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Ben Stein's Diary
So Much Sadness
Love among the ruins — from Ben’s monthly print edition Diary.
Monday
This is August 27, 2012, just for the record. It is my father’s birthday. He was born on this date in 1916. My father was born in Detroit. His father was an immigrant from Russia—came here at about age 5. His father “borrowed” his brother’s birth certificate, ran away from home, at age 16 joined the U.S. Army, served in the cavalry (unusual for a Jewish boy), was sent to Fort Riley, Kansas, then went to the Philippines to chase the Filipino insurgent leader, Emilio Aguinaldo, all around the jungles on a horse and then on a mule.
Then he came back and worked as a skilled tool and die maker at Ford Motor (I have always loved Fords, and Mercury and Lincolns), then at GE in Schenectady. He was unemployed for a great part of the Great Depression.
Our family was supported then by my Grandmother, who worked as a sales clerk at a department store in Schenectady.
She was a wonderfully hard-working and devoted woman.
My father, at age 15, entered Williams College, the finest small college in America. They treated him magnificently. He graduated second in his class behind Richard Helms, who went on to be head of the CIA and a genuinely great man and a patriot.
I won’t detail for you my father’s achievements except that he was a brilliant economist and superb writer. His main contribution was to say how little economists know and to found the “I don’t know” school of economics. He was research director for the Committee for Economic Development, did research at Brookings, and then was saved—and I mean literally SAVED—to do what he had always wanted to do, be a pundit, by Richard M. Nixon, via Nixon’s advisor, the legendary genius Milton Friedman.
RN made him a member, then chair, of the Council of Economic Advisers (sic). It was glory days for my old Pop. Through the aid of our dear family friend, the uniquely fine Peter M. Flanigan, war hero, movie-star handsome, Princeton summa cum laude, I got a job at the White House and my father and I got to work together. It was bliss.
One day, as I may have told you, I came to my father with some statistics question for a speech I was writing. I asked my father for the answer, as I said, “…only if you don’t have anything else to do that is more important.” My father looked up from his 50th Kent cigarette of the day in his stupendous office at the EOB, and asked, “What do you think I have to do that’s more important than helping my one and only son?” That tells you the kind of man he was.
My mother was equally devoted, although by no means equally even tempered. Still, she wrote me a letter every single day I was in college. How many mothers do that?
Anyway, both Mom and Pop are long gone now. My sister (I am blessed with the world’s smartest, funniest, most well-mannered sister) and I miss them keenly. Today is a particularly keen sense of loss day.
How will I ever get to my eventual resting place without my father to take care of me? He always said he made a small difference in my life, but that was just modesty. He made all the difference. He encouraged me, inspired me, made me his colleague, got me jobs (my mother was really good at that), made me feel as if I belonged, took care of me even when I was in my 50s and afterward. I try to be a good father to our son, our stunningly handsome Tommy, but I will never be in the same league with my Pop.
Those of you who are fathers—know that you are life and death to your sons and daughters. Those of you blessed to still have your Pops, praise God for every second you have them.
Tuesday
Now for a second sad story.
About the Author
Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He writes “Ben Stein’s Diary” for every issue of The American Spectator.
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gene| 11.2.12 @ 7:49AM
It will burst and history will repeat itself.
Have a roof over your head, clothes to wear and food on the table. The rest is what we want, not what we need. Stop worrying about the gravy.
Our parents came through WWII and the Great Depression while laughing their way through Fred Astaire musical comedies. Take a chill pill already.
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 7:51AM
I feel for you Ben about your loses. I would guess we are near in age. I buried 4 old pals this year alone. Yesterday I went to the funeral of one of my wife's aunts. Yesterday also was the 20th aniversary of my father's death. He was the finest man I have ever known. As the old man used to say when someone died. " It is a road we all have to take. " As for the unemployment statistics, the Republicans count all the people in part time work that want full time. They also count all those forced in to early and often penurious retirement. Then we have all the college graduates and other that have moved back with the parents. My son of 25 went to one of the best prep schools in this state. He has a fairly good job. But a lot of his friends are eternal students or trapped in dead end jobs that pay peanuts. Many young people today can't afford to get married and have kids.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 9:43AM
"..Many young people today can't afford to get married and have kids....."
