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Wednesday, March 08, 2006

I love Ben Stein

I found this yesterday and thought it worthy of sharing.

Another PerspectiveMissed TributesBy Ben Stein

Published 3/6/2006 2:08:21 AM


Now for a few humble thoughts about the Oscars.I did not see every second of it, but my wife did, and she joins me in noting that there was not one word of tribute, not one breath, to our fighting men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan or to their families or their widows or orphans. There were pitifully dishonest calls for peace -- as if the people we are fighting were interested in any peace for us but the peace of the grave. But not one word for the hundreds of thousands who have served and are serving, not one prayer or moment of silence for the dead and maimed.


Basically, the sad truth is that Hollywood does not think of itself as part of America, and so, to Hollywood, the war to save freedom from Islamic terrorists is happening to someone else. It does not concern them except insofar as it offers occasion to mock or criticize George Bush. They live in dreamland and cannot be gracious enough to thank the men and women who pay with their lives for the stars' ability to live in dreamland. This is shameful.The idea that it is brave to stand up for gays in Hollywood, to stand up against Joe McCarthy in Hollywood (fifty years after his death), to say that rich white people are bad, that oil companies are evil -- this is nonsense.

All of these are mainstream ideas in Hollywood, always have been, always will be. For the people who made movies denouncing Big Oil, worshiping gays, mocking the rich to think of themselves as brave -- this is pathetic, childish narcissism.The brave guy in Hollywood will be the one who says that this is a fabulously great country where we treat gays, blacks, and everyone else as equal.

The courageous writer in Hollywood will be the one who says the oil companies do their best in a very hostile world to bring us energy cheaply and efficiently and with a minimum of corruption. The producer who really has guts will be the one who says that Wall Street, despite its flaws, has done the best job of democratizing wealth ever in the history of mankind.No doubt the men and women who came to the Oscars in gowns that cost more than an Army Sergeant makes in a year, in limousines with champagne in the back seat, think they are working class heroes to attack America -- which has made it all possible for them. They are not.

They would be heroes if they said that Moslem extremists are the worst threat to human decency since Hitler and Stalin. But someone might yell at them or even attack them with a knife if they said that, so they never will.Hollywood is above all about self: self-congratulation, self-promotion, and above all, self-protection. This is human and basic, but let's not kid ourselves. There is no greatness there in the Kodak theater. The greatness is on patrol in Kirkuk. The greatness lies unable to sleep worrying about her man in Mosul. The greatness sleeps at Arlington National Cemetery and lies waiting for death in VA Hospitals.

God help us that we have sunk so low as to confuse foolish and petty boasting with the real courage that keeps this nation and the many fools in it alive and flourishing on national TV.



Ben Stein is a writer, actor, economist, and lawyer living in Beverly Hills and Malibu. He also writes "Ben Stein's Diary" in every issue of The American Spectator. Please click here to subscribe.


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9 comments:

Anonymous said...

i'm subscribing. thanks uncle joe

Saur♥Kraut said...

Hollywood seceded from America many years ago.

Seeker said...

Three cheers for a great article.

Suzy-Q said...

Didn't see the Oscars and don't even care.

Hip Hip Hooray!
Hip Hip Horoay!
Hip Hip Hooray!

Anne said...

Excellent post Uncle Joe! Thanks for sharing that with us.

Ted said...

If you had put "now you Know the rest of the story" I would think I was reading Paul Harvey. If it ended "That's what I think and I don't care what you think" I would have thought is was Andy Rooney.

Whistle Britches said...

I love Paul Harvey
I love Christmas in Vermont

I love Ben Stein

I hate Andy Rooney
Well, actually it's just a very strong dislike..

I love Andy Hardy though...

Jamie Dawn said...

Hip, Hip... Hooray!!
Ben Stein is right on the money. I like him too.
I was not interested in the Oscars. My daughter watched the last hour, and I saw bits of it. I liked that Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress; and her speech was adorable. Nothing else caught my attention.
Hollywood is out of touch big time.

Joshua Blevins Peck said...

couldn't disagree w/ you more but to each his own...