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Ben Stein's Diary
The Homecoming
Some deep thoughts upon returning from Sandpoint.
(Page 2 of 2)
Our son’s dog scratched our granddaughter.
Everyone on this planet wants money from me and I have a lot less than anyone thinks and that’s scaring me.
I did finally manage to sleep. Big Wifey lay next to me reading a book called The Crown Jewels, about Soviet spies in the UK and the KGB files on them. Wow. There were a heck of a lot of traitors in Britain. Why did they do it? There are way too many angry, crazy, envious people out there. My mother used to say that envy explained everything, and maybe it does. A wise man said that in some crackpot way, the Nazis envied the Jews, even as they depicted them as rats — literally as rats. Come to think of it, why do people hate us Jews so much? We are just people, only a little more so.
I thought these DEEP THOUGHTS, looked at Alex in profile for a long time (more beautiful even than Greta Garbo), then walked back to the house (I had been in my office), put on my immense blue floral swim trunks and headed towards our pool.
Tommy’s light brown Cocker Spaniel, Buglet, started to bark with anticipation. My large German short-haired pointer, Julie, went ballistic with thrills. Alex’s pointer, Zelda, turned in circles as she barked with excitement. Why? Because they know that when I go to the pool, I often (always) pick up a tennis ball and throw it for them. They run all around, tussle over the ball, then bring it back to me as I am swimming. I pause and throw it over and over again.
Often, when the ball lands, it hits pool furniture or a tree and bounces back into the water. Buglet and Zelda look sad but Julie Good Girl just leaps into the water and swims like Mark Spitz to retrieve the ball. She puts it in her mouth, swims to the steps and jumps out. Then she shakes herself.
Today, just once, as she shook herself, the water came off in a vertical sheet. It was caught by sunlight coming through a magnolia and lit up like a watery rainbow growing out of the back of an angel dog from heaven, the end of my rainbow.
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 (11) | Leave a comment
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MelvinNC| 7.2.12 @ 6:57AM
Ben.....You can't save everybody. Life sometimes doesn't go the way humans plan. We always look for lifelines when we get ourselves into messes that we need to be extracted from.
But sometimes we just run out of rope Ben......Sometime we just run out of rope.
R Martin| 7.2.12 @ 8:02AM
"Same with financial traders. They just trade for momentary advantage..."
And what, exactly, is wrong with that, Mr. Stein. One might ask what you do for monetary advantage.
"...and then say that they do it because of big economic trends."
That's a gross generalization. You don't know what most financial traders "say" and, anyway, seeking financial gain from big economic trends seems rather sensible. Isn't that what you aim to do, Mr. Stein, when you purchase equities?
Your point is obscure.
Pepe LaPue| 7.2.12 @ 9:06AM
Ben, you make me tired just reading what you write. You used to be interesting!!!!!!
Bill84728| 7.2.12 @ 9:08AM
Apropos of nothing written in your comment, I watched the entire documentary, No Direction Home, about Bob Dylan, from his childhood until his motorcycle accident in 1966.
The documentary reminded how intense it was to be young in those days; I forgotten how that felt. I was exhausted by the time Watergate surfaced. That level of things could not possibly have continued. Thank God it finally ended, despite the superficiality of modern life.
Bob Grant| 7.2.12 @ 9:49AM
I Ben Stein's Diary entry that important (and interesting) to put the entire thing on AmSpec's front page?
gene| 7.2.12 @ 10:17AM
"....Come to think of it, why do people hate us Jews so much? We are just people, only a little more so......."
Why the hatred? Ben Stein and many Jews should just read the New Testament more often. It is all about Jews starting the Church. Gentiles are supporting players who are not even on stage as Christians until well into "ACTS". Jesus even had to send repeated visions to Peter reminding him that His message was for everyone. But for the Jews FIRST because they are God's Chosen People. The Gentiles came later and were "Grafted" on to the Tree of Christianity. The Tree itself is and was Jewish. Why the hatred? A famous Jewish Carpenter explained this very clearly:
John 15:
"[18] If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
[19] If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
[20] Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also."
The hatred will continue because you are God's Chosen People and the "Prince of this World" will always hate Jews and Christians.
C. Vernon Crisler | 7.2.12 @ 11:14AM
Ben, some people hate Jews for petty reasons, mainly because they're different in some way, or maybe appear to be in a lower class, or maybe will ruin or even de-Christianize the neighborhood.
I think Hannah Arendt said somewhere that Jews can deal with this sort of dislike or hatred. What caught Jews by surprise was not this sort of perennial aristocratic snobbery or hate, but rather the more sinister version: scientific racism.
There are so many books out there describing how "scientific" racism developed in the Western world and especially in Germany, it's hard to get one's mind around the bibliography on the subject. Scholars are now beginning to see Ernst Haeckel as one of the main culprits in spreading this evil doctrine.
I suspect that if Arendt was writing today, she would train her laser intellect on Islamic anti-semitism, which is far more dangerous today than the old discredited scientific racism, or the paternalistic racism of faux aristocrats.
Cobalt| 7.2.12 @ 11:26AM
A baby is not born with hate in its heart.
We learn hate, envy, etc. from others in society.
Try asking someone why they hate Jews, or another group of people, and you might find they can't even give you a definitive answer to your question.
KyMouse| 7.2.12 @ 12:05PM
Seth Casteel's amazing photos of dogs retrieving balls in a swimming pool will bring a smile to anyone's face. The photos are many places on the Internet, including http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....ml#photo=1
Hardcard| 7.2.12 @ 5:22PM
Bennie you must be exhausted cleaning up all that dog sh*t and shoveling it our way. Take a nap already.
Rich Rostrom| 7.3.12 @ 4:56AM
The child of a U.S. citizen is born a U.S. citizen, with some limited exceptions.
This issue was raised in the 1800s, when General George Meade, the victor of Gettysburg, was touted as a Presidential candidate. Meade was born in Spain, where his father was then in business as a merchant, and also U.S. claim agent.
Meade's eligibility was questioned, and established. "Natural born citizen" means "citizen by birth", which includes Meade, Obama, Marco Rubio, Bobby Jindal, John McCain, and President Chester A. Arthur.