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Alan Abelson, RIP
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South Carolina on My Mind
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Dream Sequences
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Just Like a Woman
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Missing So Many
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Ben Stein's Diary
The Sweetness of Mitt Romney
Great to meet and greet him again yesterday, at Lynchburg airport.
Sunday
Off from the Watergate to Liberty
University in Lynchburg, Virginia, to do some speaking.
Bob Noah at the wheel, Alex and I in the back seat as usual. I was asleep before we got out of the driveway. I awakened as we approached the Super Target in Bristow, Virginia. We eagerly went over to the door and walked into the emporium and then, disappointment: the deli counter there that had stocked the most delicious fried chicken made on the premises was totally rearranged. All they had was packaged chicken made somewhere else. It was dry and tasteless. Big, big disappointment .
Then we tried The Red Robin, from whose grille I had enjoyed a perfect cheeseburger in Studio City a few days ago. The food was decent but the other guests were great. There were about a dozen adorable girls from Autumn’s Gate Riding Academy. They giggled and posed for pictures. Just adorable in their jodhpurs and boots. Polite, Pleasant. Just adorable. One named Jenna or Janet was particularly charmante.
Then, back into the car and to sleep until Lynchburg. We checked into our surprisingly pleasant Hilton Garden Inn and watched the first half hour of Casino Royale, the stupendously great James Bond film of a few years ago. It features a chase scene in some African country on a job site that is probably the best movie scene of all time. Heart stopping. A work of incredible genius. As good as any movie gets. If you have not seen it, you are way, way behind the curve.
Then, a futile attempt to sleep. I slept too much in the car, I guess. Plus, I am keyed up as heck because the election is in a day and a half and I still think Romney threw it away by wimping out in Debate 3 when he had Obama in his sights. Makes me crazy that he screwed that up. Still, maybe he can win and I hope he does. But I am worried.
Then I looked out my window and saw a huge sign for Liberty and felt great. Just great. So, off to sleep I went. I feel safe at and around Liberty University.
Monday
Up very early, way too early to
speak to Convo at Liberty. Ten thousand students in a beautiful
basketball arena. I met up with Jerry and Becki Falwell in the
green room. Jerry looked his usual handsome self only more so
because he’s been on a diet. Becki always looks like a beautiful
teenager.
I gave one of my best speeches ever, about abortion mostly. Red meat, as we say. “The war against women?” I asked. “How about 200,000 sex selection murders a year by abortion against little girls? How about the endless degradation of women in pornography? How about knocking up women and leaving them alone, making them raise kids on their own, robbing them of their youth and spirit? How many women are killed by abortion, pornography, abandonment? And you dare call trying to protect little baby girls from being killed ‘the war on women’?”
The crowd was extremely enthusiastic.
I signed autographs and posed for pictures for a long time, then went over to Lynchburg airport for a rally for Governor Romney. It was packed but poorly organized, as Bob Noah pointed out. No bands. No balloons. We waited for a good half an hour while Mr. Romney waited in his plane. Then he came out, gave a speech, greeted hundreds of people, then came over to greet Jerry and Becki and me. The Falwells know him well because Jerry heads Liberty and Liberty has had Mr. Romney speak there just recently. They probably know him for other reasons, too.
When Governor Romney saw me he said, “Ben Stein. Great White House speech writer. Great writer. Great shoes. Ready to run.”
These were, word for word, what he said to me when we met at the Family Values confab four years ago.
“Good luck, Governor,” I said. “God bless you.”
With a look of great sincerity on his handsome face, he grasped my hand tightly and said, “Thank you.” I was touched by his gaze and his warmth.
“Why does anyone want this horrible life of politics?” was the thought that crossed my mind. Why, when he has a family he loves and his faith? What does he need this agony for? This man has a certain sweetness about him. Why allow himself to be trashed, a billion dollars worth, by the other side? Why? Why not just stay at home in bed with his dog?
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.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.6.12 @ 6:45AM
I'm sweet too. "Pow!" God bless you on your way to God. "Pow!"
