Ben Stein Hints: I Was Fired From New York Times For Criticizing Obama

Ben Stein, who was fired last week as a New York Times columnist over the appearance of conflict of interest arising from his role as a spokesperson for credit rating service FreeScore.com, took to the American Spectator Monday to explain why he thinks he was "expelled from the New York Times."

In particular, Stein hinted that it was not his endorsement of FreeScore.com that proved problematic for Times editors, but his recent criticism of President Obama.

Stein wrote that he was informed that budgetary issues had forced the paper to cut his column to once every four weeks, but that he believes two other issues played prominently in his dismissal:

But the two main things, as I see them, were that I started criticizing Mr. Obama quite sharply over his policies and practices. I had tried to do this before over the firing of Rick Wagoner from the Chairmanship of GM. My column had questioned whether there was a legal basis for the firing by the government, what law allowed or authorized the federal government to fire the head of what was then a private company, and just where the Obama administration thought their limits were, if anywhere. This column was flat out nixed by my editors at the Times because in their opinion Mr. Obama inherently had such powers.

Stein added, "By a total coincidence, I was tossed overboard immediately after my column attacking Obama. (You can attack Obama from the left at the Times but not from the right.)"

Stein also dismissed the notion that his role as a spokesperson for FreeScore.com presented a conflict of interest for his role as a columnist.

"Of course, there was no conflict of interest," he wrote. "I had never written one word in the Times or anywhere else about getting credit scores on line. Not a word."

Read Stein's full account here.

Comments

[Fritzwood]

Bueller......Bueller....Bueller.....Bueller.....

[JIzin]

Expelled was so crazy. Just reading the back i was turned off. I lost any respect i might have had for him (did know who he was until the movie came out lol)..
I am an atheist and guess what Hitler came to power with the backing of the "moral majority" in Germany to clean house, get rid of porn and kill jews and homosexuals, invoking god this and god that, and started wars and committed war crimes. That has a familiar ring here in America- NO?

[IcedTee63]

He was actually fired because of his lame Visine commercials

[useyourbrain]

Proposition: Promotion of scams that play on the economic worries of poor, middle class and the unemployed is a good thing.

Anyone? Anyone?

[kndam72]

if you are a paid advocate of the KKK andd are hired to write about race relations by a major media organization, the fact that you haven't touched on the KKK does not negate your conflict of interest.

It is about credibility Mr. stein

[BambooHarvester]

Benny, Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya !
~

[reasonshouldrule]

He won't be missed.

[troika]

Let him go. GOOD RIDDANCE. He can act with Shaq. He is lucky enough to have a job in reserve, so what is he whining about. Others aren't so lucky.

[redacter]

This is probably one of the smartest things that the NYTimes ever did. Clearly, Ben Stein is so out of touch, it's a wonder why they kept him on this long. Thanks for going through the motions Ben, but you did more harm than good.

[gettingitright]

Ben Stein is overrated anyway. His schtick as a crotchety, seemingly impassive contrarian does not translate well in print and is getting tiresome on tv. He is very predictable in his analysis of anything "liberal" and, since there are cutbacks at NYT and everywhere else, it makes sense that his intellectually unevolved column be discontinued.

[VivaZapata]

CBS, if the NYT can do the right thing, why can't you?

[troika]

If NYT can fire Ben, so can CNN do the same with regard to LOO DOBBS

[troika]

I did not spell Lou wrong rather it is deliberate (LOO)

[VivaZapata]

as in gooey looey or gooney looney?

[xraygrrl]

Or..as in the British slang for toilet?

[MaryanneAZ]

Stein, and many others of his ilk, do not appreciate the most basic thing in politics and the media--respect. No one continually and typically referred to Bush43 as Mr. Bush, but you almost have to hunt to find people who address Obama44 as President Obama. When the journalist fails to exercise basic respect for the office and officeholder, then anything he/she has to say is moot. It seems that the GOP and its minions just cannot ch.oke out the words "President Obama" even if it means their jobs. Sad.

[oz4009]

Absolutely agree. I, too, had noticed that it is not just President, they even have a hard time call our President, Mr. Obama. They all seem to be on such a familiar first name basis with him. This truly shows no respect and no manners.

[justbeingme201]

Are you going to file for unemployment?

[SmootyBooty]

you betcha!

[iamwatching]

Stein isn't worth listening too. Please stop putting all this drivel on line. What happened to the journalism profession the past 30 years , is inundating on line sites now..

[Mekarri]

See ya!!!!!!!

[LetMeUnderstandThis]

Another thing the NY Times has lost a tremendous amount of credibility over the years, The Times used to be one of the best grammatical papers in the country, now………..