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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / Post-racial America / An Oldie but Goodie- Obama’s the REAL Racist

An Oldie but Goodie- Obama’s the REAL Racist

by John Cole|  November 3, 20147:41 pm| 133 Comments

This post is in: Post-racial America

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I just love this stuff- the amount of self delusion that must go into contorting ones self to not only privately think it, but to go on record, is just astounding:

Economist Ben Stein believes the White House is playing the race card in an effort to get African-Americans to vote against Republicans.

Speaking to Fox News, Stein called President Barack Obama the most racist president in U.S. history.

“The president is the most racist president there has ever been in America,” Stein said. “He is purposely trying to use race to divide Americans.”

Stein claimed that Obama and other Democrats are trying to portray the GOP as anti-black.

“What the White House is trying to do is racialize all politics and they’re especially trying to tell the African-American voter that the GOP is against letting them have a chance at a good life in this economy, and that’s just a complete lie.”

Stein continued: “I watch with fascination – with incredible fascination – all the stories about how the Democratic politicians, especially Hillary [Clinton], are trying to whip up the African-American vote and say, ‘Oh, the Republicans have policies against black people in terms of the economy.’ But there are no such policies.”

I’m not even going to bother mentioning the results of trickle down economics or the voter id and other voter suppression laws or the disparate treatment minorities receive by the justice system. What’s the point? If you find yourself agreeing with Ben Stein on this, nothing I can say is going to persuade you.

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Reader Interactions

133Comments

  1. 1.

    Mustang Bobby

    November 3, 2014 at 7:44 pm

    One walk-on in a hit movie and a speechwriting gig for Nixon and he’s the fucking Oracle of Delphi? Give me a break already.

  2. 2.

    beltane

    November 3, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    The only people who would agree with Ben Stein are racist white people who enjoy a big helping of hypocrisy along with their sociopathic tendencies. I guess we can also include Clarence Thomas on the list.

  3. 3.

    Turgidson

    November 3, 2014 at 7:51 pm

    “There are no such policies”

    Well, on some level that’s true, to the extent that the GOP does not campaign on having or proposing actual policies anymore. Look at Ernst, Gardner, and Cotton. Three crazy fucks who have managed to make it all the way to election day (and are favored to win) without actually saying a damn thing other than “Obama sux omg ebola isis!”

  4. 4.

    Baud

    November 3, 2014 at 7:51 pm

    I sure wish black people were smart enough to understand who the real racist is.

  5. 5.

    sharl

    November 3, 2014 at 7:52 pm

    @Mustang Bobby: <— What he said. Stein is from that same group of media bottom-feeding grifters that has given us oh-so-many creeps; Dinesh D'Souza, Donald Trump, and Ann Coulter come to mind, though there are many more.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    November 3, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    @Turgidson:

    So technically true, but collectively nonsense?

  7. 7.

    Turgidson

    November 3, 2014 at 7:55 pm

    @Baud:

    I suppose, but do bear in mind I came to this conclusion without blaming gastritis for breaking my calculator or discussing my preferred brand of pink Himalayan salt.

  8. 8.

    beltane

    November 3, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    @sharl: And the the only reason the bottom-feeding grifters exist is to obscure the far-right bias of the so-called serious media.

  9. 9.

    chopper

    November 3, 2014 at 7:58 pm

    “The president is the most racist president there has ever been in America,” Stein said.

    the derp is strong in this one.

  10. 10.

    Mustang Bobby

    November 3, 2014 at 8:00 pm

    @chopper: Yeah, Ben and Glen Beck should get a cottage by the sea together.

  11. 11.

    Brian R.

    November 3, 2014 at 8:00 pm

    Forget about Reagan and Nixon. We had a number of presidents who *literally owned slaves.*

    If you think President McBlackenstein is more of a racist than someone who owned people of another race and treated them like property, then you’re probably a washed up game show host.

  12. 12.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 8:01 pm

    When I was in graduate school, I did a presentation on Mel Brooks’ The Producers and one of the articles I ran across in Lexis-Nexis was Ben Stein having a hissy fit because Brooks made fun of the Nazis, which was somehow an insult to Stein’s father-in-law, who was an officer in WWII.

    Mel Brooks, for those who don’t know, was a combat engineer in WWII. That’s a fancy way of saying that Brooks located and blew up mines so Stein’s father-in-law could drive safely to his next destination in his chauffeured Jeep.

    Ben Stein’s combat experience? Uh, yeah. Projection city, as usual.

  13. 13.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    @Baud:

    I wish white people were smart enough to understand that. We’d be a lot better off.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    November 3, 2014 at 8:02 pm

    @Brian R.:

    We had a number of presidents who *literally owned slaves.

    But were they as divisive?

  15. 15.

    dmsilev

    November 3, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    @Baud: Well, Thomas Jefferson was known for fostering interracial relationships, so that’s something.