Many young people could not afford to get married and have kids during my parent's generation. During the Great Depression.
They did get married. They had children. They fought WWII. They invented computers. They put a man on the moon. What is the matter with people today?
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 11:20AM
Thats somewhat a lot of hooey. Marriage rates went down duringthe dpression. People waited till they were older to get married. My parents had to wait 5 years until the depression was over to get married. They just had no money to do so. People were afraid to move ahead just like now. Birthrates plummeted to there lowest levels ever recorded until then. Now during the present depression, birth and marriage rates are the lowest ever. This depression has at least a few more years to run.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 2:45PM
Both sides of my family had about 8 or 9 children born in the 20's and the 30's and 40's. That is why I have about 80 or 90 cousins.
I am second generation from Ireland and Italy. They were not stopped by hard times. They just worked hard. No whining. Just hard work.
Frank Drackman| 11.2.12 @ 8:42AM
You know whats Sad?
That (the Reverend) Jesse Jackson didn't yell "DUCK!" in 1968.
I mean that the Yankees never traded Dimaggio for Ted Williams.
Would have been a Win-Win, Righty Joltin' Joe gets the Green Monster, Teddy Ballgame gets Yankee Stadium's short RF porch, and with that low railing, maybe even punches out a few loud mouths (see Cobb, Tyrus)...
And as a lefty, I preferred Williams, Marine Jet Pilot, and sponsored useful everyday products like Shotguns and Lanterns.
I remember the first "Mr. Coffee" machine I ever saw, "DRIP" Coffee? I thought, "FILTERS"? that you had to buy separately? Too rich for My(Dads) blood, and we stuck with the dependable perculator till it crapped out.
Too bad it wasn't until 1999, (ironically about the same time Joe crapped out) and as good as that first Mr. Coffee was, it's long since hit the big dumpster in the sky, unlike my trusty Ted Williams Sears 30:06...
Frank
Burlington| 11.2.12 @ 1:45PM
Your trusty Sears 30-06 endorsed by Ted Williams has some collectors value since it was a controlled feed Mauser action produced in Belgium by Fabrique Nationale.
Rich Rostrom| 11.3.12 @ 5:12AM
Here is what Williams himself wrote about that trade rumor:
"I know New York was one town I did not want to play in. I didn't like Yankee Stadium. A bad background in center field when the crowd is big, and all that smoke hanging in there..."
Abdullah| 11.2.12 @ 9:02AM
Thank you Ben. Thank you for inspiring me to start writing my own memoirs, so my grandchildren will know of their roots. I only with I had your talent of storytelling though.
Abdullah| 11.2.12 @ 9:03AM
Sorry for mistype, it was "wish", not "with".
Frank Drackman| 11.2.12 @ 9:16AM
Umm Abdullah,
Hows the Corned Beef today?
(It's an "Abdullah the Butcher" reference, Jeez, do I gotta draw you Moe-rons a diaphragm?)
Umm save yourself the effort, My Grandfather did the same thing, only on state-of-the-art 1970 reel-t0-reel tapes, which don't really do well with todays security procedures, not that it mattered, cause his stories were all about how the 30's were so bad, they used to set Black People's Houses on Fire just to keep warm.
Don't blame me, I wasn't the one setting Black People's Houses on fire..
Frank
Davidson Henricks| 11.2.12 @ 9:45AM
Ben, when you describe your friend Richard Fowkes as"piano-playing, Sondheim-loving," you speak volumes about his personality and character. Sondheim is a cultural giant, a genius of musical theater, and those with refined musical sensibilities almost worship him.
Having had the pleasure of being acquainted with many Sondheim fans, I consider them the creme de la creme of all my friends and acquaintances.
