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Ben Stein: Bush Is Not All Bad
CBS News ^ | Jan. 28, 2007 | Ben Stein

Posted on 01/30/2007 11:48:24 AM PST by presidio9

After the State Of The Union speech a few days ago, a muttering chorus of media critics told us endlessly that Bush was irrelevant, a loser, out of touch, even pitiful. NPR actually had Merle Haggard, the Okie from Muskogee, claim that the state of the nation had never been worse. And suddenly it hit me. The media is staging a coup against Mr. Bush, just the way they did against LBJ and Nixon and tried to do against Reagan. They cannot impeach Bush because only Congress can do that. But the media is doing what it can to basically oust Mr. Bush while still leaving him lifting weights in the White House. Look, Merle Haggard is a great singer. But he knows nothing of what's up in America right now.

The truth is that we are in a huge economic boom. We are coming off a mammoth real estate explosion that put the most Americans in history in their own homes. We have totally full employment. After decades of stagnation, real wages are rising. The nation is wealthier than it has ever been (although this is very unevenly distributed). Most important of all, there has not been one major or even minor successful terrorist incident against the U.S. homeland in over five years. Bush may not have done it by himself, but he had something to do with it.

True, we are mired in a war without end, costing us far too many great young and old Americans and too many limbs and wrecked families and vastly too much money. But we all know we're getting out soon.

It was a huge mistake, but I'd like to see a President who did not make immense mistakes. What about Vietnam? What about Korea?

True, the rich often get away with murder in the executive suite. Bush is partly to blame, but all politicians cater to the rich. What America's high degree thieves suck out of the system is nauseating and I fight it constantly, but that's life.

Let's be honest. Let's admit that Bush has presided over a lot of success in addition to some serious failures.

But no one elected the media to anything. In the TV studios and newsrooms, there is a lynch mob at work. Let's see it for what it is. Mr. Bush is the only President we have, and, with all his faults, I trust him a lot more than I trust the unelected princes and princesses of the newsroom.


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Foreign Affairs; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: benstein; buellerbueller
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1 posted on 01/30/2007 11:48:26 AM PST by presidio9
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To: presidio9
Merle Haggard, the Okie from Muskogee, claim that the state of the nation had never been worse

Thats a little disheartening

2 posted on 01/30/2007 11:51:24 AM PST by Long Island Pete
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To: Long Island Pete

Merle's been off the reservation for awhile now.


3 posted on 01/30/2007 11:52:00 AM PST by dfwgator (The University of Florida - Championship U)
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To: presidio9

Willie Nelson probably thinks the same thing. leftwing moonbats both.


4 posted on 01/30/2007 11:53:52 AM PST by pissant
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To: presidio9
True, we are mired in a war without end, costing us far too many great young and old Americans and too many limbs and wrecked families and vastly too much money. But we all know we're getting out soon.

Even the terrorists know this.

5 posted on 01/30/2007 11:54:02 AM PST by frogjerk (REUTERS: We give smoke and mirrors a bad name)
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To: presidio9
True, we are mired in a war without end, costing us far too many great young and old Americans and too many limbs and wrecked families and vastly too much money. But we all know we're getting out soon.

This paragraph is very troubling coming from Ben Stein.

6 posted on 01/30/2007 11:56:08 AM PST by frogjerk (REUTERS: We give smoke and mirrors a bad name)
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To: Long Island Pete
Most important of all, there has not been one major or even minor successful terrorist incident against the U.S. homeland in over five years.

Bill Clinton never went went that long. And if you count embassies as US sovereign territory, he never went more than two.

7 posted on 01/30/2007 11:56:37 AM PST by presidio9 (There is something wonderful about a country that produces a brave and humble man like Wesley Autrey)
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To: Long Island Pete
Haggard went Hollywood long ago.

Sadly.

And he was never from Muskogee.

8 posted on 01/30/2007 11:56:58 AM PST by wideawake
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To: presidio9
It was a huge mistake, but I'd like to see a President who did not make immense mistakes.

I keep hearing people who should know better claiming Iraq was a mistake, but never venture a guess at what would or could have happened if we left Saddam in power.
9 posted on 01/30/2007 11:57:48 AM PST by motzman (just hangin' around....)
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To: frogjerk
This paragraph is very troubling coming from Ben Stein.

One can never entirely trust an entertainer - and the reason why should be obvious.

10 posted on 01/30/2007 11:58:32 AM PST by wideawake
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To: dfwgator

I didn't know that.

"Walkin' On the Fightin' Side of Me" is one of my favorite songs.


11 posted on 01/30/2007 11:58:55 AM PST by Constitution Day (.)
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To: frogjerk

"This paragraph is very troubling coming from Ben Stein."

It's quickly becoming conventional wisdom.

We've been rolled.


12 posted on 01/30/2007 11:58:57 AM PST by PetroniusMaximus
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To: presidio9
"mired in a war"

Exercising purposeful actions in one's self-interest is not being mired.


13 posted on 01/30/2007 11:59:42 AM PST by I see my hands (_8(|)
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To: presidio9
And suddenly it hit me. The media is staging a coup against Mr. Bush, just the way they did against LBJ and Nixon and tried to do against Reagan.

And suddenly it hit him? Where has he been for the last 6 years?

14 posted on 01/30/2007 12:00:21 PM PST by Peach (The Clintons pardoned more terrorists than they captured or killed.)
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To: frogjerk

Ben Stein lost his sh*t about a year ago, and hasn't yet located it.


15 posted on 01/30/2007 12:00:43 PM PST by A.Hun (Common sense is no longer common.)
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To: presidio9
What about Vietnam? What about Korea?

What about Somalia and Waco and the USS Cole? What about the first time the WTC was attacked, little Elian, or the economy that was on it's way down after the second term?

16 posted on 01/30/2007 12:01:21 PM PST by GOP_Raider (Hated by all NFL fans since 1990.)
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To: presidio9
And suddenly it hit me.

A moron who's been asleep or in deep denial for years...

17 posted on 01/30/2007 12:03:54 PM PST by grobdriver (Let the embeds check the bodies!)
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To: PetroniusMaximus

I wonder if Ben is wanting some Hollywood work to come his way. Got to pay some anti-war dues if you want any serious green from the Hollyweirdos or the lamestream media community.


18 posted on 01/30/2007 12:04:02 PM PST by Cecily
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To: frogjerk
Fact: the USA cannot and will not fight a war without a CLEAR and CONCISE end in sight. Give us an objective and we can do it; ask us to 'nation build' or 'hold the line' and public opinion is good for no more than a few years, tops. You'd think our leaders would learn. The folks who expect us to 'stay in until a democratic Iraq gets on it's feet' are in denial.
19 posted on 01/30/2007 12:04:24 PM PST by RedStateRocker (Nuke Mecca, Deport all illegals, abolish the IRS, ATF and DEA)
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To: presidio9
The media is staging a coup against Mr. Bush...

Duh! Just what planet has this bean bag been on for the last 4 years?

20 posted on 01/30/2007 12:06:16 PM PST by Renkluaf
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