I promised myself I wouldn’t write anything more about the new Donald, Donald Sterling, but how can you avoid it with him all over the TV, the front page of the Los Angeles Times and the rest of the national media landscape? Apparently, the new Donald has become significantly more important than Putin and the Ukraine, the aborted Middle East peace process, and the Republican’s favorite cause de jure, Benghazi.
The upside of being a billionaire is you have lots of money, which often fosters the erroneous belief that somehow you’re insulated from the real world. Sterling is now out in the real world, and although he’s marvelously skilled at making money, he’s a virtual neophyte in the world of media and damage control. So, I’m going to give him some free and totally unsolicited advice.
First and foremost, get off the front page, get off the TV screen, get off the radio, get off Twitter, get off Facebook and stop trying to explain yourself. Take the sage advice of Disraeli, later followed by Henry Ford II: “Never explain, never complain.” And for good reason — you simply can’t win.
In a 24-7 news cycle, you simply hunker down, say nothing and wait for the next news storm to come along.
Another axiom of the new 24-7 media: the truth doesn’t matter. The truth is what people believe to be true. So, you spend time dealing with the perception and don’t waste time on the reality. For example, is Benghazi a massive government fraud and cover-up? That’s a rather dubious assumption. Is our climate changing? Probably so, except perhaps in Texas, where it’s politically inconvenient per Sen. Ted Cruz.
The bottom line is we have an evolving culture that believes truth and reality are in the eye of the beholder. Is that bad for our country? Absolutely. A country that doesn’t deal with realities has peaked and is on the downhill slide, which, sadly, I believe is true.
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Over the weekend I attended an all-day seminar on Elder Law. A major topic was the implementation of the Affordable Care Act — Obamacare, to you civilians. The audience was filled with about 200 lawyers, listening very intently while a bright, knowledgeable young female lawyer spent an hour explaining the complexities of the Act and its varying iterations. It was mind-bogglingly complex.
The Act has not only brought in a large group of new people, previously uninsured, but it’s also going to essentially combine Medicare (which is for citizens over 65) and Medi-Cal for just about anyone with a major illness or disease, unless they have great Insurance) into a new system which is in the main going to be administered through managed care. There are a bunch of temporary programs to ease the transitions, and I’m guessing it’s going to take us five years to ease into the new system.
As I sat listening to this, I couldn’t help but think of all those people now running for Congress, Senate and the Board of Supervisors in our districts who have no clue about the Act and who somehow think they can fix it all if they get elected.
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I saw something else this weekend that I have never seen in Malibu before. I was walking down the Malibu Pier and a young couple, a man about 35 years old and a woman who I assumed to be his wife, talking and walking down the pier. She was in a full Burka, complete with gauze over her eyes so they were not visible. He was wearing light white summer pants and shirt, and I couldn’t help thinking that I sure hoped she had a small air conditioner under that tent or she might not make it.
The Malibu Pier is seeing some activity again. They’ve gotten a liquor license for both the Farm Cafe and also the new bar and restaurant , The Malibu Pier Cafe.
Gravina, another new restaurant, is set to open on PCH and Kanan Dume Road, and Mangia Restaurant, which is the baby of Antonio Alessio of Tra Di Noi, is also opening soon in the Trancas Center.
There will be a lot of good eating this summer.