Davidson Henricks| 11.2.12 @ 9:55AM
You write, " Both Mel and Edith . . . had endless stories to tell about anti-Semitism in Canada in the 1930s."
If you go back and read Mark Tooley's column from yesterday, you will see that anti-semitism is very much alive in the readers' comments. A reader with the moniker of TLP uses the most horrid biblical scripture to bolster his anti-semitism. Among the bible-quoting, hard Chritian Right, anti-semitism is very much alive, and it frequently raises its ugly head on AmSpec.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 10:59AM
How can any reasonable REAL Christian be Anti-Semetic instead of the complete opposite.? The New Testament is all about Jews starting the Church of Jesus (Jewish). Gentiles are minor supporting players in the beginning of the Church. Scripture states we were GRAFTED onto the tree. Anyone that quotes Scritpture AND believes in it cannot be Anti-Semetic. If so, they are not the real deal and are in direct oppsosition to the Creator.
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 11:35AM
It is true the Church was started by Jews and Jesus was a from Gallilee. They soon left the narrrow bigotry of that for a religion that embraced the universal brotherhood of all mankind. Jesus gave the Commandment to go and teach all nations. Paul said there are no more Jews or gentiles, no more slave or free, no more male or female. We all one in Jesus Christ. Israel as it is presntly run is the exact opposite of what a Christian should support. It is a racist state run by hatemoners and bigots who treat half the population under their control either very second class, or like vermin to be expelled or exterminated. The vast majority of the world's Jews converted to either Christianity or Islam in the last 2000 years. They are the universal religions, that more then half of the world's people now belongs. The dispensationalist herrisy has nothing to do with real Christianity. The Jews and Muslims are children of God and our misguided brothers and sisters. So are you dispensationlists. God wants us living in peace with each other. That is the whole message of Jesus.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 12:02PM
"It is a racist state run by hatemoners and bigots" -- I knew it wouldn't be long before the anarcho-Paulista, anti-Israel hatemongers would come out of the woodwork.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 12:04PM
"...It is a racist state run by hatemoners and bigots who treat half the population under their control either very second class, or like vermin to be expelled or exterminated. ...."
Non Jews, both Christian and Muslim have full rights as citizens; they are allowed to vote and hold Political Office. Do yourself a favor and stop repeating the Propaganda of the newsmedia.
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 3:16PM
Baloney: Christian clergymen are spit on everyday in Israel by the Harendi. The New Testament is burned on a regular basis by rabid extremists. Churches and mosques are defaced on a regular basis. There were racist pogroms against African refugees in Israel just recently. It is no secret that what is being planned is a racist state in which the non Jewish majority under Israeli control will be expelled or in the worst case exterminated. A real Christian would be for an integrated Israel where all people are treated with respect, dignity, and full civil rights.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 4:00PM
There are Arab members of the Knesset elected in free elections by citizens, be they Jews, Christians, or Muslims. All are citizens and have the right to vote. Arab citizens in Israel receive better treatment than in Arab nations. That is WHY THEY STAYED and did not leave. They can emigrate anytime they want. Ask yourself why they want to stay? Look at the truth and not lies and propaganda.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 4:06PM
http://knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mkdetails_eng.asp
Better to LOOK at the facts than to repeat lies and Propaganda.
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 6:50PM
The blacks had the right to vote in this county since the 1860's. they did not have full rights until the 1960's. The Israeli citizens of Arab extraction are treated worse then we used to treat our blacks under segregation. That is they are segregated and very second class. They are also 20% of the population and growing fast. The 4 million Arabs under Israeli control in the world's largest concentration camp the Gaza strip and the West Bank are treated like vermin to be expelled or exterminated. No one spoke out more forcefully about the evils of segregation in the USA and Apartheid in South Africa. It is time for the Jews to practice what they used to preach. Integrate Israel Palistine now, with equal rights for all the people who live there. That would of course include many billions of reparations for the Palistians for the the murder, theft, and torture they have had to suffer the last 62 years. Justice demands a fair settlement. The USA can't continue to carry this cancer on our backs forever.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 7:43PM
Completely clueless. You can repeat more inaccurate propaganda in less space than apparently anyone. This has got to be a joke. No serious person would believe your nonsense. The Arabs had the Gaza and the West Bank. They lost them AFTER they attacked Israel in NINETEEN SIXTY SEVEN. I'll type that again and
s l o w l y. 1-9-6-7.