  16. 16.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 3, 2014 at 8:05 pm

    The weather looks good here for election day. I don’t know whether to be glad or not. Braley has a huge advantage in early voting.

  17. 17.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    “Economist” ben stein? What he passed high school basic math with a C so he’s the smart one?
    Why does this shitheel get any media coverage? Of course that could be said about many, if not all conservatives. They aren’t a party of any ideas, good or bad, they are just assholes without any concept of closing their pieholes. The only things they stand for are hatred and opposition. Not one fucking other thing.

  18. 18.

    Morzer

    November 3, 2014 at 8:07 pm

    Lee Atwater must be rotating at higher than usual speed in his little bit of the inferno today.

    So far I am greatly appreciating the relative sanity of life in Korea (plus a short trip Lady de Morzer and I made to Sapporo). Small piece of possibly surprising information: Japan produces some pretty darn good whisky. Check out the Nikka range (we took a day-trip their distillery at Yoichi) – as well as the interesting story of how whisky came to be made there:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikka_Whisky_Distilling
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masataka_Taketsuru

    Visitors to the Yoichi distillery can tour the facility, including a free tasting (3 shots per person). On the day we visited, they were offering a very nice apple wine plus 10 year and 17 year single malts. Lady de Morzer is the real whisky buff of the household, so I drank the apple wine (excellent) and she had four shots of whisky in 15 minutes and perked up to a distinctly sunny and benevolent mood.

    Anyway, I felt that on a day of anticipated gloom it might be nice to add a reminder that life is more than just watching the GOP’s glide path to new depths of gibbering hateful lunacy endorsed by the lunkhead-fundie-racist–senile-Fox-dementia-crackpot coalition.

  19. 19.

    Roger Moore

    November 3, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    Stein called President Barack Obama the most racist president in U.S. history.

    And Jonah Goldberg claims that Fascists were liberals.

  20. 20.

    Morzer

    November 3, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    @dmsilev:

    Sallie Hemmings was the real racist in that relationship. Also too, a looter and moocher.

  21. 21.

    Waldo

    November 3, 2014 at 8:09 pm

    If only there were a God to smite him. Sigh.

  22. 22.

    Woodrowfan

    November 3, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I had no idea Brooks did that. My respect for him went up ANOTHER notch (despite “Space Balls”). thanks.

  23. 23.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 8:14 pm

    @Woodrowfan:

    Spaceballs has its moments. Men in Tights, on the other hand …

  24. 24.

    Bobby B.

    November 3, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    “I’m fully cognizant that you, positing the reality of your own existence, are,sine qua non, you, but what, in fact, am I?”

  25. 25.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 3, 2014 at 8:16 pm

    @Ruckus: His father was the economist.

  26. 26.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 8:17 pm

    @Mnemosyne:
    Mel Brooks gets a pass on everything he ever made because of Blazing Saddles.

  27. 27.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 3, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    @Ruckus: Actually, Wiki says he studied econ at Columbia, then went to Yale Law. But Herb, his dad, was chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under Nixon.

  28. 28.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    @Morzer: God the shit we drank in Korea, makgeolli, portojuice, OB,,, ugh. Glad I’m sober when I think about that stuff.

  29. 29.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 8:20 pm

    @Gin & Tonic:
    So ben is exactly as I thought, a useless spawn of someone with some expertise. Someone with not one original idea, useless protoplasm taking up air and space.

    ETA I see your second post so maybe I’m a little hasty.
    No on second thought, he is still less useful than his conservative dad. This useless fuck pouts and screams, signifying nothing.

  30. 30.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 8:22 pm

    @Ruckus: No, because of Young Frankenstein!

  31. 31.

    Baud

    November 3, 2014 at 8:22 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Be glad. Weather won’t keep republicans home.

  32. 32.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    @raven:
    A pass is still a pass.

  33. 33.

    drkrick

    November 3, 2014 at 8:28 pm

    Stein was the prototype for Bill Kristol. There’s video of him weeping in the back of the room while Nixon was giving his self-pitying farewell speech in ’74 – he had some nepotistic WH staff “job” thanks to his dad.

  34. 34.

    Violet

    November 3, 2014 at 8:30 pm

    I’m so fucking tired. Still taking care of my parents. Now a family member has been sick for two weeks and looking at a third. Yes, been to the doctor. Three times. Two different doctors on two continents (sick on a trip, then came home). One round of antibiotics. Apparently they worked but due to lowered immune system caught another virus. Now a new prescription for something else. I’m taking care of everybody. I can feel a sore throat trying to happen and I’m taking Vitamin C by the truckload.

    I cannot get sick. I will not get sick. I am well.

    I am, however, very tired.

  35. 35.

    kdaug

    November 3, 2014 at 8:31 pm

    Speaking of oldies but goodies, and apologies if this was posted before –Tom Magliozzii (1/2 of Click & Clack, NPR’s CarTalk) has died.

