obama, it really WAS a much more divided nation, with far larger problems).
Richard Nixon did many ignoble things, indeed, but he also did quite a few good things, also (or, why did Martin Luther King, Sr publicly announce that he was voting for the man in 1960?), and that includes in his handling of Vietnam, and China, and many other actual diplomatic successes as President. He was not perfect and no one is arguing such. He got the NVA to the peace table; they broke their word (Wow. Can you believe that COMMUNISTS would do that?) By the time 1975 came around, you'll note, Dr. Lizardo, Richard M Nixon was not there, having resigned the year before. However, a cowardly Democratically-controlled Congress wouldn't even give the S. Vietnamese the NON-military aid they sought....and in 1975 it was over. That was not Richard Nixon's fault. That was the fault of his Democratic predecessors who'd allowed a very winnable war to continue for a decade on with no clear victory strategy at the highest levels of government (now publicly admitted) and aided and abetted by the most dishonest media (Walter Cronkite wrote that we "lost" the Tet Offensive, when it was a fantastic military victory) coverage ever. And, I guarantee, those same media folks still, just as they do today, most likely voted for that self-same, meat-grinding, criminally incompetent administration because the media, then as now, are 92% Democratic, themselves.
And, all of THAT wasn't Richard Nixon's fault, either.
Pish-tosh and nonsense, sir.
Respectfully: read a few books on not only Vietnam, but even read the recent biography of Richard Nixon by Conrad Black for a real image of a real man, warts and all, instead of clinging to a caricature that *never* existed, then or now. There was a reason that he won twice as VP and President.
God Bless, Mr. Stein (getting this back to where the subject matters it needs to get back to).
emilio lizardo, PhD| 1.14.12 @ 10:02AM
Dude. Try the decaf.
SeymourGlass| 1.12.12 @ 5:31PM
Dr - we've gone through this before. How are things in Trenton these days?
emilio lizardo, PhD| 1.13.12 @ 9:52AM
Monkeyboys in the facility,colder than a MF. Not good
B-737| 1.12.12 @ 8:51PM
Sorry, pal, you're on the wrong side of this one.
A peaceful and agrarian country? Perhaps it would have been, had it been left to its own devices. But the North Vietnamese had been using Cambodia (and Laos) as sanctuaries, staging areas and infiltration routes into South Vietnam for years before Nixon took office in 1969.
The troops that passed through Cambodia (and which often withdrew into Cambodia when the fight got too hot) were responsible for the deaths of thousands of U.S. soldiers in Vietnam.
Nixon was right to order the interdiction bombing campaign (and the 1970 "invasion") in an attempt to put a stop to what had been going on for so long. The bombing itself was almost entirely directed at sparsely inhabited jungle areas along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, not at population centers.
Were there civilian casualties? Yes, but modern scholarship has utterly debunked the notion of "100,000 dead [civilians] and millions homeless."
If you want to blame someone for the deaths of Cambodian civilians, blame the ruthless (and utterly indifferent) Communist leaders of North Vietnam. They were the ones who made the deliberate decision to violate Cambodia's neutrality on a massive scale for many years.
Observer| 1.12.12 @ 9:20PM
You said (or, wrote) it, B-57. Good job, man.
Stormzeye| 1.12.12 @ 9:49AM
Ben, I wish you peace and courage at this time of great personal challenge. Be the "eye of the storm".
Mark| 1.12.12 @ 10:05AM
Mr. Stein, I’m sure these things, too, shall pass. I’m very sorry to hear about your personal issues. I wish the very best for you and your wife.
Regrettably, I doubt Richard Nixon’s legacy will be best regarded as a “peacemaker.” For me, he, like Clinton, was little more than a self-serving crook. I find your aggrandizement of him baffling. Pat Nixon, on the other hand, WAS a saint.
Anthony| 1.12.12 @ 10:59AM
Sorry to hear about your wife, Let's hope all gets better soon.
As to your unfortunate potential litigation, rest easy Ben. Unlike DSK and Algore, I don't believe any jury would find you to be a sexual predator or harasser. The thought brings a smile to one's face just thinking about it. No wonder you had such sympathies for DSK. Just remember to wear your sneakers when you take the witness stand, it'll work like a charm on a jury. Free advice!!
Can't opine on the employment discrimination, unless you're a real cheapskate tipper, which is possible.
Could that celebrity lawyer possibly be the dispicable bottom feeder of all time, Gloria Allred? You do have my sympathies. This harpy gives cockroaches a bad name.
When she takes your deposition, lean over the table towards her and talk like Daffy Duck and give her a full spray, then apologize for any possible STD consequences.
Ah, the tarpits of Hollywood.
Seek| 1.12.12 @ 1:28PM
Gloria Allred isn't part of Hollywood. Perhaps you are confusing her with Gloria Swanson.
