In a post examining the Hollywood left money behind a certain comedian's run for the US Senate, Paul characterizes Ben Stein as:
Legendary Ferris Beuhler actor, game show host, and brilliant conservative. Former speech writer for Richard Nixon and columnist for the American Spectator and Yahoo Finance, among other outlets. One of the finest writers around on politics, economics, and culture, as demonstrated in this listing. In particular, he's one the most articulate and persuasive speakers advocating the pro-life stance in the country.
I myself have not infrequently enjoyed Stein's wit and talent. Yet, of late, the guy seems to have gone nuts. First, he seems to have completely lost his grip on economic issues. Tom Kirkendall and Larry Ribstein have repeatedly ripped Stein's columns for the Times to tiny shreds. As the latter observed:
I find his continued presence in a national newspaper more disturbing than entertaining. Why, we must ask, do NYT editors not only give him the space, but let him call himself an economist? Is this why the Times needs a governance structure that insulates its managers from markets?
But now Stein has well and truly gone off the deep end. How so, you ask? He's contributed to Al Franken's Senate campaign. Al Franken? Al Franken! The man who wants to do for Minnesota what he did for Air America?