Someone is not up on current events.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 8:04PM
P.S. BTW?
."..... That would of course include many billions of reparations for the Palistians ......."
For hundreds of years the PALESTINIANS? They have been the Jews of Palestine. Even Arab leaders stated this UNTIL the 1960's when the PLO was formed and then they HIGHJACKED the title. Yes indeedy. IF you looked at the history of this area, you would find out that NO Arabs in this area ever considered themselves Palestinians until the 1960's. The MSM completely ignore this and so many other facts of history.
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 8:54PM
Palistine has been called Palistine since at least 130 AD. The people who live there were Palistinians. Now I suggest you do a little reading. because you sure don't know much like most dispenationalists. The Zionists themselves used to call it Palistine. The Palistinians have roots in the area for thousands of years. They are decended from Cannanites, Jews, Arabs, Philistines, Greeks, Egyptians, Assyrians, Persians, Syrians, Crusaders, etc. The same is true of the Israeli Jews who are a mishmash of various peoples from around the world. I can't see what is Godly about Israel. It was founded by communists, socialists and atheists and is now run by fascist racists. I read in the Israeli press that Tel Aviv is the most gay friendly city in the world. There are also 50,000 abortions performed every year in Israel. Israel is full of money launderers, pimps, and general trouble makers. It sure isn't run by Torah believing, 10 Commandment following rightous Jews.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 9:28PM
There are many believing Jews in Israel. Both Traditional and Messianic.
".....I can't see what is Godly about Israel....."
You cannot see any of them because you do not want to see them. It would upset your prejudices and false beliefs. So, you cannot see them. And there are many thousands of them. With your logic someone in another country could point out the 50 million abortions performed in the U.S. and make the SAME CLAIM against YOU.
That is some logic ya got there, Bubala!
Incredible.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 11:04PM
Let see. In the U.S. there are money launderers, pimps, and general trouble makers, and the U.S. has performed over 50 million abortions since Roe vrs. Wade. Hmm. Let us follow the logic of the man from Wi. Interesting. Sad and pathetic too.
Occam's Tool| 11.2.12 @ 6:50PM
Jack, you are a clueless git. Just stay away from my kids, you Islamist loving Nazi scumbag.
By the way, the Packers suck this year, and Green Bay smells...bad.
Ron Paul, by the way, isn't fit to dispose of the used tampons of Ayn Rand, who was pro-America and pro-Israel, unlike you. Come to think of it, Dave Williams, our resident atheist, is also pro-Israel.
At any rate, all I ask from someone's religion is that they don't want to murder my kids or me. Simple enough. Dispensationalist Evangelicals tend to do fine, Muslims do not, and Liberal atheists do very badly as well. Jackboot Jack is a scumbag all to his ownself. The Cancer that kills him should take a good long time to do that antisemitic scumbag in.
By the way, the haredi don't like secular Jews, either. They are hardly representative of mainstream Israeli thought, just as Jackboot Jack's craven cowardice and scumbaggery isn't representative, truly, of Wisconsin.
But Green Bay still smells bad and the Packers suck.
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 7:20PM
The Packers are going all the way this year and will take the Visqueens down twice on the way. The stinky one is you Occam. When you weigh 500 lbs. like you do, it is hard to keep all those folds of fat clean. The bacteria grow like mad in the folds, That is why super fat people stink to high heavens. Anyhow have a nice weekend anyhow. Shalom.
PS: Nazi's don't believe in universal brotherhood. If your people didn't like the neighbors why did they steal the neighborhood? They may have had a claim to East Prussia or Pomerania but they sure had none to Palistine.
