I have long been an admirer of President Biden and believe that he has done a commendable job as President. In my opinion Donald Trump is a despicable human being who was a terrible President and, if elected again, will likely be much worse the second time around.

Therefore, I was both saddened and, I must confess, somewhat panicked when I watched President Biden’s performance last Thursday during the debate with Mr. Trump.

To put it in proper context it is important to remember that the rules of the debate were proposed by the Biden campaign and, more importantly, that President Biden had been closeted with the best and brightest of his aides for several days preparing for the debate. It is also notable that President Biden rarely appears in an unscripted environment and has fewer press conferences (the best trial by fire) than any President in recent times. Now, we have a better notion as to why that is the case.

President Biden’s performance was shockingly dreadful. He appeared as though he was auditioning for the title role in a remake of “Weekend at Bernie’s”. And this is for four years, not a weekend. The beginning was awful and so was the middle and end. I don’t care what the talking heads say, I believe my own eyes and ears. Most people will.

There is a great likelihood that many who would be inclined to vote against

Trump will change their minds or just stay home. Either way, with President Biden at the head of the “ticket”, Trump will win and many good “down ballot” candidates, not to mention the country and the world, will lose.

It is vital that President Biden make a prompt and dignified exit from the race.

How can that happen? If he does not have sufficient self-awareness to step down, he must be told to do so. This could be done by an intervention by

Bill Clinton, Barack Obama, Senator Chuck Schumer, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries and, crucially, Jill Biden (although she may be more of a problem than a solution). And it must be done quickly.

Who would replace him? It almost doesn’t matter as whoever it might be would have a better chance to defeat Trump than President Biden in his current apparent condition. There are a number of attractive candidates including alphabetically Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Kamala Harris, Jeffries, Gavin Newsom, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.

We can worry about that later. The priority is for President Biden to exit stage left and make room for someone who would have a chance to beat the felon with a black belt in prevarication, Donald Trump.

***

John Steinbeck starts “Travels with Charley” like this: “When I was very young and the urge to be someplace else was on me, I was assured by mature people that maturity would cure this itch. When years described me as mature, the remedy prescribed was middle age. In middle age I was assured that greater age would calm my fever and now that I am 58 perhaps senility will do the job. Nothing has worked.”

Anne and I have similar afflictions and now that I am in my 9th decade of life I must confess that I am in no hurry to cure the itch. But without “Charley” (a large poodle).

On the contrary, my haste is because my road ahead is predictably short so my guiding principle is “Do It While You

Can.” Anne’s complementary guiding principle is “If I haven’t been there, I want to go.” By way of example, when we were sitting at dinner a few nites ago, she planned a trip to Cabo Verde, the Canary Islands and the Azores by way of Portugal. Why? Because we have never been there.

At the outset I must acknowledge the gratitude that I have for the resources, good health and the best possible traveling companion to continue to see the world.

Before I met Anne (on October 6, 1999), a client, a South African entrepreneur, had just opened a fabulous private game resort, Singita, on the west side of Kruger National Park in South Africa. On a visit to Los Angeles, he said: “Someday, you will meet a special woman and I would like you to come to

Singita as my guest.” I mentioned this to Anne, a very special woman, and the next thing I knew we were on an airplane flying to Cape Town, a city that I had always wanted to visit.

While Cape Town has several “seven” star hotels, we picked a winner in a small but fabulous guest resort overlooking Bantry Bay between Cape Town’s central business district and Camp’s Bay, a beach side community. This is Ellerman House, a former residential mansion with spectacular views of the ocean and surf.

Meals there were completely bespoke.

Ask for anything, the chefs would prepare it. We enjoyed two dinners there with South African venison that we requested, kudu and springbok..

And Singita was unbelievable.

A very short trip (maybe 500 yards) outside of camp brings you in direct contact with giraffes, zebras and big cats – and that’s only the start. Today, there are several branches of Singita all of which are wonderful with rates that are out of sight but for that trip, the price was right.