    They’d best do a marathon.

  36. 36.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 8:32 pm

    @Ruckus:

    The other day, I posted a link to an NPR interview that Brooks did where he said that he was offered the Kennedy Center Honors during the Bush years and he said, You know, thanks anyway, but I think I’ll wait for another president, if I’m still alive. And he was in the first group that was honored by Obama, along with Dave Brubeck, opera singer Grace Bumbry, Bruce Springsteen, and Robert De Niro.

    Actually, looking at that list, I think there may have been a bit of pent-up demand of potential honorees saying, You know, I think I’ll wait for the next president …

  37. 37.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 8:32 pm

    @Ruckus: As time goes by. . .

  38. 38.

    NotMax

    November 3, 2014 at 8:33 pm

    OT:

    Click has died at 77.

  39. 39.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    @Violet:

    I know it’s a cliche, but this is when you really, really need to do the basic things to take care of yourself first — get enough sleep, eat well, etc. When you can’t afford to be sick, you can’t afford not to take care of yourself first.

  40. 40.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 8:35 pm

    @Violet: Well, speaking of Blazing Saddles, maybe this will cheer you up for a minute

    I’m Tired Madeline Kahn Blazing Saddles

  41. 41.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 3, 2014 at 8:35 pm

    @Ruckus:

    I see your second post so maybe I’m a little hasty.

    An undergrad econ major and a law degree does not make one an expert in economics.

  42. 42.

    Crouchback

    November 3, 2014 at 8:35 pm

    @drkrick: Worse, in some ways. His dad, Herbert Stein was a very respected economist (of the real variety) and Ben is probably painfully aware of how many liberals looking at him think “he’s not a tenth of the man his father was.” At least Bill Kristol only gets compared to Irving. Ben’s a pretty dramatic example of regression to the mean.

  43. 43.

    tokyo expat

    November 3, 2014 at 8:38 pm

    @Violet: Violet, is there anyone else in the family or even friends who can help at all? You are running yourself ragged. What about outside assistance to help your parents? Is there anything on their insurance that would pay for that?

    I wish I had more practical advice to give. I feel for you. Caring for the people you love shouldn’t mean sacrificing your own health and sanity, but it seems like the US doesn’t offer much in support.

  44. 44.

    Mike in NC

    November 3, 2014 at 8:41 pm

    Ben Stein is another bit of irredeemable scum who’s spent his entire life on the wingnut welfare circuit.

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    November 3, 2014 at 8:43 pm

    @sharl:

    Aren’t they from that college “journalism” group Collegiate Network?

  46. 46.

    Laertes

    November 3, 2014 at 8:46 pm

    B-b-but you’re racist against racists!

  47. 47.

    Violet

    November 3, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’m doing the best I can. I’m eating well–I’m dong all the cooking and I’m eating lots of fresh foods, vegetables, that kind of thing. I worked in the garden for an hour and a half tonight until it got dark, which is both relaxing and work, so a bit of exercise and fresh air. My main problem is I do not seem to be sleeping well. Or, at least I’m not waking feeling refreshed. I think it’s catching up with me.

    I don’t know what else I can do to take care of myself. It’s just unrelenting the taking care of everyone else. Tired.

  48. 48.

    Mathguy

    November 3, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    The comments section over at the link is the standard wingnut fever swamp. Just bizzaro world.

  49. 49.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 3, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    @Violet: Can you get any sort of a break? Is there caregiver relief available in your area?

    Given how much you’re doing, you need someone looking out for you too.

  50. 50.

    Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant)

    November 3, 2014 at 8:49 pm

    @raven: Snakeju!

  51. 51.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 3, 2014 at 8:50 pm

    @Violet:

    I worked in the garden for an hour and a half tonight until it got dark, which is both relaxing and work, so a bit of exercise and fresh air.

    Do your best to find some time for yourself – doing things like that, taking a walking, reading a bit or whatever you can. Sending good thoughts to you and yours.

  52. 52.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 8:51 pm

    @Violet:

    It’s going to sound really corny and hippie-ish, but journaling before bed helps me when I’m really stressed and can’t turn my brain off. Your brain may be constantly humming in the background thinking about all the things you have to do because you’re afraid you’re going to forget them, and that prevents you from sleeping. Write everything down before bed and see if that helps. If you wake up in the middle of the night, grab the notebook and keep writing things down.

    In a pinch, I’ll take a Benadryl, but it makes me groggy in the morning, so I try to avoid it unless it’s really necessary.

  53. 53.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 8:52 pm

    @Ben Cisco (onboard the Defiant): Whoo baby. Dong Tam, home of the MRF and the 9th ID in Vietnam is now a snake farm.

  54. 54.

