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Ben Stein

Ben Stein is a man of many talents; this one-time near-hippie has emerged as a sort of Renaissance man of pop-culture. Besides his movie, television, and commercial gigs, he is also a respected author on politics, economics, law, and culture. On CNN's lame "TalkBack Live" program today, he was one of four featured guests; the others were Sarah Ferguson, comedian Kate Clinton, and Arianna Huffington. At one point, all four talking heads were on-screen in separate boxes, and Huffington insulted Ben Stein, accusing him of, essentially, not having the mental capacity to hold two thoughts in his head at the same time. In the lower-left box, Ben Stein, with his delightfully bland expression, turned his middle finger way up at the camera and at Huffington. Huffington probably couldn't see this, but the audience (and America) did, and I heard either the host or a producer mutter, "Oh my god!" Then Ben replied to Arianna's rant, telling her & the host of the show that, basically, if they didn't want to engage in intelligent discourse, they should simply move the show to a dog pound and let the viewers observe dogs growling & snarling. Cut to commercial...then back to the show, with the host casually remarking that Ben Stein is "no longer with us." Quite an interesting moment. Ben is getting some support at his website, and I'd wager more is the way.

Posted at January 11, 2002 08:21 PM