Went to see Al Franken debate Ben Stein last night....

[HerbieHeadhunter]

at the University of Arkansas, moderated by Former Sen. David Pryor. There was quite a crowd around 7,000 or more, with 3/4 of the crowd being rather enthusiastic Franken supporters.

As expected, both were quick with the jokes and even though Stein is the biggest cheerleader for supply side economics and has a love for all things Richard Nixon, he expressed support for the Massachusetts Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, stated that the reasons for going into war in Iraq were certainly debatable, and mentioned that one of the biggest scandals in the past 20 years never properly covered by the press is corporate looting by insiders on Wall Street and main street.

Franken stayed afterwards and signed books. Not a bad event, I'm hoping they have it set for C-Span.

Here's the article from the local paper:

http://www.nwarktimes.com/times/story_News.php?storyid=112313

[noonwitch]

1. Ben Stein always struck me as a respectable conservative

Not just a blowhard like Hannity, Rush, Anne & Company. I've never hated him, and always liked his game show on Comedy Central.

[Fleshdancer]

I agree

Ben Stein is a conservative, not a neocon. That's the difference.

[kodi]

19. sorry stein sux, he has attacked paul krugman repeatedly & viciously

as if hosting a game show is the credentials one would herald as bono fides for an economist like stein.

stein is shill, a dirty little liar who is disarmingly nerdish.

as to stein not being a neocon? neocons are not only those who advocate premptive militarty strikes, stein also was a propagandist for the bush tax cuts.

[HerbieHeadhunter]

6. He was actually very funnny....

and as a fan of "Win Ben Stein's Money", it was especially enjoyable to watch him and Al go back and forth even though I might not agree with many of Stein's opinions.

The funniest aspect of the night is that the U of A has a chancellor, John White, who is a big Baptist, fundie who has a reputation on campus for being a prude. He was sitting on the front row with the rest of the University administration, many of like kind, while Stein dropped the F-bomb a few times and Franken told a few off color jokes.

[Champion Jack]

2. This is good

Franken said that he will continue to pray for Limbaugh, even though the man called Franken’s friend Jerry Garcia a dirtbag and has repeatedly called for maximum punishment for drug offenders. Franken said that he will "pray that Rush demands to be put away for the maximum sentence, I will pray that he demands to be put in the most violent prison in Florida and that he be put in a cell with a black man that saw on Donovan McNabb."

[el_gato]

3. so did Franken get in any good points about

phoney justification for Iraq invasion

What about the patriot act

Looks like a good contention of anti-fascists up there.

[HerbieHeadhunter]

9. He did.....

and they had a vigorous debate on Iraq that started from the beginning. With each new question that Sen. Pryor proposed, no matter what the topic, it got back to Iraq in some form or fashion.

One of the funnier lines of the night was when they were debating the tax cut. Franken was pointing out the lie from Bush Inc. that a working mother w/ a 25k salary would pay no taxes under her plan....pointing out, obviously that she still pays FICA while the rich got huge cuts in their marginal rates, ending up with a tax code relying more on those at the bottom of the income spectrum than before. He started to use Dick Cheney's salary in an example and some guy in the very back shouted out "And he earned every damn penny of it!" Franken quickly responded, "Yes, he did very well for Halliburton. In fact, he's still doing very well for Halliburton."

[GainesT1958]

4. The reception you say Al got at the Univ. of Arkansas...

Makes me feel good. And then to see what a great reception the Dixie Chicks got on the "Today" show this morning (could NBC be having them on because that network's execs are feeling a bit GUILTY?:eyes: )...

Just goes to show, when people tell it like it is, eventually a LOT of other folks come around to their point of view, even if it takes awhile...

B-)

[HerbieHeadhunter]

11. He came out on the stage in a suit with a backpack on his...

shoulders....that got some good laughs. But yes, the crowd was easily 3/4 Franken....maybe more. Stein even acknowledged it, even though he got a big cheer when he said "Whooo Pig Soie" in his famous monotoned voice.

Another thing....when talking about the "liberal media", Stein in arguing that the media is liberal, did say that Fox News is unquestionably conservative. You rarely here a conservative fess up to that fact.

[HerbieHeadhunter]

12. He came out on the stage in a suit with a backpack on his...

shoulders....that got some good laughs. But yes, the crowd was easily 3/4 Franken....maybe more. Stein even acknowledged it, even though he got a big cheer when he said "Whooo Pig Soie" in his famous monotoned voice.

Another thing....when talking about the "liberal media", Stein in arguing that the media is liberal, did say that Fox News is unquestionably conservative. You rarely here a conservative fess up to that fact.

[SeveneightyWhoa]

14. Actually, almost all realistic non-freeper conservatives..

..admit that Fox is conservative. Bernard Goldberg, for example. You have to be a completely uneducated, brainwashed moron to truly believe Fox is anything but extremely conservatively biased.

[buycitgo]

15. Goldberg?

he's a venal jackwad who's found the motherlode of idiotic bookbuying freeper morons, who'll purchase any pack of lies that reinforces their delusional preconceptions.

EVERY time he's appeared with someone who disagrees with his fallacious precept of liberal media, he's been TROUNCED. Conason and Franken, to name the most memorable examples, left him looking like a doddering buffoon, and worse, a LIAR.

Goldberg is one of the worst

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. I'm heartened to hear this about Ben Stein

Not all conservatives are ignorant fools out to line their own pockets at the expense of the public. It is people like these, who realize that there is a lot of things going on in Washington that are against everyone's ideals, that can be wooed to vote against Bush in the next election (and I don't care if they vote Libertarian and not Democrat-that means one less vote for Bush, which is great in my book).

[wryter2000]

7. Good for Stein

I wish the rest of them had his intellectual integrity.

[GOPBasher]

8. Ben Stein is a real conservative, not

a radical right wing nutcase. I respect him and like him, though I may disagree with him on some issues.

[Julien Sorel]

18. He's also quite a gifted man, who has contributed to several

fields, some of which would surprise you.

[spindoctor]

10. Nice line-up, would have liked to see it.

And I don't have a problem with Ben Stein either. Would like to see him as a guest on Real Time.

He's probably just fond of Nixon because he worked for the man. Just like how I am fond of my boss, that stupid ignorant self-righteous pretentious @($^^@#^%#@&^%$.

[NewJeffCT]

13. sounds like fun

much more of a good matchup between those two than Franken vs Coulter in a few months here in the Hartford, CT area...

[MisterP]

16. the Franken-Stein debates?

kick

[slackmaster]

17. LMAO!

That's the first thing I thought of too.

Sounds like a fun evening. Both Stein and Franken are intelligent and well-behaved.