    Violet

    November 3, 2014 at 8:52 pm

    @tokyo expat: We’d have to pay for outside help for my parents and I know I’d get a lot of pushback from them about that. The caregiver we had for a short time when my mom moved back home didn’t go over well with them.

    If we did hire someone, it would have to be some kind of nurse or medical professional (changing a wound site requires that level) and I think that would be even more expensive than a caregiver. There are no easy resources available. No family members who can help. And I don’t think a friend could step in to change the wound. Just very awkward asking that. Insurance doesn’t cover it.

    I’m kind of in a routine with my parents but having a pretty sick family member in my own home that I’m doing all the caregiving for as well has added a burden. I’m just tired. I feel like I’m taking care of everyone else and no one is taking care of me. I know it’s up to me to take care of me but at some point it would be nice to have someone step in and offer something. I think it’s the mental break more than anything else.

  55. 55.

    burnspbesq

    November 3, 2014 at 8:53 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    An undergrad econ major and a law degree does not make one an expert in economics.

    Agreed, says the holder of an undergrad degree in economics and not one but two law degrees.

  56. 56.

    Violet

    November 3, 2014 at 8:55 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: No, no caregiver relief unless someone pays for it. And like I said above, it would have to be at nursing care level. Expensive.

    @Omnes Omnibus: Thanks. Yeah, I love to garden so it’s really healthy for me. But I’ve got a big garden and it’s also work and a lot to keep up with and do. Sometimes it feels more like work than fun. This year has been one of those years. I’ve got things overgrown everywhere, some of them nuisances because I have not had time to get to them.

  57. 57.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 8:57 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Guido Sarducci had econ right in his Five Minute University

  58. 58.

    Roger Moore

    November 3, 2014 at 8:59 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    An undergrad econ major and a law degree does not make one an expert in economics.

    Looking at a lot of freshwater economists, apparently a PhD and a named chair at a prestigious university doesn’t guarantee that one is an expert in economics, at least as they apply to the real world.

  59. 59.

    PsiFighter37

    November 3, 2014 at 8:59 pm

    Ben Stein can go eat a bag of overly salted dicks.

    Are we going to have a liveblog to document the atrocities tomorrow? I want to get my beer and pizza setup planned if so.

  60. 60.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    @Violet:

    Maybe go the other direction for caregiver stuff: get a cleaning service for the house or take the laundry to a place that does fluff-and-fold. If the family member at home needs prescriptions, see if a local pharmacy delivers. Heck, get a gardener for one day to clean up the stuff in your garden you can’t get to right now. Farm out anything that’s a time suck that you can pay someone else to do for you.

  61. 61.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 9:00 pm

    Gah! Can someone please release me from moderation for telling Violet about the kind of store that sells drugs? Yeesh.

  62. 62.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 9:02 pm

    Rachel is documenting that every modern day prez has had to operate their last two years with the opposition in charge in the senate and house. But but this is the worsted thing evah!!!!!

  63. 63.

    MomSense

    November 3, 2014 at 9:03 pm

    @Violet:

    Please try and take care of yourself even if it is just a nap or listening to a book on tape or a quick walk. Sending good thoughts and a hug to you.

  64. 64.

    Violet

    November 3, 2014 at 9:03 pm

    @Mnemosyne: I’ve had trouble getting to sleep over the past month but lately that hasn’t really been the problem. I’m not aware of any issues while I’m sleeping–like waking up during the night. But when I wake up I’m not refreshed. I’m just dragging all day. So I feel like I must not be sleeping well but I am not sure why. No indication of sleep apnea or anything so I don’t think that’s it.

  65. 65.

    Iowa Old Lady

    November 3, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    @Violet: Bless you, Violet. You’re doing good things.

  66. 66.

    Howard Beale IV

    November 3, 2014 at 9:04 pm

    I wouldn’t fuck Ann Coulter with John Cole’s dick.

  67. 67.

    Belafon

    November 3, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    If you have to say “You’re just playing the race card,” then you have lost the argument.

  68. 68.

    raven

    November 3, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    @Violet: I know folks are trying to help here but I think you need to see a professional about these issues.

  69. 69.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 3, 2014 at 9:09 pm

    @raven: That surely wouldn’t hurt.

  70. 70.

    Violet

    November 3, 2014 at 9:12 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Should probably add that I’ve been listening to BBC’s The Shipping Forecast to help me drift off. It works. It’s very hypnotic. Here’s an NPR piece on it. It’s an essential part of British culture.

  71. 71.

    TriassicSands

    November 3, 2014 at 9:12 pm

    Obama — the most racist president in American history. More racist than even those slave-owning presidents before the Civil War — oh, excuse me, War of Northern Aggression.

    I sure wish I’d realized this before casting two votes for Obama. At least now I know enough to arm myself for the time in 2016 when Obama declares martial law and refuses to leave the White House. Thank goodness for wise patriots like Ben Stein, who risk everything to warn us of the dangers of having a racist president.

  72. 72.

