Agreed. On Larry King Live. Not just to sit and be interviewed, but agreed on issues. They agreed on every substantive issue talked about, save one. Flying pigs with lipstick, I say.
For those of you unfamiliar with say, the eighties and nineties, Ben Stein and Robert Reich were two of the most glamorous socio-political analysts of the late eighties and nineties. Reich, was the Secretary of Labor for the Clinton administration, and he is now a lecturer at Berkeley and a frequent commentator on Marketplace. Reich in Wikipedia Stein was less known for policy and more for his dry sense of humor. A stunning movie debut in "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", a game show host on Comedy Central's "Win Ben Stein's Money", and also the Visine guy. Oh yeah, he was also a speech writer for Nixon. Ben Stein's Wiki
Politically, they are about as a separate as two can be. Stein is a Reagan loyalist and Reich is a hardcore Clinton/Obama Democrat. Tonight, however they came together. And it was Stein who was leading the charge.
Stein lit into Wall Street early and often. He said the reason for the problems were twofold: the lack of regulation and the lack of enforcement of regulations in place. He referred to the housing current crisis as the result of Wall Street Fraud, perpetrated against innocent American working class people by short-sellers and other regulation scofflaws. Reich, I believe, was taken aback by the fact that Stein had hit on every point that he was going to mention, so when it was his turn to speak, he more or less agreed and colored a bit.
Stein then went further into the campaign issue. Stein said that McCain's response to the economic situation has been horrible. He further said that Palin and McCain needed to be locked in a room with Warren Buffet so they could learn some real economic policy, instead of the dribble that they are being fed. He prefaced this comment with the fact that Buffet is, in fact, an Obama supporter. At this point, King asks Reich if he would be willing to advise McCain, (presumably after a Republican victory) as an act of Patriotism. Reich begged off a little, colored and filled some more, and then, towards the end of the interview, actually threw a pitch in to Stein to join the Obama camp. Stein basically said he would if it weren't for the abortion thing. All in all, to have 10 minutes of honest discussion on Larry King about economic policy was the real reason for Hell freezing over tonight. Currently hail is raining down on my street and bursting into flames. . . that's okay though, cause the locusts have eaten just about everything by now.