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Ben Stein's Diary
Master of Ceremonies
First, the National Gallery. Then, the Spectator’s 45th anniversary dinner.
(Page 2 of 2)
There was a deal of talk about why we lost the election. Of course it was because the black vote went 95% for Obama. That was it. That was the whole story. But why? Would Tom Sowell have gotten that vote? Would Herman Cain? I don’t think so. Mr. Obama has a mysterious charisma for blacks and for gays and for lesbians and for college kids. He just seems like a very cool guy, just the way G.W. Bush seemed très cool to white people and many Hispanics in 2000 and 2004. Next time we need someone very ultra cool to run against Deval Patrick. He’s the guy to beat.
We’ll find him or her. I don’t know where, but whoever he is, he or she should know the “Boom Boom Boom Boom” moves and speak Español. Let Obama screw up for the next four years. We will have an even better record to run against.
We drove home to the Watergate, let Bob go, and sent out postcards.
I love Washington. It is very late now and I am looking out at the dark Potomac and the lights of Arlington. I feel as if D.C. is still home, after all these years. “Boom Boom Boom Boom. I love the way you move.” I love that special Linda at the National Gallery of Art.
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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Bob Grant| 11.15.12 @ 7:50AM
"Mr. Obama has a mysterious charisma for blacks and for gays and for lesbians and for college kids."
Wow. Mr. Stein, I'm shocked you are mystified at this point in the game.
That statement might have been acceptable after his first year in office, but NOW?...you continue to be mystified?
Dude, you are in one serious bubble.
Bob K| 11.15.12 @ 8:51AM
Ben,
You know, there are dinners after funerals too, don't you? You old geezers at AS who have been there 45 years must be getting senile if you think the reason the Republicans lost was because of the black vote.
They lost because they could not get the portion of the white vote that helped make the Tea Party election of 2010 the success it was.
When are you guys going to figure that out?
Seek| 11.18.12 @ 9:07PM
The "geezers" are right, Bob. The Republicans lost on account of the black vote. How do I know? Simple math. Blacks constitute about 12.5 percent -- one-eighth -- of the U.S. population. And exit polls showed they voted anywhere from 95 to 98 percent for Obama. Assuming reasonably similar turnout rates across the races, blacks provided the margin for a Democratic victory in every single competitive state, save for North Carolina -- and even there it was close. Indeed, it is fair to say that if the black vote didn't exist, every "competitive" state would be solidly GOP.
Throw in the strongly pro-Democratic Hispanic and Asian blocs, and the handwriting on the wall is clear: There is no way the GOP can be simultaneously victorious and on the Right. They can be one or the other, but not both. And with whites comprising a smaller portion of the electorate with each passing election cycle, the balancing act gets more difficult. The GOP stands a very real chance of going extinct within a few decades due to its timid refusal to court whites.
Rather than join the diversity bandwagon, the Republicans should disdain it. Because the swing vote is almost all white. They'll vote for us if we give them a reason. Outside of Tom Tancredo, I see no GOP politician of any note willing to fight this fight.
Peppermint Tea | 11.15.12 @ 9:13AM
Bob, Ditto. Romney needed Sarah and he didn't know it.
Ben, thankfully you are over the election and back to ogling beautiful women. You are the creme de la creme and the boom boom boom of the AS.
Alan Brooks | 11.15.12 @ 5:27PM
"Ben, thankfully you are over the election and back to ogling beautiful women"
I cood go for HIM mysef!
Ralph Novy| 11.15.12 @ 8:30PM
No. Methinks he's the "boom, boom, boom" of the American Super Spectator -- ASS.
Rhoetus| 11.15.12 @ 9:21PM
Romney needed Rubio, he needed to have David Horowitz run his campaign, he needed to realize that his opponent was not honorable - he needed to fight!
Ralph Novy| 11.15.12 @ 11:47PM
It's not that complicated, Rhoetus.
All he needed was a vision and a message.
He had neither.
Seek| 11.18.12 @ 9:11PM
Marco Rubio is a pro-amnesty, mass-immigration enthusiast. His presence on the ticket not only wouldn't have helped, it would have dragged it down. Granted, he's not an incoherent airhead like Sarah Palin. But in the end, he's not what the doctor ordered.
Acton Thrush| 11.15.12 @ 10:24AM
Balderdash!
C. Vernon Crisler | 11.15.12 @ 10:37AM
Ben, Republicans lost because they pandered. Romney was the essence of the pandering, moderate Republican. We were all fooled by the first debate, but we should have realized that it was not because Romney won it, but mainly because Obama didn't show up. You were right to be worried about Romney on the basis of his lackluster 3rd debate performance. It did show lack of leadership after all.
