We all know Ben Stein, either from his funny turn as a high school teacher in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, or the Visine commercials, or from his own hilarious game show, Win Ben Stein’s Money. At the same time, we all knew he was a rather staunch conservative, which is fine; different strokes for different folks, and all that. He’s made plenty of asinine statements, but last week, he let loose a piece of right-wing paranoia and hatred that’s just jaw-dropping.

During an appearance on CNN’s Glenn Beck, Stein and host Beck (another rather controversial conservative) were discussing Democratic presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama’s plan to deliver his nomination acceptance speech at Invesco Field in Denver, Colorado. Stein’s thoughts?

“I don’t like the idea of Senator Obama giving his acceptance speech in front of 75,000 wildly cheering people. That is not the way we do things in political parties in the United States of America.” … “Seventy-five thousand people at an outdoor sports palace, well, that’s something the Führer would have done.”

I can barely find the words. (But don’t worry, I’ll try.)

The first black candidate for President of the United States, and all he wants to do is give an acceptance speech to a large crowd of supporters…only to have a prominent conservative compare him to Adolf Hitler. (This isn’t the first time Stein’s invoked the Nazis to attack people, either; he’s claimed that the theory of evolution was the inspiration for the Holocaust.) When crazy liberals have compared President Bush or Vice President Cheney to Hitler, they’re shot down immediately, and subjected to a barrage of attacks on their person and credibility. Did anything happen to Stein? Nope.

It’s bad enough that so many ignorant fucks in this country still think Senator Obama is a Muslim (that nasty rumor was debunked what, a year ago?), or just won’t vote for him because he’s black. It’s disgusting and appalling, and when hatemongers like Stein spout off that kind of ridiculous vitriol on national television, and get away with it, it’s an embarrassment to our country as a whole.