    GregB

    November 3, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    @raven:

    Unprecedented repudiation of a sitting President. Center right nation! Obama must ratify all of the Republican agenda now! He must also turn in all of his remaining race cards.

  73. 73.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 9:14 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus:
    Tongue was firmly in cheek. So firmly it hurts.

  74. 74.

    Violet

    November 3, 2014 at 9:15 pm

    @raven: I’m due for my annual physical shortly so I’ll mention it then. I do see an Endocrinologist quarterly and so far nothing is amiss with my bloodwork there. I most recently saw him about a month ago.

    Honestly, I think it’s more to do with the rather sharp turn my life took a month ago or so–the one that threw me into a tailspin. There’s a lot of other crap happening and stress will take a toll. I’m just tired. I am seeing a professional for that.

  75. 75.

    sharl

    November 3, 2014 at 9:16 pm

    @MomSense: Hmm, I’d never heard of “Collegiate Network”, but after a bit of reading, yeah, those wingnut grifters could be alumni. According to the “Alumni” section of the Wikipedia entry for this organization that “appears to be written like an advertisement”, D’Sousa was a member, along with some other somewhat well known folks of that ilk.

    Oh, and just before posting this, I found the list of alumni at the organization’s website – sure ‘nuf, Ann Coulter is there. [The Donald entered this befouled media arena via the Lucky Sperm Club rather than via the Institute of Wingnut Grifter Training.]

    ETA: Ben Stein is not an alumnus of CN. He’s another one who came in from the Lucky Sperm Club.

  76. 76.

    GregB

    November 3, 2014 at 9:18 pm

    @raven:

    There’s some real nightmare fuel in the pictures at that link. Booga..booga!

  77. 77.

    TriassicSands

    November 3, 2014 at 9:20 pm

    @burnspbesq:

    Based on the performance of a lot of conservative economists, even having a PhD in economics doesn’t make you an expert on economics or the economy. It helps to not be an ignorant greed-head who can’t learn from experience or accept anything that isn’t right wing dogma. (Krugman’s latest column has something to say on this subject — in a general way.)

  78. 78.

    Valdivia

    November 3, 2014 at 9:21 pm

    @Violet: I can so sympathize with you on this. And like others say–find time to take care of yourself. Its very exhausting what you are doing and you need to find a way to recharge. Warm hugs from someone who gets it from being in the same situation.

  79. 79.

    burnspbesq

    November 3, 2014 at 9:23 pm

    Inquiring minds want to know: what’s the over-under on the number of times Ms. Cracker has watched replays of the Gators’ fake field goal TD. If it’s less than 2,000, I’m taking the over.

  80. 80.

    Svensker

    November 3, 2014 at 9:28 pm

    Forget Madison, et al, let’s look at Woodrow Wilson. A true old-fashioned racist.

    @Violet:

    And, Violet, your parents may not want to spend money on any kind of care — because they have you, a willing handmaiden aka slave. Not to slam your parents, mine were the same way. But can they afford even a little help? You need a break. You deserve a break. You have your own life to live, you need to remember that. See if you can’t find some way to get someone in occasionally to help. Really. Talk to their doctor and your doctor. You are a person, too.

  81. 81.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 9:30 pm

    @raven:
    I’ll second raven’s comment. Sleep issues can be a sign of other things. I’ve had years where 4, maybe 5 hrs a night is all I can get in. Right now I’m normally back up to 6-7, which is a big improvement. The thing that has worked wonders for me is B12. The VA added that to my regular meds as lab work indicated I was not getting enough. I was absolutely amazed at how much better I now sleep and how few days it took to change. Even on 6 hrs I wake up feeling pretty good and have several dream cycles every night. Still have the occasional 4-5 hr night but even then wake up feeling OK.

  82. 82.

    Baud

    November 3, 2014 at 9:30 pm

    @raven:

    Good point, but she could’ve waited a couple of days to air it.

  83. 83.

    Tenar Darell

    November 3, 2014 at 9:33 pm

    @Violet: It’s really tough, especially when you have parents who are reluctant to accept outside help. I’ve looked into some resources for my father. I forget where you are in the country. JF&CS in the Boston area is very helpful on short term nursing stuff (with a doctors prescription) even his local town’s council on aging is a good resource. I hope you have equivalents in your area.

    Vigorous activity most days, and/or meditation before bed may help with the sleep. I wish you luck and health. (Always, with parents, we need both).

  84. 84.

    Origuy

    November 3, 2014 at 9:36 pm

    The Cherokee Nation wishes to nominate Andrew Jackson for the title.

  85. 85.

    zoot

    November 3, 2014 at 9:37 pm

    Conservatives Make Things Dirty:

  86. 86.

    Gin & Tonic

    November 3, 2014 at 9:41 pm

    @efgoldman: Really trying to ruin the thread.

  87. 87.

