Fact Check

Get Off His Back

E-mail reproduces Ben Stein's defense of President Bush's actions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Published Sept. 6, 2005

Claim:

Claim:   E-mail reproduces Ben Stein's defense of President Bush's actions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.


Status:   True.

Example:   [Collected via e-mail, 2005]




Is this written by Ben Stein?


A few truths, for those who have ears and eyes and care to know the truth:

1.) The hurricane that hit New Orleans and Mississippi and Alabama was an astonishing tragedy. The suffering and loss of life and peace of mind of the residents of those areas is acutely horrifying.

2.) George Bush did not cause the hurricane. Hurricanes have been happening for eons. George Bush did not create them or unleash this one.

3.) George Bush did not make this one worse than others. There have been far worse hurricanes than this before George Bush was born.

[Rest of article here.]



Origins:   The flip side to articles such as Michael Moore's criticism of President George W. Bush's actions in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is the piece cited above, a defense of President Bush penned by Ben Stein and published in The American Spectator on 2 September 2005.

Many people are evidently unfamiliar with Ben Stein as a political figure, knowing him primarily through his acting roles in films such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off and his television work (as the monotonic science teacher Mr. Cantwell in the TV series The Wonder Years, and as the host of the game show Win Ben Stein's Money.) However, Ben Stein, a lawyer by training, has also served as a speechwriter for President Richard M. Nixon, has to date authored sixteen books (both novels and non-fiction efforts), and continues to write editorials and columns for a number of publications, including The American Spectator.

Last updated:   6 September 2005





  Sources Sources:

    Stein, Ben.   "Get Off His Back."

    The American Spectator.   6 September 2005


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