Ben Stein:Media staging coup on Bush(CBS edits out "nabobs" in print?)

[Algorem]

Ben Stein: Bush Is Not All Bad
Iraq Is A Mess, But There Is A Lot Of Good In the U.S.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/28/sunday/main2405061.shtml

(CBS) Sunday Morning commentator Ben Stein says that the war in Iraq may be a mess, but President Bush has presided over some very positive things.

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After the State Of The Union speech a few days ago, a muttering chorus of media critics(<he actually said "media nabobs" on CBS this morning,why does it say "critics" here? Was it too embarassingly SpiroAgnewian for CBS? Or did Stein not want it in print because it shows too well that he's just an old Nixonian clown anyway?) told us endlessly that Bush was irrelevant, a loser, out of touch, even pitiful. NPR actually had Merle Haggard, the Okie from Muskogee, claim that the state of the nation had never been worse. And suddenly it hit me. The media is staging a coup against Mr. Bush, just the way they did against LBJ and Nixon and tried to do against Reagan. They cannot impeach Bush because only Congress can do that. But the media is doing what it can to basically oust Mr. Bush while still leaving him lifting weights in the White House. Look, Merle Haggard is a great singer. But he knows nothing of what's up in America right now.

The truth is that we are in a huge economic boom. We are coming off a mammoth real estate explosion that put the most Americans in history in their own homes. We have totally full employment. After decades of stagnation, real wages are rising. The nation is wealthier than it has ever been (although this is very unevenly distributed). Most important of all, there has not been one major or even minor successful terrorist incident against the U.S. homeland in over five years. Bush may not have done it by himself, but he had something to do with it.

True, we are mired in a war without end, costing us far too many great young and old Americans and too many limbs and wrecked families and vastly too much money. But we all know we're getting out soon...

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[a kennedy]

1. Ben Stein is a smuck.

nuff said. :thumbsdown:

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

23. I stopped listening to B.S. in 2000 when he called Gore a 'thug'

as part of the Repugs' "Gore's a serial liar" Swiftboat attack.

I don't even watch his stupid eye drop commercials.

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

2. Sunday Morning Funnies nt

[sakabatou]

3. Ben was only good on his game show and some movies

That's it. And even then he sometimes did a pisspoor job.

[progdonkey]

13. and the game show had to be as dumb as possible...

so he could appear smart.

[sakabatou]

18. At least Jimmy was kind of funny

[jpgray]

4. Wow man, employment is -totally- full!

That Bueller experience really tells on his use of language. And having more Americans than ever in homes means not too much when you realize... due to population growth we -have- more Americans than ever. We SHOULD have more Americans than ever in homes or we are -losing- ground in that area. What an obtuse fuckwit that guy is.

[Clark2008]

22. Not only that, but many Americans are in their own homes at

their own peril. No interest loans that balloon to include the payment and compounded interest after five years will bankrupt many people who probably should have saved for a while before purchasing a home to begin with.

What's the point of having a home you're going to lose in five to 10 years?

[Lucky Luciano]

24. If I were in that situation,

I would try to sell my house in about 4 years and take my profits. Do so before the crush of others with a balloon payment try to do the same. In the meantime, I am paying very high rent for a one bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Very expensive here. Actually, rents are so high partially because of people waiting for real estate to take a dip. So, while we all wait for real estate to dip, we all rent - this keeps the rents high as there is a very low supply of rental housing available.

[Tess49]

5. Ben Stein gives me the creeps. n/t

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. 'Coup' my ass...

...if the present media climate is the biggest cloud on Junta Boy's horizon, then he's got the Founding Fathers and the Constitution to thank for his job.

If Bush were the PM of any European country, he'd have turned into an ex-PM a year or more ago.

[graywarrior]

7. Is Stein really a living, breathing species?

He's like a mutant snail/insect. Ick.

[Jackpine Radical]

8. If the media are staging a coup--which is possible, and even likely--

it's a safe bet that they're doing it on orders from On High. And I don't mean God.

The Empire needs a new figurehead.

Maybe they'll go for a female, maybe even a Dem this time.