    VOR

    November 3, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    A few years ago I attended a tech conference near Washington DC for a company which did a lot of international business and hence about 40% of the attendees came from outside the US. Ben Stein was a keynote speaker, billed as a comedian. He opened by saying he got down on his knees every morning and thanked God for letting him live in the best country in the world. He dumped on the European Union in general and Italy in particular. He did an extended joke about Brazilian planes being garbage, during which I thought about the really nice people from Brazil I met at dinner the night before. He claimed global warming was a big fraud. After he was mercifully done, I ran into a colleague from Sweden who was just furious about the speech. Then another colleague from Switzerland who was also irate. My guess is that Stein never bothered to ask about the composition of the audience.

  88. 88.

    Elizabelle

    November 3, 2014 at 9:44 pm

    CBS DC should be ashamed for giving Ben Stein and his ilk a forum.

    Confederate Bull Shit DC is more like it.

    We are better than this.

  89. 89.

    mai naem

    November 3, 2014 at 9:49 pm

    @Howard Beale IV: I am glad you wouldn’t fuck Ann Coulter with John Cole’s dick. Whose dick would you fuck Ann Coulter with? Andrew Sullivans? The ebola doctors? And why would you bring John Cole’s poor dick into a conversation involving Ann Coulter?

  90. 90.

    mai naem

    November 3, 2014 at 9:56 pm

    @Violet: You could try the Area Agency on Aging in your area. They provide limited free caregiving help. It’ll just be very few hours a week but it’s something and it’s free and they’re generous on their income eligibility. Also, I don’t know what kind of shape your parents are in, but I’ve seen doctors order hospice for patients not necessarily because the patient is going to die very soon but because the patient gets more resources – but obviously you would have to talk to your parents and if they would understand it in that fashion and obviously the doc.

  91. 91.

    Lurking Canadian

    November 3, 2014 at 9:57 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: He’s over qualified. An English degree and an MBA can get you a full time position as the house economist at the Atlantic.

  92. 92.

    mai naem

    November 3, 2014 at 9:58 pm

    I never liked Ben Stein on that game show he was on with Jimmy Kimmel. Hell, I didn’t like Jimmy Kimmel on that show either. Stein just came across as a supercilious asswipe with his turdy smile.

  93. 93.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 3, 2014 at 10:02 pm

    @efgoldman: Hey now.

  94. 94.

    hilts

    November 3, 2014 at 10:25 pm

    @drkrick:

    I remember seeing that footage of Stein weeping during Nixon’s farewell and thinking he was the king of douchebags.

  95. 95.

    Ruckus

    November 3, 2014 at 10:27 pm

    @VOR:
    Do you think it would have mattered if he had asked about who he was speaking to? I’d bet not. His is the only point of view. Every thing else is wrong, at least in his tiny, tiny shriveled up putrid brain.

  96. 96.

    Scamp Dog

    November 3, 2014 at 10:43 pm

    the amount of self delusion that must go into contorting ones self to not only privately think it, but to go on record, is just astounding

    The more I think about it, it’s not really contortion or self-delusion. If you’re white and don’t spend any time trying to find anything out about the topic, you’ll find plenty of people who agree with you. You don’t really like to imagine people doing the really bad, racist stuff; hey, I’m a good person who wouldn’t do anything like that, they must be making things up, right? I mean, it’s been a century and half since slavery ended, why can’t these people get it together?

    Toss in a conservative movement with paid activists to catapult the propaganda (and their MSM enablers), and it’s a wonder any of us see through it. Reading Ta-Nehisi Coates has been an eye-opener for me, and I was fairly liberal to start with. If you’re not reading TNC, I’m not sure where you’d go to get informed.

  97. 97.

    RaflW

    November 3, 2014 at 10:54 pm

    So the former cable TV game show host Ben Stein says Obama is a racist. Wonderful. A very valued contribution to the discourse.

    I can’t wait to hear from Chuck Woolery as well.

    .

    ETA: considering Woolery’s wiki, I actually most emphatically do not want to hear from him.

    EETA: Wow. Conservative born-again Christian Woolery is on his third marriage. I’m sure he has opinions on teh gheys.

  98. 98.

    RSA

    November 3, 2014 at 11:01 pm

    @Violet:

    I cannot get sick. I will not get sick. I am well.

    I use the force-of-will strategy too, and while it’s probably just chance, I’ve had only one bad cold since 2007. Good luck.

    Depending on your parent’s state of health, you might find useful advice from people at caring.com. I visited the site for a few weeks to help figure things out in my own home life.

  99. 99.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 11:25 pm

    @Violet:

    Another potential resource I found while Googling: Eldercare.gov. They even have people you can live chat with (during business hours East Coast time, mostly).

  100. 100.

    cckids

    November 3, 2014 at 11:29 pm

    @Mnemosyne:

    Men in Tights, on the other hand

    Men in Tights will always be worth watching for the title song alone.

