Intelligent Ben Stein

by Barry Artiste | June 23, 2008 at 11:29 pm | 100 views | add comment

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Barry Artiste, Now Public Contributor

Ben Stein, what's not to say about this ex-Nixon speechwriter who was a part of history when the Watergate inquiry and Nixon's downfall came about in the mid 70's. This dry comic of the past hit show" Win Ben Steins Money" was hilarious in his nasal voice and was nobody's fool when he took on all comers to challenge his intellect on virtually any subject. Ben usually won all his money back from contestants.

I for one await to see his movie, certainly a crossover from a Politico, Game Show Host, Movie Star in the 1980's hit Ferris Bueller's Day off, and now Director and Filmaker. A man we are sure has secrets during the Nixon years people would be dying to know about, such as Nixon taped virtually everything that was said in the Oval Office, including his Meeting with Elvis. Yep, Good Times, Ben Stein Times.

Intelligent Ben Stein
Vanessa Farquharson,
National Post Published: Monday, June 23, 2008
On the table in front of Ben Stein is a cup of herbal tea with extra honey, a tape recorder and an extendable back-scratcher. But on the proverbial table is the subject of Intelligent Design and the controversy that has surrounded Stein's latest documentary, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.

Wearing his trademark dress suit and running shoes, the economist, actor, game show host and now filmmaker sat down at a Toronto hotel recently to defend the work, which has been labelled propaganda by some American critics, including one at The New York Times who referred to it as "a conspiracy-theory rant masquerading as investigative inquiry." The film currently has a 9% "rotten" score on RottenTomatoes.com.

"I didn't realize we'd have quite as many critics as we've had," Stein said. "Some of it has really infuriated and saddened me. There have been a lot of nasty comments from people expressing anger and contempt ... even people who've been friends for decades have gotten quite angry and contemptuous towards me, besides the fact they know nothing about the subject."