That trip commenced acting on our shared wanderlust. In the last nearly 25 years, we have traveled together to over 50 countries.

Steinbeck also pointed out that: ”Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process, a new factor takes over. A trip, safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It has personality, temperament, individuality, and uniqueness. A journey is a person itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing and coercion are fruitless…we do not take a trip; a trip takes us…The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.”

Very true. We don’t know what we don’t know and don’t anticipate the unforeseeable.

With that important caveat, let me tell you about some recent and upcoming adventures in case you share the Do It

While You Can mentality (and if you don’t, I respectfully suggest, you should).

Last year, 2022-3, was a particularly busy one.

In late 2022, we went to Bhutan via Chiang Mai in Thailand.

Chiang Mai has a few nice Buddhist temples but not much else. Forgettable.

Bhutan is a small kingdom with around 800,000 people nestled between Himalayan Peaks.

We then flew to Bhutan on Bhutan’s airline Druk (“Dragon” in Bhutanese) Air to Paro, site of the only international airport in Bhutan. Paro is located in a very narrow valley and the approach by air is challenging. Only Druk Air can fly in or out and fewer than 10 pilots are authorized to make the flite. Bhutan is highly dependent on tourism and promotes two themes. First, it publicizes its “Gross National Happiness Index” and bills itself as the happiest country on earth. Second, it imposes very strict architectural standards. When you are in Bhutan, you know it. Further, the country is not interested in backpackers and discourages them by charging all tourists a fee of $100 per day simply to visit.

We spent eight days hiking at altitudes of 8,000 to 10,000 feet. The altitude was a problem “only” on the 50% of the time that we were going uphill. The scenery was magnificent and the accommodations at Aman and Six Senses resorts were fantastic. The picture of me at the top of this column was taken overlooking the famous Tiger’s Nest Monastery. I am smiling in the picture because I had just completed the terrifying climb down and up to the monastery. Not for the faint of heart or balance-challenged, i.e. me.

In early March, 2023 Anne and I went to NYC where we greatly enjoyed Broadway shows “Company” and “Merrily We

Roll Along”. While Los Angeles may be the entertainment capital of the world, nothing compares to Broadway shows.

And we had a great meal at Aquavit.

We then did a driving trip in late March with Mark and Eleonore Hess (who we met on a biking trip to Puglia) to the National Parks of Utah and Arizona including Zion, Bryce, Canyonland, Arches, Monument Valley and Antelope Canyon.

All spectacular. This was not a camping trip. My view is that if the good Lord had intended that we sleep outside, he/ she never would have invented the “Ritz Carlton” or its like. The last three nights we stayed at the amazing Amangiri outside of Page, AZ. The setting was magnificent. Service was ok.

In May, we went to the eastern US and then France. To Be Continued

***

More about Builder’s Remedy:

Former three-time Mayor Tom Levyn raised some interesting questions about the Builder’s Remedy column that appeared in Issue 1290.

Here are the questions with my responses.

Q: Why are you assuming your last paragraph is true?

PIO Response: Because I am confident that our City Council will act aggressively to allow for affordable housing while protecting our neighborhoods.

Q: The legal issues you raise are interesting. Were they raised in any of the three trial court decisions you mention?

PIO Response: Several of these issues were raised and resolved at the trial court level, generally in favor of the developers but all are subject to appellate review.

However, the unintended consequences and unlimited nature of this so-called remedy are highly questionable under constitutional limitations or legislative intent or otherwise and those issues have not been addressed or resolved.

Q: You did not mention that the City already lost the case of “substantial compliance” in the trial court. Why should we expect a different result on appeal? What does this loss mean in practical terms?

PIO Response: The trial court upheld the state’s refusal to certify an earlier version of the City’s Revised Housing

Element. The current version of the RHE has been certified. If the trial court ruling about the earlier version is affirmed, we cannot contend that the window closed much earlier than March 18, 2024 the date of adoption of the current version. [See discussion below.] Q: Who are some of the individuals affiliated with applicants who have proposed the Builder’s Remedy projects according to public records?