[butterfly77]

9. These people are really out of touch with the real world...

all of the foreclosures,outsourcing,lower wages, homelessness and joblessness in this country and he thinks that there is an economic boom...

[OHdem10]

10. For those who make 75,000 yrly and up

every thing is fine. For everyone else 75% of Americans
the world does not look so rosy.

[fooj]

11. F*ck Ben Stein.

[Lucky Luciano]

12. No Ben...* is100% bad.

I mean it is truly startling how someone can be 100% bad. I have never ever met someone that comes close to being 100% bad in my life and I have met a lot of people. I have not seen * do one thing good. NOT ONE FUCKING THING!!!!! Ben so ridicoulously distorts things to make * look like he is not all bad, but it is just distortions (I know we all know this).

I would like to hire * when he leaves the presidency as my advisor.

"Hey George, what do you think we should do for the current situation?"

"Lucky, I think we should do X."

"Ok, everyone, you heard what George said. We will therefore do the opposite of X."

I will be wildly successful. * is a perfect indicator. If someone is 100% wrong, they are still a perfect indicator and can be useful for advice. LOL

[keopeli]

14. Ben Stein, my former college professor of Communication and Culture...

...was an excellent teacher and fantastic communicator. He understands each word he uses and its effect on people. His politics are whacked to the right because that's how he makes his living. His opinions are vapid and partisan, but they are also crafted carefully for greater impact and effectiveness. I know from first hand experience that he does not "practice what he preaches". But, he does believe in Capitalism and he does hate all Democrats.

[Ezlivin]

15. Debunking Stein: Bueller? Anyone?

The truth is that we are in a huge economic boom.

The "boom" is for investors only. If you are not a part of the investor class of citizens, then there is no boom to this economy.

We are coming off a mammoth real estate explosion that put the most Americans in history in their own homes.

Actually it has been the refinancing of homes and the purchase of second, third and vacation homes by the aforementioned investor class that has kept the economy alive. When those ARMs start resetting this year we'll see what a house of cards this real estate "explosion" has been. (Meanwhile here in North Texas in the DFW area we have seen a record-breaking year for foreclosures.)

We have totally full employment.

If you are in the government, perhaps. But if you are in manufacturing or any job that can possibly be outsourced the numbers look pretty grim.

After decades of stagnation, real wages are rising.

Bullshit. We can't even get the GOP pricks in the Senate to consider a meager wage hike unless their rich buddies get additional needless tax breaks.

The nation is wealthier than it has ever been (although this is very unevenly distributed).

And that's the most important thing to note. The average wealth of me and Bill Gates is around $50 billion. Guess how that is distributed?

Most important of all, there has not been one major or even minor successful terrorist incident against the U.S. homeland in over five years.

Depends when you start measuring. After the Anthrax Attacks? After Flight 587 crashed?

Bush may not have done it by himself, but he had something to do with it.

As much as a passenger in coach has to do with landing an aircraft, I imagine.

[Wapsie B]

20. He's simply another mouthpiece for the status-quo repugs.

They trot him out in an attempt to put an intellectual face on conservatism. In that respect Stein is more damaging than anything on rwing talk radio. The standard, garden-variety goper listens to Jeff Christie or Hannity and knows they're full of hyperbole. But someone like Stein justifies the long-cherished beliefs of the moneyed investor class. The bankers and money-changers are reassured that what they believe is the total truth.

[EstimatedProphet]

16. Ben Stein is a very rich man

That explains everything.

[Lucky Luciano]

17. That's not fair.

Rich people are not necessarily evil. Ben Stein, OTOH, is an asshat.

[EstimatedProphet]

25. He's an asshat, but I didn't say he's evil

I think however his politics are mostly from money. At least, that's how it comes across when he talks about how the economy is great and unemployment is nonexistent. Those are the words of the rich.

[Secular Agent Man]

19. Ben $tein i$ a White Hou$e ho'.

$urely he'$ getting a paycheck to $pew thi$ tripe.

[kenny blankenship]

21. So now, Merle Haggard... is The Media (capital T capital M)?

Say what now?