Davidson Henricks| 11.2.12 @ 10:46AM
Ben here is TLP's repulsive post from yesterday's Mark Tooley Column. This is the type of god the Christian Right worships--an angry god, a god capable of the most horrific cruelty.
I should know about the Christian Right--I have lived among them for nearly fifty years.
TLP| 11.1.12 @ 6:58PM
I did write it.
I believe that Jeremiah says that God will send a Hunter to Punish the Jewish People. And, only then, will they be allowed to return to Israel.
WWII ended in 1945.
The Jews returned to Israel in 1948.
Why is this so hard to believe?
God sent the Philistines, the Babylonians, and the Persians to decimate the Israelites. Read the Book of Esther.
Why is it so hard to comprehend that He would send The Huns?
Look it up, in The Bible.
Jeremiah.
WWII ended in 1945, and the Jews returned to Israel TWO YEARS LATER.
Coincidence?
I don't think so.
RCV is a Leftist Punk, with The Muslim's dick in his mouth.
And, remember what God has said: MY ways are not your ways.
I stand by my Theory.
You got a problem with that?
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 11:25AM
This is not really anti-semitism. This is premillennial dispensationalism, which ironically enough is very pro-Israel.
Anti-semitism of the dangerous and virulent kind has a Darwinist background to it, as does modern racism in general.
EdInMiami| 11.2.12 @ 11:34AM
Sure.
And the Confederacy did not quote the bible to uphold slavery.
You people are despicable.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 11:55AM
Slavery is not the same as racism. Slavery is a social position. Racism is the view that some races are inherently inferior (mainly for biological reasons). BTW, slavery in the Bible was not chattel slavery as it was in the South.
SylviaInDaytona| 11.2.12 @ 12:20PM
Uh-huh.
And the slave owners did not think their slaves were inferior human beings.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 12:40PM
Not the Christian ones. Fallen and degraded from Adam's high position, maybe, but not biologically inferior.
e r hastings| 11.2.12 @ 1:24PM
Not the Christian ones? Uh-huh.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 3:36PM
Still grunting instead of thinking I see.
RCV| 11.2.12 @ 5:45PM
Mr. Crisler: The notion that TLP is a Christian anything is preposterous on its face. He's a foul-mouthed, mysoginistic racist. And the fact that you guys on TAS treat him as if he deserves some sort of respect is troubling.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 8:35PM
RCV, I don't respect him. Nevertheless, regardless of what someone's loopy theory might be about the history of the Jews, I follow Norman Podhoretz's view that anti-semitism is best revealed in what a person thinks about Israel.
RCV| 11.3.12 @ 4:45PM
In general, Mr Podhoretz was correct.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 11:04AM
"....This is the type of god the Christian Right worships--an angry god, a god capable of the most horrific cruelty...."
It appears that your entire fountain of knowledge on the Christian Right comes from the MSM.
That is both sad and pathetic.
The real Christian Right are the strongest allies that Israel has in the United States. If you could wean your way from the Main Stream media, you would find out very quickly that this is the truth. I suppose you think TBN reflects Christians in the U.S.? When in reality they reject most of those Charlatans.
e r hastings| 11.2.12 @ 12:44PM
I have known some of these Christian Rightists, and believe me they can be mean. From there mouths I have heard the most virulent anti-Semitism. A colleague at work, dead now, was always talking about Jew this, Jew that, and when anything good happened in his life he gave credit to
"the Lord" blessing him.
So don't try to pull the wool over my eyes gene.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 12:47PM
So you condemn the "Christian Right" because of some Nazi colleague of yours?
Davidson Henricks| 11.2.12 @ 11:17AM
gene, remember this little tidbit from a few years back?
Jerry Falwell, speaking to a crowd of 1500
Sullivan County Baptists in Kingsport, Falwell told an enthusiastic audience that the Antichrist was alive, walking around somewhere, and was a MALE JEW. What he didn't know was a reporter was in the audience and the word leaked out.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 12:11PM
Once again. You are quoting one of the Televangelsists of TBN as if you think they reflect true Christian thinking in this country.
