The Worst
Date: December 29, 2008 | Author: Evan BernsteinCategory: General | Comments: 6 » |
As we get ready to look back and review 2008, my nomination for “The Worst” is Ben Stein. You can go ahead and chose whatever descriptor of “The Worst” that you see fit, such as the worst enemy of science, or the worst master of hyperbole. No person of greater “celebrity” went so far in 2008 for the promotion of anti-science as Ben did with his film “Expelled”. And for those of us that continued to pay attention to Ben in the weeks and months after his film crashed and burned by all measures, the cherry-on-the-top was his now infamous quote:
“When we just saw that man, I think it was Mr. Myers [biologist P.Z. Myers], talking about how great scientists were, I was thinking to myself the last time any of my relatives saw scientists telling them what to do they were telling them to go to the showers to get gassed … that was horrifying beyond words, and that’s where science — in my opinion, this is just an opinion — that’s where science leads you … Love of God and compassion and empathy leads you to a very glorious place, and science leads you to killing people.”
What a disgraceful statement, made by an equally disgraceful human being. To invoke and twist the facts and history of The Holocaust as a means to prop up his baseless, biased arguments is sickening. Steven Novella summed it up perfectly in four words in the title of his May 15, 2008 Neurologica blog entry: Ben Stein hates science.
And for all of his hard efforts this year, Ben Stein gets my vote as “The Worst” for 2008.
6 Responses to “The Worst”
By adr150 on Dec 29, 2008 | Reply
ahh yes. good ol’ benny boy. always a classic jackass.
but my vote would go to the vile woman that is actually having a direct effect on people’s lives and really causing harm – Jenny McCarthy.
actually i think ben stein would fall to third on my worst of 2008 list right behind Sarah Palin.
those three are truly a cluster-fuck of humanity
By Richard on Dec 29, 2008 | Reply
Let’s not forget Jim Carrey, the celebrity who thinks he’s a doctor. What hubris!
By Evan Bernstein on Dec 29, 2008 | Reply
Ben and Jenny are 1 and 2 on my list. I chose Ben #1 because he’s the veteran, established, “scholarly” celeb with street cred in areas of politics, finance, and entertainment. Jenny is entertainment only. Ben’s base audience is wider than Jenny’s, so he can actually infect a greater percentage of people.
Jenny is chipping away at the hearts of the Oprah-watching mommy crowd, and that is certainly another way to infiltrate the greater population – all the way up to the executive office.
When you say Jenny is “really causing harm”- that she influences mommies away from getting shots for their kids – that is unforgivable and makes her very worthy of being #1.
Jenny is a stupid, ignorant fool. Ben, however, is not, and he is also causing real harm.
Ben is admired and respected by millions of men and women. He uses his cred from all of his walks of life to fuel his attacks on science and history. That is powerful ammunition. It is tactical and deliberate, and therefore, I deem Ben (slightly) more dangerous than Jenny in 2008.
By skepacabra on Dec 30, 2008 | Reply
My vote goes to Jenny McCarthy. But then again I might be biased as I helped found a website devoted to stopping her: http://www.stopjenny.com
By DLC on Dec 30, 2008 | Reply
Evan: I note in your reply “Ben and Jenny”.
No thanks, I’d rather have Ben and Jerry’s.
but, on the whole, I tend to agree with you in terms of who’s top loser. err bottom loser? lowest of the low ? Something like that.
By Mr Weekender on Jan 2, 2009 | Reply
What about Tom Cruise, ok so he was the 2nd funniest part of Tropic Thunder but that guy is still bat shit crazy. He knows he can heal people…. he knows!