Poor Ben Shapiro
His high-water mark seems to have been his minor role in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (as the excruciatingly boring teacher who would pause in his speaking for a student to provide an answer of some type—the name of a treaty, for example—and drone “Anyone? Anyone?” repeatedly into the silence). — UPDATE: Wrong, Wrong, Wrong!! That was Ben Stein, not Ben Shapiro. I got the two confused in my mind because Ben Stein also holds the odd idea that evolution did not occur.
Here’s a review of Ben Shapiro’s most recent book. Ben Stein sounds like a paragon of wisdom and moderation compared to Ben Shapiro.
That’s Ben Stein who was in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off! (though the point about running about supporting extremely dubious positons stands for both of them!)
Anthony
18 June 2011 at 12:21 pm
Aha! Thanks. I got my Bens confused. Still a good review, though.
LeisureGuy
18 June 2011 at 12:25 pm
Yes; I checked out the sort of views this Ben holds…not a lot of sense.
Anthony
18 June 2011 at 12:44 pm
Ben Stein is certainly more conservative than I am, but I do give him credit for being an independent thinker and not just being a mouthpiece. On “Sunday Morning” he gave a very compelling defense of Charles Rangel that actually made me rethink my opinion on the matter.
Ethan
19 June 2011 at 9:21 am
Your reference to Benjamin Jeremy “Ben” Stein, the actor, writer, lawyer, and son of a Nobel Prize winning economist, threw me off track. Please append the blog so Mr. Shapiro can sand alone as just one more conspiracy theorist with a book deal.
Ben Stein wouldn’t likely bother portraying Hollywood as cabal of ultra-liberals out to subliminally brainwash society. He surely knows that the people wielding the greatest influence over Hollywood’s output are essentially profit-focused; TV ratings and theater attendance are their bottom-line. Celebrities and media moguls, who elect to push their varied political agendas upon the viewing public, are seldom effective. For every Norman Lear, Oprah Winfrey or Jane Fonda there is a Charleton Heston, Donald Trump or Ronald Reagan ready to grab away the microphone.
Ben Shapiro’s spin isn’t worth $26.99. Instead, get Ferris Buehler’s Day Off on Blu-ray and never again confuse Ben Stein for some conspiracy-tauting hack writer.
geezerpussrex
19 June 2011 at 2:51 pm
You have a good point. I’ve corrected the blog post. But doesn’t Ben Stein have some bizarre ideas of his own? I vaguely recall him as denying evolution or climate change or something equally well established and strongly supported by science.
LeisureGuy
19 June 2011 at 3:00 pm