I first became aware of Ben Stein from his game show, Win Ben Stein’s Money, where his dry, arrogant stuffed-shirt persona bounced brilliantly against the couldn’t-give-a-rat’s-ass persona of co-host Jimmy Kimmel. It was a terrific show, perfect television, a cross between Jeopardy, You Bet Your Life and Firing Line. Through watching the show, I learned that Stein had worked for Nixon, and also had appeared in a number of ’80s teen comedies. Not to mention Visine commercials. So far, so good — seemed like a fascinating guy.

Then, in the past year or so, Stein started to make these bizarre appearances on news programs, where he would say things that weren’t merely “conservative” in their viewpoint (which I could respect) but demonstrably wrong. And then he would underline his points by saying something completely insane. And I thought “Gee, maybe Ben should stay at home more.”

Alas, he has decided to go in the opposite direction. He is the star of Expelled, a new “Michael Moore-style” documentary on this ridiculous piece-of-crap notion of “Intelligent Design.” When I first read of this new documentary, I thought perhaps Stein had regained his sanity and had made a movie about the obvious stupidity of not only Intelligent Design but of the stupid, bullying zealots who actively campaign every day to make American children dumber. Surely, I thought, a man as intelligent and well-read as Ben Stein wouldn’t be caught dead supporting a cause as ridiculous as this, would he?

Well, turns out, yes. He would. He has.

Look at that title again: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. That sure sounds like a movie in favor of intelligence, doesn’t it? Good trick guys! Make a movie designed to blunt the edge of scientific achievement and make it sound like it’s arguing in favor of intelligence! Classic Rovian strategy of attacking your opponent where he’s strongest — if schools exist to make students smarter, let’s make a movie that says that they make students dumber!

I was about to chortle about how this movie has no chance of making its money back, but guess what? The producers beat me to it!

Unlike most movies, “Expelled” may be looking to effect policy change more than rack up B.O.

“It’s not important to me whether it makes money. I’ve already been paid, and I might add quite modestly at that,” says Stein, who is making the rounds from college campuses to “The O’Reilly Factor” to evangelical church screenings to promote the film. “I’m hoping that (schools) will at least allow in science classes someone to say, ‘What if it’s not Darwinism, but what if there was some intelligent designer who created the universe?’ “

See? All Ben Stein wants is to create an environment where something besides science is taught in science class! What’s the matter with our world, when we are so caught up in our mania for categorization that we insist on teaching only science in science class! Why can’t we teach Pet Care in math class, or Industrial Welding in Home Economics, or Skydiving in English class?