EXCERPT FROM A PERSONAL EMAIL: I got a ranting screed from a hardcore Dem pal, a great guy but totally unhinged when it comes to All Things Trump. His daughter apparently lost her dream job when the company folded b/c of the tariffs and trade regs w/r/t China. Apparently the company was wholly reliant on China.

At the risk of sounding cold-hearted, I sent him the note below. Real friends will tell you what you think they need to hear, not only what they want to hear:

Dear [XXX]:

Of course it’s not good that your daughter lost her dream job. But to be 100% honest, investing one’s life in a company that relies wholly on business with CCP is not a good choice. Never was. She chose poorly.

I do a lot of editorial work on this subject, and I have to tell you the CCP (which controls every major Chinese enterprise) are a very bad, no good, inhumane bunch. Even the NIH has something to say about it.

Interestingly, a large portion of my NYU students are FOTB Chinese. In my History of Journalism class, when I get to the section on cable news, I show them the video clip of this:

Only about 1/3 of the Chinese students had ever seen or heard of Tiananmen Square, and they only learned about it while in other countries. The subject is completely unfindable in any Chinese platform or outlet, and people who share this in China are subject to immediate arrest and often, made to disappear.

So, at the end of the day, from a moral perspective, in some ways, your daughter is better off. If she got a fabulous job with I.G. Farben in 1939 developing Zyklon B, and then lost her job…what would you say?

I know, people break long-time relationships taking the world too seriously. I could only end with this.