"Well I'll just quote Jerry Falkwell, so there!"
Then you quote Calvinists?
You are actually proving my point that you know NOTHING about true Christians in this country, except from what you glean from the Internet. You just proved my point. That is sad. Stop repeating the propaganda of others and actively look for the truth. It may surprise you one day.
SylviaInDaytona| 11.2.12 @ 12:22PM
Uh-huh.
Truth? Keep reading Davidson and Ed's comments.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 12:44PM
SylviaInDayton can't seem to write more than a soundbite. I think that's the extent of her thoughts, too. She thinks in grunts and half-sentences.
Davidson Henricks| 11.2.12 @ 11:19AM
Where did Falwell get this Satan/Jew business? He is reputed to have endorsed the writings of R.J. Rushdoony, a Calvinist extremist and founder of Christian Reconstructionism. This cult believes Jews and the God of Judaism are Satanic. His organization the Chalcedon Foundation and his official website are the darling of racists and Neo-Nazis all over America. Perhaps this is his source, who knows. Because Falwell has no standing in theology, and like all fundamentalists reject true scholarship as too secular, thus he invents his own.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 11:27AM
Davidson, you are badly misinformed about Rushdoony and Christian Reconstructionism.
SylviaInDaytona| 11.2.12 @ 11:50AM
Mr. Crisler,
You said nothing about TLP's gross and repugnant remarks yesterday. In fact, I was one of the very few who chastised TLP.
Now you are rushing to defend the Christian Right. Typical.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 11:56AM
I didn't read TLP's remarks yesterday, as he tends to be rather impolite, so I skip over his writings usually.
SylviaInDaytona| 11.2.12 @ 12:23PM
Impolite? Choice of this word is revealing.
The understatement of the year.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 12:35PM
I am not defending anyone's remarks. If they are inappropriate, that will be self evident. But to use them as EVIDENCE that the Christian Right is Anti-Semetic? And then try to bolster that illogic by quoting Televangelsists like Falwell?
That is sheer nonsense.
Occam's Tool| 11.2.12 @ 6:53PM
I lived in rural Alabama for years and years, where they went to church on Wednesdays and Sundays.
It is much scarier to be a Jew shopping in Mall of America in Minneapolis than to be a Jew shopping in the main mall in Birmingham, AL. There is NOTHING problematic with mainstream evangelical Christianity from a Jewish perspective. It is the Presbyterian Church USA that has views similar to Jackboot Jack, not the Southern Baptists.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 12:43PM
SylviaInDayton, go peddle your leftwing rubbish somewhere else.
e r hastings| 11.2.12 @ 12:45PM
It's "leftwing rubbish" when I try and point out anti-Semitism in the Christian Right.
Interesting.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 12:48PM
Same to you e r hastings. You are spewing leftwing propaganda like your pal SylviaInDaytona. Interesting. Well, not really.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 12:56PM
Pointing out Anti-Semitism on the Christian Right? By what? - Quoting Televangelists like Fallwell? What nonsense!
You should be pointing it out on the LEFT with people like Jimmy Carter and President Obama insisting that Israel return to its "1967" borders"?
Along with a looooong list of other Anti-Semetic behavior that the MSM ignore.
Cobalt| 11.2.12 @ 9:24PM
....and Bill Moyers.
EdInMiami| 11.2.12 @ 11:31AM
The Christian right supports Israel because they are anti-Semitic and want to see Jews exterminated by Armageddon, and TLP probably is among the supporters.
They are looking forward to Armageddon. These pro-Israel Christian right are the most anti-Semitic people in the world .They want all the Jews to be exterminated, except for 144,000 who are somehow converted.
This 144,000 number is from some crackpot prediction in Revelation, the most outrageously insane book in the bible, but often quoted by the Christian Right. Accoriding to the prophesy, some 12000 Jews will be sealed by God and converted.