Minority groups need education and leadership and Republicans would rather pander than lead. For that reason -- despite Jonah Goldberg's optimism -- the Republican Party appears to be on its way to disbanding like the old High Federalists or becoming a Ross Kaminsky style moderate, go-along-with-the-cultural-rot Party. In that case, who needs it?
Ralph Novy| 11.15.12 @ 8:33PM
"Minority groups need education and leadership and Republicans would rather pander than lead."
Yes, they do.
But the majority group needs them even more -- especially education.
Paul A'Barge | 11.15.12 @ 1:07PM
the single best school of any kind
I went to Williston Academy in Easthampton, Mass so of course I beg to differ.
Little Minnie| 11.15.12 @ 7:30PM
Does anybody know what they want for Christmas?
Occam's Tool| 11.15.12 @ 7:34PM
My High School turned out Hillary Clinton, Harrison Ford, and me. I took Honors Russian, AP Chem, AP Calculus, AP English. It was public. It was over 30 years ago. It is no longer that good. But it was. Out of our top 8 graduates, 1 became a Psychiatrist MD, 1 became an accountant, one went to work as a mathematician doing work he'd have to kill you after he told you about it, and one became an MD/PhD and is a Professor at U of Minnesota School of Medicine. I don't know what happened to the others, and don't much care.
Ben, start by lowering taxes to increase government revenue.
Ralph Novy| 11.15.12 @ 8:41PM
"... lowering taxes to increase government revenue."
Uh-huh. That's what applying Occam's Razor would produce, right? -- along with something like "If you want more vegetables, plant fewer seeds."
I.e., your prescription is anti-Occam, Occam.
Ralph Novy| 11.15.12 @ 9:08PM
Well, aren't you special, Ben.
And isn't your life just so hunky-dory.
So glad.
I'd be so sad if I thought a special person such as yourself didn't have a comfortable life.
Please tell us more about how much you enjoy your comfortable life and how awful, evil people like Obama would unjustly deprive you of it.
I know you're a busy man -- what with all that shuttling between tea parties and ogling your friends' nubile wives and daughters -- but please do continue to honor us by occasionally throwing us a few crumbs of your wit, wisdom and recollections.
We crave it so.
Rhoetus| 11.15.12 @ 9:19PM
Ralph, did you fall on your head? Making Ben suffer won't make your life better, and neither will Obama. Politicians are thieves- white collar criminals that gave us a 16 trillion dollar debt with out the personal responsibility to pay it back. No go back to watching Sesame Street.
Ralph Novy| 11.15.12 @ 11:55PM
Rhoetus:
Stein put himself "out there," blathering about how nice his life is and how awful Obama's "socialist" policies are.
So he's "fair game."
What does "Making Ben suffer won't make your life better, and neither will Obama" mean?
Thank G.W. Bush for 90% of that debt you abhor.
And if you think that watching Sesame Street and holding white-collar criminals to account is an incompatible proposition, methinks you need a remedial course in basic logic.
Rhoetus| 11.15.12 @ 9:23PM
The Republicans need to purge the Bush family and other big government believers.
Ralph Novy| 11.15.12 @ 11:56PM
On THAT we will agree, Rhoetus.
LOL.
Ronsch| 11.16.12 @ 1:43PM
Ben advocates for higher taxes, just not the kind NerObama wants...So, Ben, pray tell how much are you going to pony up all on your own to help the US?
Better enjoy the posh dinners and good times because they will not last for you...You are an evil 1%, don't you know?
Ralph Novy| 11.20.12 @ 9:14PM
"NerObama"
Precious.
Not slightly racist, right?
Lickfuck!
Get a fucking mirror, boy!
pigdog| 11.16.12 @ 5:05PM
"... the ultimate weapons, Bob Tyrrell and Wlady Pleszczynski (or however you spell it)...."
Don't know about the other three, but I'm pretty sure you spelled "Bob" correctly. Even I can go 1 for 3 with RET. Why not take a crack at Emmet?
Ralph Novy| 11.18.12 @ 1:11AM
http://readersupportednews.org.....n-shuts-up
Now YOU shut up about that too, eh, Ben?
Ralph Novy| 11.18.12 @ 11:40AM
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11.....d=fb-share
Boom.
Ralph Novy| 11.20.12 @ 9:10PM
Ben:
I know you're getting quite a chuckle out of all this folderol generated from your smug posts.
Fine and dandy.
You're essentially immune, given your age.
Your progeny, however, are not.
But you never really cared about them, did you, Ben?
No.
You only cared about the here-and-now of your own reputation.
What a selfish pig-dog you are, Ben.
Rut in your own back yard and leave your neighbors' alone, please, eh?