Zak Klemmer | 1.14.12 @ 8:40PM
Ms. Allred is great theater.
Al Adab| 1.12.12 @ 11:40AM
Please know that my prayers are with you and yours.
doo dah| 1.12.12 @ 5:13PM
and the makeup artist.
Greg| 1.12.12 @ 11:57AM
Take care of your wife,I'll look after Sandpoint,ID for you. All is well and without snow
shipley130| 1.12.12 @ 1:37PM
Richard Nixon the lawbreaker...."I am not a crook" Nixon.
Chef Schnauzer| 1.12.12 @ 2:08PM
Kind thoughts and warm wishes for you and Mrs. Stein. I had hoped as I got older the vitriol and lies about the President and Mrs. Nixon would abate. Wishful thinking and naiveté on my part. The President was forced to choose retirement by lesser men (pissants) and staff.
a dose of reality| 1.14.12 @ 7:26AM
Do you have persistent memory loss?
President Nixon was forced to resign because of his illegal acts, that collaterally revealed his disdain for and disrespect of American democracy and our political process, as well as for/of the Amercian people.
His legacy, like that of all presidents has its positive points and negative points, but to claim that "he was forced to choose retirement by lesser men (pissants) and staff" is wholly inaccurate and irresponsible.
Anthony| 1.12.12 @ 3:43PM
Hey Ben, speaking of litigation, why didn't you tell us about your lawsuit against Kyocera?
Fired over your views on AGW, as not being suitably "politically correct; which lefty organization(s) put the screws to Kyocera?
What a screwed up world we live in!!!
I hope you nail these bastards to the barn door.
angee woodman| 1.12.12 @ 4:45PM
Can anyone say Gloria Allred?
Kingofthenet| 1.12.12 @ 4:55PM
Richard Nixon was a DISGRACE, no wonder Ben supports him, birds of a feather.
oped| 1.12.12 @ 5:14PM
Please pray for the makeup artist and her defense team.
Brian B| 1.12.12 @ 6:07PM
While Ben mentions "offense" in parentheses, pretty clearly the other party has primarily a plaintiff's team, bright boy.
Observer| 1.12.12 @ 9:17PM
Such nonsense, "King." Go spew it somewhere else, along with all of the rest of the factually challenged. Richard Nixon was no saint, but the Steins - father and son - are fine people, indeed. No one says differently of them, including those who disagree, or have disagreed, with them. Sheesh.
Observer| 1.13.12 @ 8:56PM
Baloney, King, and you know it. Also, your opinion about Mr. Stein is less than worthless, since you don't know him.
allie aller | 1.12.12 @ 9:30PM
Dear Honorary Uncle Ben,
Sending love and prayers for your wife's speedy recovery. I would be prostrate with anxiety if my beloved husband became sick. So I am praying for you too.
I hope your lawyers are loaded for bear and take down that false accuser...and kick the behinds of those bad Japanese people who fired you for being "unpolitically correct" about global warming. This suit you are bringing to them is not just for you, but for so many of us.
And finally, about Pat Nixon. Ever since I read her daughter Julie's biography of her, I have been a grateful fan. I love that you honor her in your columns.
Take heart, Uncle Ben. So many of us love you and are sending our support,
Allie, your honorary reader niece for over 30 years
Michael Gallardo| 1.12.12 @ 9:42PM
Allie, I too, have Julie Eisenhower's book about her mother. I have always admired Mrs. Nixon. One point about her is that she did more to restore White House antiques to the residence, over 600 acquisitions, than her predecessors, including Mrs. Kennedy. She never receives credit. She was a gracious and warm First Lady.
POST American| 1.12.12 @ 9:35PM
--BTW--
Someone's REALLY got to do the
definitive work on Nixon's sellout
to Acheson/ Harriman/ Rockefeller
and the Globalist RED China TREASON OP.
REALLY
AS NDAA 1031 overturns the Consitution
and Bill of Rights, and unaccountable,
psychopathic, Globalist USURY and
EUGENICS take the helm--
-----------------------------REALLY---------REALLY
REALLY
Boomerbabe| 1.12.12 @ 9:37PM
Mr. Stein, my prayers for your wife, and for strength for you. Thank you for your columns, your humor, and your always well-mannered deportment, no matter what. A good example for us all, and some of the posters here would do well to copy. Viewpoints are worth listening to respectfully (or reading) if they are presented respectfully.
Michael Gallardo| 1.12.12 @ 9:44PM
Mr. Stein,
I enjoy your columns and wish you all the best as you go toe to toe with Ms. Alred. I always feel that any client that she represents has the devil as a representative. My best wishes to your wife.