  101. 101.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 3, 2014 at 11:32 pm

    @cckids: Have you, perhaps, been drinking? Or huffing glue?

  102. 102.

    cckids

    November 3, 2014 at 11:34 pm

    @Violet:

    I’m so fucking tired.

    I hear you. I’m the caretaker for my 31-year old son, all kinds of medical issues & care. I’ve had maybe 5 uninterrupted nights sleep since 2005. Tired & burned out doesn’t begin to describe it.

  103. 103.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 11:36 pm

    @cckids:

    Well, okay, I was amused by the Jack Black version at the Kennedy Honors.

    (Yes, I’m going to make you sit through the performance until you get to his part. But the whole darn thing is worth it, especially when Gary Beach shows up.)

  104. 104.

    cckids

    November 3, 2014 at 11:54 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: Nope. Its just fun. Also, MiT was the first Brooks movie I saw in a theater, so I have a soft spot for it.

  105. 105.

    cckids

    November 3, 2014 at 11:56 pm

    @Mnemosyne: Did you link that the other day? Loved it, I’m getting the spouse to watch it now.

  106. 106.

    Mnemosyne

    November 3, 2014 at 11:57 pm

    @cckids:

    I did. I’m kind of obsessed with it right now, for some reason. It de-stresses me every time I watch it.

  107. 107.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 3, 2014 at 11:58 pm

    @cckids: Oh, dear. Please, go watch Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein a few times. You will be the better for it.

  108. 108.

    Morzer

    November 4, 2014 at 12:01 am

    @efgoldman:

    Being threatened with fucking Ann Coulter is when it’s time to Stand Your Ground. Second Amendment remedies for First Amendment abusers!

  109. 109.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 4, 2014 at 12:02 am

    @Morzer: Meh.

  110. 110.

    carolinadave

    November 4, 2014 at 12:03 am

    @Ruckus:
    Yes, yes they are. And they repeat themselves again and again. I want to puke when I see Ben Stein given any sort of legitimate acknowledgement.

  111. 111.

    Morzer

    November 4, 2014 at 12:04 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    Well, if you wish to sacrifice yourself to the bottle-blonde Bachmann of the even farther right, far be it from me to get between you….

  112. 112.

    NotMax

    November 4, 2014 at 12:05 am

    @omnes Omnibus

    Men in Tights was a big screen rehash of Brooks’ failed TV series When Things Were Rotten. And just as unmemorable.

  113. 113.

    carolinadave

    November 4, 2014 at 12:06 am

    Yeah, this blog hate them some Ben Stein. Deservedly so.

  114. 114.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 4, 2014 at 12:07 am

    @Morzer: Dude, I have read “She” and this isn’t it.

  115. 115.

    Morzer

    November 4, 2014 at 12:11 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    So you see yourself as more Horace Holly than Leo Vincey?

  116. 116.

    carolinadave

    November 4, 2014 at 12:13 am

    First to comment on a open thread. Tomorrow at this time is going to suck. Then Weekday will suck as ChuckTodd tells us what to take from the election. Thursday will suck as then what is possible to suck in the future will become all the more apparent, reported by ChuckTodd. Hopefully a lull as Harry Reid then shoves Obama’s last nominees thru the lame duck session including Richard Roundtree (Shaft) as Attorney General. I can only hope for the best.

  117. 117.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 4, 2014 at 12:18 am

    @Morzer: No, I am opting out of the Haggard view point.

  118. 118.

    Morzer

    November 4, 2014 at 12:18 am

    @carolinadave:

    It could be worse. At least we won’t have to listen to Luke Nepotism Russert yapping on inconsequentially.

  119. 119.

    Morzer

    November 4, 2014 at 12:19 am

    @Omnes Omnibus:

    I was just starting to consider casting Burnsie as Leo… ah well…

  120. 120.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 4, 2014 at 12:22 am

    @Morzer: Me, I am Andre-Louis. I have always been.

  121. 121.

    carolinadave

    November 4, 2014 at 12:28 am

    @Morzer: that is the small blessing I have to hope for in national political coverage. I’m thinking I might follow College football the rest of the way this fall following the election. It seems so wholesome and pure, I look forward to learning more about it about how they pick the best teams in the sport.

  122. 122.

    Morzer

    November 4, 2014 at 12:36 am

    @carolinadave:

    It seems so wholesome and pure

    Ever since that unwholesome Johnny Manziel departed, leaving college football to be redeemed by the Blessed Jameis Winston, the Roethlisberger of the Seminoles….

    Is it wrong of me to find comfort in thoughts of Chuck Todd suffering all manner of indignities at the hands of a tribe of feral raccoons?

  123. 123.

    cckids

    November 4, 2014 at 12:39 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: I’ve seen them all, love them all. Didn’t say MiT was my favorite, just a fun, goofy movie.

