Ben Stein

[[File:Actor Ben Stein.jpg|thumb|right|165px|"Bueller, Bueller, Bueller..."]]{{uspolitics}}{{crenav|1}}
{{cquote|[*Weeping*] I don't think any president has been more wrongly persecuted than Nixon, ever.  I just think he was a saint.|||Stein in ''All the President[']s Men: Revisited'', still not learning anything after all these years<ref>[http://www.politico.com/blogs/click/2013/04/ben-stein-nixon-was-a-saint-162102.html What a way to show your true colours.]</ref>}}
'''Ben “Bueller, Bueller, Bueller” Stein''' (initials: '''[[Bullshit|BS]]''') {{lived|1944}} is a former presidential speechwriter, actor, comedian, and conservative pundit who is best known for using the expertise he built writing the droning, monotonous speeches of [[Richard Nixon]] and [[Gerald Ford]] to do a hilarious send-up of a teacher giving an [[economics]] lecture about the [[Laffer Curve]] in ''Ferris Bueller's Day Off''.  He was also the author of the novel ''[[methaqualone|Ludes]]'', which may explain his speaking style.  Moving right along, he had a television game show where you could win his money, $5,000 of it, by defeating him in a trivia contest. To his credit, he usually (but not always) won. According to [[evangelical]]s, his ass is going to burn in [[hell]] because he is a [[Jew]], even if he did star in the [[pseudoscience]] film ''[[Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]]'', and once worked for a raging [[antisemite]] (Nixon).

Stein has degrees in economics (Columbia University, 1966) and [[law]] (Yale, 1970).  He was valedictorian of his law school class at Yale.  He has been a non-tenured professor of law at Pepperdine University in Malibu, [[California]], used to write a weekly column in the ''[[New York Times]]'' and occasionally gives opinion pieces on ''CBS News Sunday Morning''.

Not much of importance has been heard from him of late; he has lost all respect of [[freethinker]]s after his involvement with ''Expelled''.

==Opinions==
{{cquote|I hope it won’t come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys.|||Ben Stein equating ([[Sexist|just male]]) [[homosexuality]] with [[pedophilia]]<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20061004103608/http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10434 ''The American Spectator'' - "Hypocrisy, Democrat Style"]</ref>}}
Stein is the archetypal [[neoconservatism|neoconservative]]; he is a [[Republican Party|Republican]],<ref>"Why I am a Republican" [http://www.spectator.org/dsp_article.asp?art_id=10007], a column he wrote for ''The American Spectator''.</ref> supporter of "civil rights leader" [[George W. Bush]],<ref>[https://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ben-stein-george-w-bush-nyt "Ben Stein: NYT Snubbed ‘Civil Rights Leader’ George W. Bush In Selma Photo"]</ref> [[chickenhawk]] (somehow equating non-interventionism with [[antisemitism]]),<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJd_pEZA8gs&ab_channel=TPMTVgs Ron Paul and Ben Stein Argue on Larry King Live After Stein Accuses Paul of 'Anti-Semitic Argument']</ref> and a [[free market]]er (he is a fan of [[Milton Friedman]]).<ref>Stein wrote a column for ''Time'' commemorating Friedman after he died. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1561157-2,00.html]</ref>

His opinion of [[science]] is as follows:<ref>[http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=NWRmOTU2YzZlN2RhMzhjNzEwNzQ3MzFiZDE2NjM3NWE= "Science Equals Murder!"] ("article" at [[National Review Online]])</ref>

{{cquote|'''Stein:''' When we just saw that man, I think it was [[PZ Myers|Mr. Myers]], talking about how great scientists were, I was thinking to myself the last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were [[Godwin's Law|telling them to go to the showers to get gassed]] …that was horrifying beyond words, and that’s where science — [[Red herring|in my opinion, this is just an opinion]] — that’s where science leads you.<br>'''Crouch:''' That’s right.<br>'''Stein:''' …Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people.<br>'''Crouch:''' Good word, good word.}}

It makes you wonder what he thinks of [[Albert Einstein]] and all of the Jewish scientists that were responsible for the Nazi [[brain drain]]. This is especially nonsensical because Hitler was not what most would call a fan of science, with one writer noting there were "complicated interactions between science and politics in Nazi Germany."<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20150214213513/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-2-pro-nazi-nobelists-attacked-einstein-s-jewish-science-excerpt1/ How 2 Pro-Nazi Nobelists Attacked Einstein’s "Jewish Science" (Excerpt)]</ref> Hitler was not even willing to reason with the father of quantum mechanics because "Nazi authorities still saw him as Jewish and expelled him from his post at Göttingen University."<ref>[https://theconversation.com/hitlers-letter-to-the-father-of-quantum-mechanics-3772 Hitler’s letter to the father of quantum mechanics]</ref>