Yes, the Christian Right is anti-Semetic.
Jack in Wi| 11.2.12 @ 11:45AM
The dispensationalists don't want the Jews exterminated. They think that the Jesus will return and the Jews will be all be converted to their form of Christianity. That is why most Jews don't like dispensationalist Christians. They just have a different belief system.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 12:49PM
".....They think that the Jesus will return and the Jews will be all be converted to their form of Christianity....."
If anything, it will be the other way around. Jews will be converting people to Christianity. Already there are over a million Messianic Jews in the world. Even in Israel they are in the thousands.
And the numbers are growing all the time.
Occam's Tool| 11.2.12 @ 6:54PM
Jack in Wi. : this Jew prefers dispensationalists to a Muhammed lover like yourself.
SylviaInDaytona| 11.2.12 @ 11:47AM
Ed,
Even Billy Graham made some anti-Semitic remarks, but he had no idea that his words would be published, and had they not been recorded, Brother Graham's anti-Semitism would never have seen the light of day.
Yes, there is plenty of anti-Semitism coming from you-know-where.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 11:59AM
EdinMiami, you are as badly informed about the "Christian right" and the Book of Revelation as Davidson is about Rushdoony. Do your homework.
SylviaInDaytona| 11.2.12 @ 12:24PM
Uh-huh. You're a desperate little man, Crisler, attempting to defend the Christian Right.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 12:41PM
Go away leftist troll.
Frank Drackman| 11.2.12 @ 12:47PM
Sylvia, you aren't my Aunt-in-Law Sylvia in Jacksonville are you?
Cause you're as annoying as she is, whats with the "Little" Man dig?
Its like me saying your Vagina's all A-Trophic(its MEDICAL y'all, it means "thin and dryed out")
as in, "Bill Clinton stopped having intercourse with Hilary when her Vagina became Atrophic"
which isn't true of course.
He stopped having sex with Hilary Weighhhhhhhhh before that...
Frank H. Drackman
e r hastings| 11.2.12 @ 1:26PM
Frank Drackman. Dirt common.
BoBoLink78| 11.2.12 @ 1:32PM
Dirt common. That's what I feel like when I read some of these postings. I would never associate with the kind of people who come on this site and use obscenities and profanities, no matter what the subject.
The profanity-laced posts reflect a juvenile mind, a retarded development.
Frank Drackman| 11.2.12 @ 4:47PM
BoBo, I dare you, No, make that Triple-Coney-Dog-with-Relish-and-a-Baruch-Goldstein-for-President-Bumper-Sticker that you...
umm what did you say again?
Oh yeah, there is not one whit of Profanity in my post, they're all medical words, "Vagina", "A-trophic" "Sex" "Intercourse" "Bill Clinton"
My Bad, "Bill Clinton" IS Profane...
Frank
gene| 11.2.12 @ 12:18PM
The Apostles asked Jesus about His Return and the "End of the AGE" which many interpret incorrectly as the "End of the World". That is the way many see Armagedon. Unfortunately, it is not accurate. It is not even Scriptural. Do yourself a favor and stop repeating proaganda, cliches, and Televangelists. Remember Jesus also states not everyone who calls Him "Lord" will inherit the Kingdom. There are a lot of TV Charlatans that will be in for a rude surprise when their hearts stop beating.
And no,...... the REAL Christian Right is not
Anti-Semetic.
Occam's Tool| 11.2.12 @ 6:59PM
No they aren't. Again, I don't really care what they think will happen at the end of the world. I care about what they will do over the next few decades.
The Christian Right are a Jew's best friend. I say this as what Jack would agree we agree on nothing except this) the most uber-Zionistic commenter on this site and the most anti-Islamic. I think my enemies would agree that I despise Muhammed and adore Israel.
We are going into a fight with the next great totalitarian ideology, political Islam. Some, like Jack, are ready to bow and pay jirzya. Some are not. The Evangelical Christians are not. G-d love them.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 12:10PM
Once again. You are quoting one of the Televangelsists of TBN as if you think they reflect true Christian thinking in this country.
