Ben Affleck vs. Bill Maher and Sam Harris - arguing about Islam

It doesn't matter that Ben Affleck is "only" an actor. His opinions may be as valid as anybody else's, including, oh, many of ours. I doubt many of us are any more "involved" in ISIS, or even Islam, even in general, than he is.

I'd say any argument depends on the thought put into it, and, as Yankee Fan pointed out, Affleck is atypical of most Hollywood types (and even many sports writer types) in his political activism and therefore, might be considered someone who might have some salient points.

Even if he didn't, he might be someone that people in our entertainment-media oriented society would follow, agree with and emulate simply because he is Ben Affleck: famous, recognizable, a name and a face that people know, tend to like, and will get behind simply because of that.

It's silly to ask who would care what a world-famous person thinks about something. That's largely why people are interested in what they say, do and think in the first place. It's simply putting a face on an opinion, a cause, or an issue.

Not saying that's a good reason for all the Twitter following with regard to Affleck's opinions on this matter, but it is one reason.

 

I think it was U of Chicago's John Cochrane who was talking about Barba Streisand vis-a-vis Janet Yellen's promotion. He said something on the order of "Asking Barba Streisand about monetary policy is like asking Kim Kardashian about string theory."

 

Unless it's G-string theory.

 

And for all we know it's Kanye's G-string.

 

Should have known better to expect an actual discussion on the issue rather than the messengers in the argument.