You’ll forgive me if I take some small measure of credit for this one: after something in the region of 35,000 words of the Ben Stein Watch, the world’s worst financial columnist has finally been fired from the New York Times. And I couldn’t be happier. The reason was his appearance in commercials for (and on the homepage of) freescore.com, a sleazy company which exists only to extract large sums of money from those who can least afford it.
NYT spokeswoman Catherine Mathis confirmed this, telling Gawker that “Ben Stein’s fine work for us as a columnist for Sunday Business had to end, we told him, after we learned that he had become a commercial spokesman for FreeScore, a financial services company.”
I’m thinking celebratory Champagne at the Oyster Bar this lunchtime. It is an August Friday, after all. Anybody care to join?
Update: Yes, I’m serious. Oyster Bar, Grand Central Terminal, 1pm. I’ll be the one looking a bit like this.
Trackback
51 comments so far
Anybody care to join?
- Posted by jckif you bring back the concorde
I’ll be there in spirit, and to keep that appropriate, I’ll try to sneak a thimble of scotch or something.
- Posted by bdbdif only it were possible for him to get stricken with a rare illness that makes it impossible for him to spew verbiage in written or oral form but otherwise does him no harm.
- Posted by MatthewWhat time are we going?
- Posted by abBen Steinery never dies Felix. It just migrates to the next columnist. To wit: it was not the soapsuds or sauce in Ben’s writing that cost him his job. It was technicality. Someone will have to fill the void here, the public’s need for a cranky, back-door optimist.
- Posted by GregorSeems pretty obvious the means to avoid Ben Stein is to not read or listen to him
- Posted by GriffGlad to hear it.
- Posted by aGood work, Felix.
- Posted by KenG“NYT spokeswoman Catherine Mathis confirmed this, telling Gawker that “Ben Stein’s fine work for us as a columnist for Sunday Business had to end”
Yes, his fine work peddling foolish nonsense (remember how the subprime meltdown was just a glitch in the Bush boom?) and Likudnik propaganda.
The Grey Lady never admits a mistake — they just fire them. Just ask Judy Miller.
- Posted by Peter PrincipleI’ll raise a glas to this news and to you tonight. A great day for freedom.
- Posted by ottoCongratulations! Job well done!
- Posted by liberalhow timely: Bueller? Bueller? anyone? Bueller?
- Posted by RSRGood work, Felix. Could you now start working on the Times getting rid of Gretchen Morgenson?
- Posted by Tom KirkendallIf you’re serious about the Oyster Bar, I’m there. Where/when?
- Posted by David YaseenYay…
Although they were certainly not very communicative through their supposid “public editor”.
- Posted by Nicholas WeaverGood to see the back of the sleazy Stein.
I note though, that to the right of this post, there is an advertisement for another sleazebag, one who claims to have made millions in the Wall Street casino, and who now wants to extract some cash from my wallet for a DVD.
- Posted by Weniger GottquatschProves the power of consistent well-written blogging.
Well done.
Can’t be there in person, but will hoist a glass on PDT here in Portland, Oregon…
- Posted by Eric DeweyLast time I was at the Oyster Bar, I found a pearl in a Wellfleet! May your luck be as good! Also - try the pan roast. Very tasty, and a bit of old school NYC.
- Posted by ErisCongratulations. Now if you could only get him booted off Yahoo! Finance, where he also has a column. Penelope Trunk was dumped by Yahoo! for inane articles, so there is a precedent.
- Posted by WeevieI’d be there with you as well. Too bad I’m in Portland, Oregon on this otherwise cloudy day. I’ll raise up glass and have an oyster out here.
- Posted by babsCan we get him removed from the CBS Sunday Morning show too? Pretty please?
- Posted by TGSic semper boobery.
Congratulations, Felix.
- Posted by The Epicurean DealmakerNice going, Felix! Out here in the great state of Washington, Mr. Stein also shills (in tandem with Shaquille O’Neil) for Comcast, a company that occasionally indulges in its own sleazy practices.
- Posted by PublicusNice work. His work in the Times was truly awful and he matches that by being an awful human being.
I’d join you for Champagne, but I am ont the West Coast.
- Posted by Jeffmy guess is TSCM will happily take him back….
- Posted by David MerkelOnly seeing your offer now, Felix. Can I get a rain check?
- Posted by Mark SteinThanks, Felix, for keeping the pressure on the NYT about this sleazy creationist toad. Enjoy the well-earned champagne.
- Posted by meliorI’m with jck. In lieu of that ever happening, I’ll at be with you in spirit!
- Posted by mrspeelOoops - looks like I’m too late!
- Posted by mrspeelSeems to be a bad week for Ferris Bueller. First his director dies, then his teacher is canned.
What next? A pop quiz on Smoot-Hawley?
- Posted by NotNasserWe owe you big time, Felix. Nice work getting that shameless, dishonest, know-nothing huckster out of my hometown paper.
- Posted by craterps: Can you do anything about Douthat, Brooks, or Dowd?
