Thursday

Last night, as wifey and I were watching Perry Mason reruns from about sixty years ago or more, at about midnight, I got a call from a young man whose father is a close friend. The young man is a senior at a prestige college in the Midwest and he was up late. This was his situation:

He had been assigned in his history class to write an essay about the crisis brewing about Taiwan and Red China. He had called me earlier in the day to get my feelings about it. I told him that we could not abandon Taiwan. We have been kicked around by dictators for too long, I said. The most recent collapse of Afghanistan should not be followed by a cave-in to another bunch of bullies. “Look at what happened to Hong Kong,” I told him. “They were promised freedom and a system of laws like in England. Instead, they got a dictatorship and a police state with very little freedom, if any. Taiwan is a rich country. They are a free country. They can buy modern weapons and build up their military and Navy. We still have a powerful 7th Fleet to patrol the 110 mile–wide Straits of Taiwan. It won’t be easy for the Chinese to take over Taiwan if Taiwan really wants to fight. We’ve promised to protect Taiwan many times. We just cannot go back on our word and allow China to become the dominant power in the world. It’s a sign that our days as a world leader are over. We should be willing to help the Taiwanese stay free if — and this is a big if — they are willing to fight.”

My friend’s son lapped it up and thanked me.

The call at midnight was different. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But I can’t use what you suggested. Our teacher told me we had a lot of Chinese in the class. We cannot say anything that might offend them or their gifts to the school will stop. I’m sorry.”

A call at midnight indeed.

Saturday

The nation is in real trouble. The Biden Administration in purposely trying to bankrupt us and our Treasury. We are witnessing China rapidly en route to becoming the number one nation in the world, militarily and industrially. We have lagged behind in space and nuclear technology. We have devoted far too much time to social-dictatorial efforts in the defense establishment and not enough time to weapons and manpower (and, of course, womanpower).

Crime is a real super problem, although it has been worse about fifty years ago. It’s still safe in my neighborhoods of Beverly Hills, Rancho Mirage, Malibu, Sandpoint, and Foggy Bottom, but there are far too few other safe places.

We have a President who is genuinely mentally disabled. That’s terrifying. We have actual subversives in the Congress. We choose our top executives, Nazi style, on the basis of race and ethnicity, not on the basis of ability and experience.

But in my own personal life, I have some amazingly good things going on. I am now going to start listing them little by little:

1. I have the best wife on earth. Kind, forgiving, smart, ultra-beautiful, patient and a Christian in the best sense.
2. I live in what is still by far the best country in the world, the United States of America, the greatest achievement of mankind.
3. I have the best friend on earth, Phil DeMuth, a genius and a star of finance and loyal to the nth degree and the best friend and ideological marching companions on earth, Wlady and Bob, at The American Spectator, the best magazine on earth, and dear friends and colleagues at another great magazine, Newsmax.
4. I have honest, brilliant business partners at an amazingly well-run corporation, the Los Angeles Athletic Club Corporation.
5. I had the best father on this earth, Herbert Stein, and a devoted, loving mother, Mildred Stein, and have a brainy, witty sister in my dear Rachel Epstein.
6. I get to work three days a week with my other best friend, a true genius named Judah Friedman.
7. I live part of the week in the most scenic house in Malibu, with views that are mind boggling of the glorious Pacific.
8. Among many other cars, I have the best sedan ever, the 2020 Audi S8. You have to try it to believe it.
9. I get to swim every day in my own pool and it’s pure joy.
10. I got to work for the ultimate Peacemaker, the Savior of All Israel, Richard M. Nixon. That was the ultimate privilege.

I am on my way out to my house in Rancho Mirage, and I will write more later in the week.

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