See, dumbass, everyone is quietly waiting on the election returns.
If Obama wins..."thow down another million "Pows".
These guys will NOT be allowed to govern.
RCV| 11.6.12 @ 3:52PM
Hittin' the bottle a little early this morning, Ken? I can see why today's going to be a hard day for you.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.6.12 @ 5:19PM
RCV, our resident flaming ass liberal/communist:
.....finally...election day. Now we shall simply discover if the "gimmie mine" bunch outnumber us tax-payers at the polls.
If they do.....conversation over!
Your cushion of law- manipulation and law-books go right out the window. You are a coward. I shall never meet you over open sights. One of my cohort will though.
Look, RCV, you have obviously lived in a very "civilized" wolrld of books and words.
Conversely, I have run mega=million projects all over a wild and dangerous world. I survived with only two bullet holes and some shrapnel in my ass.
I have had to shoot two men in self defense over the years.
Don't you belittle that. .....any more. I'm sick of it.
As a coward, please pay attention.
RCV| 11.6.12 @ 10:21PM
Conversation over, Ken.
Ken (Old Texican)| 11.6.12 @ 6:51AM
oops...insert "communist murderers" before guys above.
Appleby| 11.6.12 @ 7:04AM
I am off to work today, the lone American in an office full of Canadians (although as you will find anywhere in Canada, some of them have lived and either worked or gone to school in the USA) who are curious about the election but don't understand it in the least. Most of all they don't understand why Americans care so much. The only time I have seen this kind of passion in Canada it has to do with hockey. (Which is on strike at the present, for the fourth time in 10 years). Canadians individually are helpless against the juggernaut socialist government. They really don't understand that Americans individually fight back.
Hardcard| 11.6.12 @ 7:09AM
no comment.....take a nap
TLP| 11.6.12 @ 8:10AM
I'm getting in the Car, now. Let's see. Seatbelt? Check. Adjust the Mirror? Also a check. Where did I put those Keys?
I get out of the Car, and make my way back in to the House. Where are those Goddamn Keys?
Upon entering my Domicile, I check the Glass Bowl by the Door. Nothing. Hmmmmmmm. I really need to find those keys. A quick Memory Blast hits my brain, and the whole left side of the Breakfast Menu from Red Robin, shows up on my mental screen.
Maybe the keys are in the bathroom?
As I climb the Flight of Hardwood Colonial Stairs in my Beautiful Olde Victorian House - some of the wood in the Dining room is from a Tree Fort that was once used by Charles Lindbergh, when he was a Boy. (of course, that could all be just a Suburban Myth)
I reach the top of the stairs, yet I still can't find my keys. And, now, as if things aren't bad enough? I feel one of those Diarrhea Rumbles in my stomach, that forces me to Delay one Journey (The one to the Polling Place) for another. (This new one to the Pooping Place)
I wish you could see my Bathroom. It's shimmering White Porcelain for as far as the eye can see. I feel a twinge of Sacrilegiousness sometimes, Pooping in such a place. Sometimes I'll sit on the Front Porch, drinking Fresh Squeezed Lemonade, wondering if I should get one of those Cholostomy Bags?
What was I talking About? The What? This is Erection Day?
I don't get those, anymore, but I did just find my keys.
Ben Stein.
Pecos Pete| 11.6.12 @ 7:33AM
Sweetness? Ben my man, you do live in an alternate universe. If Romney is sweet then we are lost.
Macho Man is what we need for the next 4 years. Macho Man would rip down King O's socialist/communist government with picks, sledge hammers and dynamite if necessary. I'm hoping for a Romney victory and that Ryan is the Macho Man of a Romney Administration with John Bolton as the corner man at the State Department.
Harry Reid ain't sweet. Romney has to be ready for a battle for the nation's soul. Sweetness? Jeez, I hope not.
bison cookie| 11.6.12 @ 7:37AM
NO MORE YEARS – TOP 20 REASONS WHY A REGIME CHANGE IS IMPERATIVE. Here are the Top 20 reasons a regime change is imperative, now: 1. $5 Trillion in New Debt – By the end of FY 2012, Obama had added $5.3 trillion to the National Debt – almost one-third of the total ($16 trillion). He rolled up more debt in three years than the first 41 presidents … READ MORE: http://bwcentral.org/2012/11/n.....mperative/
Abdullah| 11.6.12 @ 8:04AM
Live in peace, dear Ben.