- Posted by crateridiot
- Posted by Tin Foil HatPlease ,
get that nutcase Maureen Dowd fired !!!!!!!
.
- Posted by NY TimesGood on yer Felix. I am also in Portland … don’t as a rule drink liquor but today might be an exception for a nice single malt.
- Posted by ObserverTo all you geniuses who got your ‘people’ out in jan 08 and got them back in: nov, dec, and feb09, raise your hands.
you’ll pardon me if I raise mine.
- Posted by dennisI wish I would have seen this earlier as I could have take the subway and enjoyed the celebration with you. Ahh - no more Ben Stein columns to make fun of!
- Posted by pglSo sorry to have missed the send-off!
I only wish you could help get rid of him from all media avenues.
His face on the TV makes me stop watching anything on that channel. Which is not all bad most of the time.
Thanks for your good work!
Suzan
- Posted by SuzanNOW IF WE CAN ONLY GET THIS DWEEB KICKED OFF CBS SUNDAY MORNING!
- Posted by DAVID DIVINENOW IF WE CAN GET THIS DWEEB KICKED ON CBS SUNDAY MORNING SHOWS….
- Posted by DAVID DIVINEBravo, I being happy about shutting up someone you disagree with is the highest form of patriotism.
You have much to be proud of.
- Posted by Mike FisherDoes it ever get old spending your energy hating other Americans? How do you do it? Is it manufactured? Do you watch Olbermann Special Komments on a loop, to keep the fire burning? With unemployment rising, who’s your next target to get fired?
- Posted by JTThat is so weird Felix. I went to “Ben Stein Watch” expecting to see something bad for you to make fun of, and I agreed with everything Ben had to say!
- Posted by Tim McCormick“Being happy about shutting up someone you disagree with is the highest form of patriotism.”
Typical for a right winger to fail to understand the workings of a great journalistic institution.
It’s not that Ben Stein is wrong, it’s that he consistantly misleads people.
His movie was a fraud.
His career is a fraud.
Good riddance to Ben Stein.
- Posted by John McNaryI thing the thing that drives me crazy on CBS Sunday Morning is after he pontificates for three minutes, he gives that ironic smile/smirk thing.
Oh, RIP to John Hughes who at least knew how to use Ben Stein properly.
- Posted by Roger GreenFinally! Finally! I’m only sad it was for the wrong reasons. But then again, there’s so many reasons to cast Mr. Stein into the hell of irrelevance. This guy was such an endless shill for anyone in power, his sole concern was so totally being “in” with the movers and shakers that he was a total disservice to the genre of financial media entirely. It was an infuriating process just to witness his repeated prayer and submission to the idea that there was no economic crisis in the form of sneering and belittling people who called this Depression (and it is) right on target.
- Posted by hidflectYou guys make old time right-wingers look good - and they’ll remember this WHEN they get back in power. You should know by now that change never lasts. Intolerance of your views will be OK by then and the guys who’ll be on the outside again well get the shaft as usual - but with this BS to remind everyone about, I seriously doubt anyone will care about your whining either. Shilling for “a sleazy company which exists only to extract large sums of money from those who can least afford it” sounds like just about everyone at the NYT and Washington to me.
- Posted by ManupI think Ben Stein is a fine OP-ED Columnist! The NYT’s loss will very soon be some other National Newspapers’ gain! The REAL TRUTH HERE isn’t about Ben Stein shilling for some internet lender! It’s about Ben Steins Opposition to the Obama Administrations Quasi-Legal Machinations concerning GM and the Obama Administrations Illegal firing of GM’s CEO, Rick Wagoner! That kind of interference by Government into the Business World, be it The Auto Industry, The Steel Industry, or The Airline Industry, is if anything most Ominous and Every American Citizen should be wary of it! When you look at the Governments entry into the Passenger Rail Service Industry in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, what did you get? You got Amtrak, A Government Owned and Operated Passenger Rail Service that has never made a profit in it’s entire existence, and to top it off, has had numerous Fatal Accidents either caused by Faulty Equipment, like warped tracks that should have checked and changed, Trestle Bridges that Trains go over that should have been replaced over 70years ago and the list goes on and on, not to mention Operator Error, where the Engineers that we entrust with our lives, are High on Pot, Crack, Alcohol and if that’s not enough, these very same Engineers are Texting and/or talking on their Cell-Phones instead of doing their JOBS! Don’t get me started on the United States Postal Service, another Government Run Entity that’s in a Government Run Shambles!
- Posted by Barney L. CornettI love to see that most of the liberal points of view are posted during work hours, when people should be working and conservative view points are posted after people have come home from work and finished supporting those who have probably been sitting at home all day blogging about things they know nothing about.
- Posted by Never SuprisedBen is all about making money for Ben - I know from personal experience
- Posted by darrellMy goodness. Who made you guys the thought police? Yeah, let’s fire (or better yet, ruin!) all the people who we can’t agree with, so that our opinions can rule the earth, free from scrutiny and dissent. Then we won’t have to waste any more time learning patience and the pain of having to listen to others who are different from us.
- Posted by Joseph Poulshock