Win Ben Stein's Sanity

David Weigel | October 2, 2006

The contest for "worst spin on the Mark Foley scandal" (not counting Foley's own) is over. The winner is Ben Stein.

If there were an Academy Award for Hypocrisy, the surefire favorite for 2006 would be the Democratic Party... We have a Republican man in Congress who sent e-mails to teenage boys asking them what they were wearing, and an entire party, the Democrats, whose primary constituency, besides the teachers' unions, is homosexual men and lesbian women. I hope it won't come as a surprise to anyone that a big part of male homosexual behavior is interest in young boys.

Yes, he says this without even mentioning Gerry Studds. Examples are incidental to his point - the Democrats are creepy homo-lovers, and what's the difference between, like, ensuring partner benefits to monogamous gay couples, and using your office to hunt for teenage kicks?

But what pushes this from the realm of the clueless to Stein's own special Outer Limits is the follow-up.

Don't get me wrong. My very best friend is gay.

Well, of course.