About his old boss he said:
{{cquote|I'm not much of a believer in conspiracy theories. I've seen up close and personal how wrong they were in the case of my old boss, Richard M. Nixon. He was [[Denial|not a criminal mastermind]]. He was not paying attention to [[Watergate|a bunch of juvenile delinquent aides]] and they did him dirt. It was a case of an absent minded father, not a KGB plot.<ref>[http://thestockmasters.com/node/752 Somehow this is related to oil prices.]</ref>}}

It also makes you wonder what he thinks of Tricky Dick's [[antisemitism]].

Stein's economic predictions have recently inspired a phrase of comical derision, [[#Ben Steinery|Ben Steinery]].  On the other hand, sometimes he will take a stand for a legitimate [[moral]] issue.  In what Republican circles would considered unorthodox views, he's in agreement with [[progressive income tax]] and capital-gains tax, and has strongly advocated raising taxes on the rich in many recent appearances on [[Fox Noise]], usually to be yelled at by his "interviewer".<ref>[http://mediamatters.org/video/2012/11/16/ben-stein-asks-foxs-gutfeld-we-need-to-raise-ta/191443= For example]</ref> He also favors a single-payer health-care plan.

He was aghast at the way [[Larry Craig]] was shunned after his incident in the bathroom, saying that [[Homosexuality|Craig's sexuality]] was no one's business but his own (which would be totally true if Craig hadn't ''made'' it an issue before by moralizing about sexuality).  Stein's own sexuality includes asking a lady for very much more than she was willing to, erm, give.<ref>[http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2014/07/24/creepy-ol-ben-stein/#more-17307 Creepy ol' Ben Stein], ''Pharyngula''</ref><ref>[http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/225136/the-ben-stein-sexting-scandal-that-will-make-you-want-to-pour-lysol-in-your-eyes/ The Ben Stein sexting scandal that will make you want to pour Lysol in your eyes], Death and Taxes</ref>

Stein endorsed [[Al Franken]] in [[2008 US Presidential Election|2008]] and [[Ralph Nader]] over GOP presidential candidates. He considered voting for [[Hillary Clinton]] or [[Bernie Sanders]] in the 2016 presidential election should [[Donald Trump]] have won the Republican nomination, but ultimately ended up voting for him anyway once he was nominated.<ref>
https://www.rawstory.com/2016/03/ive-never-voted-for-a-democrat-ben-stein-flips-support-to-hillary-and-bernie-because-of-trump/
</ref><ref>https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/news/a45527/ben-stein-will-vote-for-trump-even-though-he-knows-better/</ref>

==Ben Steinery==
'''Ben Steinery''' is an expression of derision, scorn and mockery coined in a January 2008 column titled "Farewell to Ben Stein" by Wall Street stock analyst and financial blogger Barry Ritholtz.<ref>http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2008/01/farewell-to-ben-stein/</ref> The phrase refers to the many dubious economic prognostications made by Stein.

As declared by Ritholtz: 

{{Quotebox|"I propose the phrase "Ben Steinery" be substituted where ever you would have used the phrase "Tom Foolery" in an economic context."}}

Some typical, real-time usages of ''Ben Steinery'' include:

{{Quotebox|"Actually, there hasn’t been much of a debate - just the informed, well-reasoned deflation minority opposed by a lot of ''Ben Steinery''."}}

{{Quotebox|"All this ''Ben Steinery'' in the housing markets is spawning some awesome 'Fozisms.'”}}

{{Quotebox|"When the sub-prime crisis began, the ''Ben Steinery'' School of Economics said that sub-prime is such a small part of the mortgage sector, that even if every loan went bad, it couldn’t impact Main Street."}}

{{Quotebox|"Enough ''Ben Steinery''! We have a football game to watch!"}}

==See also==
*''[[Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]]''
*''[[Expelled: Leader's Guide]]''

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

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Categories: Actors, Anti-abortion activists, Atheophobia, California, Chickenhawks, Comedians, Creationists, Educators, Film-makers, Homophobes, Internalized discrimination, Jews, Lawyers, Living people, Neoconservatives, Political pundits, Propaganda, Pseudoscience promoters, Racists, Right-wing activists, War on science