Dipesto| 1.13.12 @ 12:25AM
Hang in there, Ben. Thanx for writing nice stuff about Mrs. Nixon. It's nice to get rid of the old Plastic Pat jokes from past decades. Nothing to do with this thread, but 13 January will be the 50th anniversary of the death of Ernie Kovacks. I will be watching Percy Dovetonsils clips to appreciate the genius of Ernie.
Susan| 1.13.12 @ 1:21AM
Prayers to you and your wife.
Susan| 1.13.12 @ 1:22AM
"for" you and your wife.
max_kain| 1.13.12 @ 12:39PM
All the best Mr. Stein, you and your wife will be in out thoughts and prayers.
George J Andrews| 1.13.12 @ 5:34PM
My prayers are with you and your wife.
Re-reading your columns about your parents have been a comfort since my Father's passing.
God Bless You...
nlynch| 1.13.12 @ 7:41PM
Will be praying for healing for your wife and strength and peace for you, as you deal with it all.
POST American| 1.14.12 @ 2:48AM
--------------------BOTTOM LINE----------------------
The 4 decades on,
CFR-Rockefeller capstone
Globalist RED China
set up, sellout
and world TREASON OP.
The long term agenda:
Cultural annihilation here
and worldwide (ie standardization)
as soft kill EUGENICS
is incrementally brought in.
---------------------ANY QUESTIONS?
personal note| 1.14.12 @ 7:39AM
Ben, for you and your wife, I wish you strength, courage and the best medical support.
decline in intelligent debate| 1.14.12 @ 7:42AM
Regarding the non-personal side of your entry, I am stunned that you could attempt to play the amnesia card regarding Nixon's acts in total violation of US law.
Nixon was not crucified; he was held responsible before the law: that is what happens in the United States of America, and in democracies where the rule of law is a basic precept and is respected and enforced.
Given your penchant for aligning personally with those who commit reprehensible (morally and legally) acts, manifesting itself by making condemning generalizations of the class of people represented by those who have revealed such acts (think: DSK and your unfathomably maligning comments on hotel maids), I should not be surprised.
Does the American Spectator really believe that such commentary is considered legitimate journalism, commentary and analysis?
Americans, of any political stripe, deserve better.
Zak Klemmer | 1.14.12 @ 8:42PM
I do respect and love you Ben however on the virtues of R M Nixon we will have to agree to disagree. God Bless you.
Zak Klemmer | 1.15.12 @ 4:47PM
Dear Ben: In MHO the real issues are:
1. Federalism- LBJ and Nixon started the government in Washington DC on the path of destroying the sovereignty of the states, the 10th Amendment.
2. Government Debt: Since 1981 the national debt grew from One-trillion to over 15 Trillion dollars.
3. Welfare programs have been created to buy votes; Medicare in 1965 under LBJ and prescription drugs under George W. Bush. Worse are the programs that reward destructive behavior such as benefits for children born out of wedlock. All these programs are unsustainable and alone they will bankrupt the country.
4. Regulations that destroy the private sector’s ability to initiate voluntary economic exchanges. Private sector employment is dependent on economic growth. Even government is dependent on growth to balance their budgets.
5. When government power exceeds the limits proscribed in our constitution we all lose. Not just our freedom but our nation’s ability to survive- ultimately this will destroy society.
6. Honesty in the media. If voters are only going to listen to sound bites, talking points and clichés this not only destroys the credibility of the media but hampers and destroys the ability of most voters and our youth to understand facts underpinning objective reality.
7. Wars on everything under the sun: cancer, crime, poverty, drugs, guns, fat, sugar, and every other fear in the public’s mind. Self-government requires individual responsibility. Politicians know this but they cynically feed on the weakness of human nature.
8. Government agencies out of control working against individual freedom: FBI, BATF, EPA, etc.
9. The tax code. Confiscates private initiative and wealth creation for the detriment of society transferring power to government against individuals and the private sector. The tax code punishes risk-taking and rewards those who live off of government subsidies and programs.
10. Entangling alliances, has our society become so corrupt due to government that these issues cannot be fixed without a revolution? Czechoslovakia had a non-violent “Velvet” revolution when the communist government lost all authority to use force against the people.
Daniel Williams| 1.28.12 @ 10:08AM
Richard Nixon peacemaker?! Nixon started the modern drug war, remember? It is the most destructive social experiment since slavery, one that put me in handcuffs and behind bars twice in the early 70s. You're correct about Pat Nixon being a saint. How could she not be, living with such a man?
Colleen| 2.16.12 @ 3:29PM
How many of us are out there who are not ashamed of our support for Richard Nixon. He was a great man and I acknowledge he made some very large mistakes. This world is a great deal safer today due to dreams he pursued, opening up China, providing support on a local level to Communities. That we are still a major world power for peace 40 years later is a tribute I think.