Ben Stein used to write for the NY Times. He does not now, because according to his editors, he had the appearance of a conflict of interest in his writing and commercial endorsements. It’s very much like the clear conflict Rush Limbaugh had with Pizza Hut several years ago. I mean, he probably ate a Pizza Hut pizza before and even after his commercial deal with them. Ridiculous. Stein, pictured right on April 4, 2001, wrote about finances in his column and endorsed a company which offers credit checking services. Both things are related to money; he probably even carried money on his person–clearly a conflict of interest.

In related news, the Times tossed out a column in which Stein criticized the president’s power grabs. They did that just before they let him go. Bad timing, no doubt. Lots of people complained about Stein’s columns over the years. Only now do they get through to the editors. Stein states:

The whole subject reminds me of a conversation Bob Dylan had long ago with a reporter who asked him what he thought about how much criticism he was getting for going from acoustic to electric guitar. “There are a lot of people who have knives and forks,” he said, “and they have nothing on their plates, so they have to cut something.”

There’s a quote to put on tap.