TLP| 11.6.12 @ 8:11AM
Where were you last Friday?
Bob Grant| 11.6.12 @ 8:50AM
"That was fun but I would rather be with Julie Good Girl in bed."
Was that the particularly beautiful, nubile, charmante female standing in front of you in the line at the Super Target in Bristol Virginia?
And why were you buying rotisserie chicken at a Target? How could it not be dry?
Romney sweet? Oh, I hope not!!!!!
So many questions, so little time, but I've got more pressing things occupying my mind today.
Like what will be left of our country after today.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.6.12 @ 10:16AM
Darn it Ben, buy a cell phone camera. Take pictures for crying out loud.
BobSledd| 11.6.12 @ 10:36AM
Ben, Romney is "doing this" because he cares about the country he/we will leave behind for our kids, grandchildren and future Americans. There is time enough in the NEXT LIFE if you are a believer..... to "rest" and sleep with our beloved dogs. I share that love. For now, we have a COUNTRY and way of life that needs saving. Let's get to work.
Stilton A. Cheese| 11.6.12 @ 12:24PM
*Beating up Yankees*.
You were born south of the Mason-Dixon so no fear there; though I don't, personally, condone beating up Yankees I can certainly sympathise with the urge to beat up Yankees when they move down South to escape the hell they created and then start the same self-destructive cycle of dirtying-the-nest that caused them to flee *Yankee-Land*.
gene| 11.6.12 @ 12:48PM
I have lived in the South for 2 decades. I was born in NYC and still have a NY Yankee accent.
There are three types of Yankees.
1. Yankees - They travel through as tourists and spend their money.
2. Damn Yankees - They travel down here and move in next door to you.
3. Dead Damn Yankee - They live next door and want to date/marry your daughter.
I still have the accent and I love living in KY!!
Butch| 11.6.12 @ 5:32PM
I herewith bestow upon you the title of "Honorary Redneck" with all the rights and priviliges appurtaining thereto. Carry on, sir, and don't beat up the Yankees.
gene| 11.6.12 @ 12:45PM
Ben.
On second thought, I do not think Romney screwed up in the debate. He took the high road, looked Presidential, allowed Obama to make statements that the media will go after. AND he leaves the political work to others to confront, challenge, and demand answers that Obama has ducked for a looong time. Have some faith here.
Even with massive voter fraud in places like Philly and Chicago, etc, there is no way he is going to steal enough votes to take this Elections. Let your heart be not troubled. And VOTE today if you have not yet voted. 0:-D
LindaKaye| 11.6.12 @ 12:49PM
This is a great tribute to Romney. And I appreciate that. However, I respectfully request that Mr. Stein remove that drawing of a scantily-clad woman from his website. I will not share his articles on Facebook or anywhere else as long as that is there. It is unseemly and is certainly not very nice to his wife.
John II| 11.6.12 @ 3:10PM
The Obamanation has by now fully revealed itself to be naught else but a weird coalition of button-down social engineers and crazed populist street-punks.
And so, I herewith prophesy: This day shall be a watershed in the history of the Republic: either we slough off the Obamanation to reassert the American experiment in limited constitutional governance and religious liberty and free-market prosperity and responsible military supremacy, or we slouch finally into the degenerate and chilly night of smug Euro-narcissism and fodder for Islamist thugs.
Yea, the die is cast. And, numbed of late by the Professor's endless cascade of cheap middle-school debating-team rhetoric, I cannot help waxing grandiloquent.
And now back to "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), in which Jimmy Stewart plays Paul Ryan 31 years before the latter was born. Hollywood wasn't quite as flaky in its Golden Years.
Ralph Novy| 11.7.12 @ 5:13AM
This is not grandiloquence, John. This is just ranting with a couple of big words thrown in.