  124. 124.

    Amir Khalid

    November 4, 2014 at 2:15 am

    @NotMax:
    Hey! I liked When Things Were Rotten.

  125. 125.

    Chris

    November 4, 2014 at 2:51 am

    Ben Stein is an economist? I thought he was an actor/comedian. Different Stein?

  126. 126.

    Morzer

    November 4, 2014 at 2:58 am

    @Chris:

    Ben Carson is supposed to be a brilliant surgeon – but he sounds like an inadvertent comedian every time he opens his yap. I guess it’s just some sort of prion disease that mysteriously affects only the right wing.

  127. 127.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 4, 2014 at 4:31 am

    @sharl: Collegiate Network is a right-wing front group that funds right wing campus rags and bringing right wing speakers to college campuses. It’s funny that you mention D’Souza, because my alma mater had a CN paper and the main organizer (who was a protogee of a gay-baiting right-wing attention-seeker/gadfly in my home town–he frightened a Chinese language teacher at my little brother’s middle school into canceling Chinese New Year enrichment activities SO GOOD GOING YOU RACIST ASSHOLE) brought in *dramatic pause* Dinesh D’Souza in as a guest. D’Souza was between scandals at the time and reportedly more journalists showed up than students (they fit into a classroom, with plenty of room to spare). Hahaha.

    The same editor, thankfully my memory has erased his name, whined to a real news outlet that GLBT rights were a menace because all of the women were turning Lesbian, he knew this was so because women would tell him that at bars. LOL.

    The wiki entry had one interesting thing, they said they funded the papers because that would avoid student government rules. This is true, like a gov’t in microcosm, if you apply to fund your school newspaper or other club with student fees, there are usually these pesky “rules” about having “bylaws” and “elections” and “non-discrimination policies” and “sexual harassment” bans, which one can forgo if you’re getting off campus money. Oh, the real reason is Freeze Peach? Cool story, bros.

  128. 128.

    Another Holocene Human

    November 4, 2014 at 4:35 am

    @Svensker: Wilson may have invaded Haiti, but Andrew Jackson was the OG Racist.

    Also, he was the first to “he’s worse than Bush, he sold us out”* when he turned on the Cherokee and sent them across a continent on the Trail of Tears. But it’s all good, someone will show up to whitesplain that, too.

    *-note: if you believe this of Obama unironicly, you are an idiot

    @Origuy: Great minds think alike.

  129. 129.

    TresL

    November 4, 2014 at 5:11 am

    @dmsilev: I think you mean raping his slaves.

  130. 130.

    J R in WV

    November 4, 2014 at 10:30 am

    @RaflW:

    Those conservative born-again divorcees have a great problem to live with.

    They know they’re going to hell for having sex with more than one woman, abandoning their first (and second and third….) families, etc, etc.

    Or else they are total hypocrites about everything they believe in in order to make money, and they ARE going to hell for that.

    I’m a godless hippie liberal who worked hard enough long enough to get a good pension (so far, as the Rs haven’t stolen it yet! ) and have been married to the same girl for 43 years!

    But most of these born-again bigots can’t do any of that. Newt, Dinesh, all the others, I can’t remember their names as I block their existence the best I can.

  131. 131.

    Sondra

    November 4, 2014 at 10:35 am

    @Mnemosyne:
    That’s new information to me and just one more reason to adore Mel Brooks and detest Ben Stein. Here is another…if Ben Stein’s Father -in-law was Jewish, he could only have advanced to the rank of 2nd Luie.because there was still prejudice against Jews in the American Army of WW2.

    Poor little dweeb.

    He is just projecting his own fear that if the folks out in the hinterland don’t have black folks to loath, they will once again turn their hatred towards our tribe…so look over there! Squirrrrrle….!

    Turning the tide of racial prejudice takes a long long time and proceeds one generation at a time. We have come a long way since 1964. I know because I was in High School when the amount of prejudice was just about equal between Jews and blacks. I remember that there were neighborhoods which kept out both of our clans: and Country Clubs, Golf Courses, swimming pools, bathrooms and much much more.

    Ben Stein seems to be operating from a mind set which is very defensive and which indicates to me that he feels he is still trying to “fit in” and assimilate: that was the highest goal of my Grandparents’ generation – to assimilate.

  132. 132.

    Omnes Omnibus

    November 4, 2014 at 11:06 am

    @Sondra: I give you Julius Adler andCaptain Ben Salomon. I am not going to argue that there was no prdudice against Jews in US society or the US Army, but your suggestion that Jews could not be promoted above 2LT is simply inaccurate.

  133. 133.

    john fremont

    November 4, 2014 at 7:15 pm

    @Svensker:Woodrow Wilson was also a Democrat ,which just goes to show that Democrats have always been the real racists in America. Sarcasm off.

    Damn that was too easy, I could get a hundred likes if I posted this at Free Republic.

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