"Well I'll just quote Jerry Falkwell, so there!"
Then you quote Calvinists?
You are actually proving my point that you know NOTHING about true Christians in this country, except from what you glean from the Internet. You just proved my point. That is sad. Stop repeating the propaganda of others and actively look for the truth. It may surprise you one day.
e r hastings| 11.2.12 @ 12:48PM
We know nothing?
If you read my comment above you will see that I have lived and worked with right-wing Christians, and I know how they are. And I have heard Jew jokes and slurs many times.
gene| 11.2.12 @ 1:04PM
Then you are not associating with real Christians. When are people going to understand that there are millions of CULTURAL Jews, Christians, etc all over. There are cultural Christians that attend Church, tithe, sing hymns, the whole shebang, but they are not true believers and they do not lead Christian lives. That is just the culture they grew up with. You hold them up as an example? To prove your point? That is like someone holding up Adolf Hitler and Mussolini to attack Catholics.
AND if you are hearing Jew jokes and slurs, then you should be STANDING UP to those people and SAYING something. Yes you know nothing!
And you are proving that with each posting!
gene| 11.2.12 @ 1:12PM
Just the phrase "Jew Jokes" speaks volumes in this chain. I would not have heard them because I would shut those people down in the space of two seconds!
From "The Hangman" by Maurice Ogden
"For who has served more faithfully?
With your coward's hope." said He,
"And where are the others that might have
stood side by your side, in the common
good?"
"Dead!" I answered, and amiably
"Murdered," the Hangman corrected me.
"First the alien ... then the Jew.
I did no more than you let me do."
Burlington| 11.2.12 @ 1:17PM
You out did yourself Ben. What a great column. My dad too was a great and generous man who had to take over both roles when mother developed breast cancer in her mid-40's. How sad it is that the unintended consequence of the Great Society has taken the father out of the home for so many. A "single mom" is a term now used as a badge of honor.
Robert Prechter, in his Elliot Wave Theorist, says "vote for the candidate you like least because he will be the next Hoover". He believes we are at the end of a bear market rally and on the cusp of a major depression that will last 4 years.
Ralph Novy| 11.2.12 @ 2:14PM
"The banks are stuffed with money. Corporations are stuffed with money. Rich people are stuffed with money.
But they are not spending it. Velocity is lacking, as we economists say."
Yes and no, Ben. Yes, banks are stuffed with money and not "spending" it by lending it. Yes, corporations are stuffed with money and not "spending" it by compensating their employees better. But no, the rich are stuffed with money and ARE spending it -- on themselves, in a narrow sense.
What you overlook or ignore is that you only get satisfactory "economic velocity" when demand -- from a broad consumer base -- is accelerated. And you only get that when the middle class has enough dough in their pockets to pay for more than a subsistence existence.
What in the world makes you think Romney/Ryan economic policies would do ANYTHING to put more dough in middle-class pockets? I don't see Obama doing enough, but I see Romney/Ryan actually picking those pockets for whatever pennies, washers or even lint might be left there.
You should have listened more attentively to your friend, Norman Lear, all these many years.
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.2.12 @ 3:39PM
Keynesian rubbish. Your sort of demand or velocity will just create mass inflation.
Butch| 11.2.12 @ 2:46PM
John II, I hope you show up here today. This thread is more confirmation of your Troll Theory.
Dave Williams| 11.2.12 @ 6:25PM
Ben, Ben, Ben, Ben, BEN......I sympathize with you for your losses, but please, WAKE UP!!!! The President is not, not, NOT a nice guy. He's a thin-skinned arrogant narcissistic little prick whose likes infest faculty lounges all over the country. He is in WAY over his head, and he knows it, and he knows that we know it as well, so his messiah mask is slipping quite a bit. His true self is the antithesis of nice.
By the way, commentators, as an out and proud atheist, I really enjoy watching you rip each others' guts out in the name of religion. A plague on all your houses.