And as to Ryan being a Mr. Smith figure, Ryan is the anti-Smith. He's the face of corporate fascism and obstructionism. You insult reality and slander Capra by suggesting otherwise.
cuban pete| 11.6.12 @ 3:39PM
"a credit to his race-the human race..."
I believe the old labor leader Walter Reuther said that about Joe Louis many years ago.
Mnestheus| 11.6.12 @ 11:26PM
"But I am haunted by the look in Mitt Romney's eyes. Pained, perceptive yet full of hope, and even, I will dare say it, filled with a love of a highly flawed humanity."
Ben should avert his myopic gaze from the kennel atop the car , and take a look at the man in the driver's seat .
Ralph Novy| 11.7.12 @ 5:06AM
"Why not just stay at home in bed with his dog?"?
Good night, Ben.
Catherine Fitzpatrick | 11.8.12 @ 1:16PM
You know, you've captured something that I've been trying to put my finger on throughout this campaign, only watching Romney from afar. It's that he's *nice*. A *nice* man. You don't expect that in a presidential candidate, as you figure he would have had to do all sorts of nasty things to get to the top. But he's sincere and honest.
There's a Youtube put out by the LGBT rights groups showing Romney debating a gay veteran in New England who can't get marriage benefits for his partner. It's meant to show up Mitt as intolerant and mean. But he looks the veteran badgering him straight in the eye, and says that he believes marriage should only be between a man and a woman, and adds that the guy had asked for a straight answer, and he got one.
I don't share Romney's views on gay marriage, which I support, but I felt that he came out the better in that interaction, as the veteran's story seemed somewhat contrived and he was exploiting the encounter. Meanwhile, Romney didn't wobble for a minute -- he sincerely spoke about his faith principles.
I felt that with Romney, the Republicans came up with a candidate that had a life of faithfulness to his wife and modesty in his personal life. Obviously Newt Gingrich didn't fit that bill, nor did Howard Cain. It's very hard to find men in power who haven't had affairs somewhere along the line. But Romney was a clean candidate. No one could make a sexual spectacle of him as they did with poor John Edwards.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 11:22PM
I appreciate YOUR sincerity, Catherine, but your faith in Romney's sincerity is misplaced.
To not mince words, you've been beguiled.
Yes, Romney PROJECTS sincerity/honesty/decency/kindness.
But the reality of the man is anything but that.
He's shallow, self-absorbed, imperious, aloof and oblivious to anyone's concerns but his own.
In short, he's a master political actor. Underneath, he's a greedy, selfish, venal man who reflexively takes and executes orders from his corporate superiors. Period.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but them's the facts.
I don't like 'em either.
Pretty sad that a such a sorry excuse of a human being could become a real contender for the U.S. presidency.
Fare thee well.
Catherine Fitzpatrick | 11.8.12 @ 1:16PM
So instead, the left chiseled away trying to make this modest devout Mormon into "Little Richie Rich" the wealthy guy stepping on the little people -- with the (actually true) statement about the 47% (and I'm among them). And sadly, they succeeded in that, because I think the right just didn't man the Twitters and Youtubes well enough and fast enough. Why was the only rebuttal to the anti-Romney Bain ad playing in Ohio a somewhat wonky article in the Wall Street Journal?
Half of America is willing to vilify rich people, scapegoat business people, and denigrate free enterprise. I find this terribly scary.
Ralph Novy| 11.8.12 @ 11:29PM
Why in the world would you fret about rich people paying their fair share?
Yes, some "rich people" (e.g., the Koch bros.) do indeed need some good vilifying, but no, just because you're a "business person" you shouldn't be scapegoated.
But, Catherine, look at those rich bastards/bitches if you want to find villains. They constantly hide behind the "small business" shield when anyone proposes taxing them more -- as though they were holding mom and pop hostage, at gunpoint, between them and the cops.
Think about it. Eh?
ABIGAIL ADAMS| 11.26.12 @ 1:09PM
The crowd called for Barackas.
Period.
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/n.....z2DKou43ep