Dr. Ben Carson, who will most likely run for the 2016 Republican nomination for President, is proof that even a brilliant neuro-surgeon will dumb it down and resort to bullshit when a member of the GOP. Like Allen West and Herman Cain, he has gladly hopped on the Conservative Absurdity Train to be accepted as a Black man by Republicans; or at least fool himself into believing he’s accepted.
In his latest act of pandering, Carson went on (where else) Fox, and repeated his ludicrous claim, as reported by The Washington Post in August, that:
If Republicans don’t win back the Senate in November… he can’t be sure “there will even be an election in 2016.”
[and] … his wife, Candy, tells a supporter that they are holding on to their son’s Australian passport just in case the election doesn’t go their way.
There’s some real American patriots; lose the election, abandon your country.
I find Australia a rather odd choice though; the minimum wage is $16.87 an hour, they have universal healthcare, it’s a legal requirement to vote (even for -gasp- minorities!), the government is in the “liberal democratic tradition”, and they are way, way, waaaay whiter than the U.S. I can’t think of a more inhospitable place for a Black U.S. Republican toady and his family. But I digress.
Despite his obvious intelligence, Carson has willingly joined the other RWNJs who stir up the base with crazy claims and unfounded fears of what this President “might do”, and bald-faced lies about what he has done. For example, he gladly jumped on the birther train while denying it has anything to do with racism:
“Well, I would say that the best way to put that to rest is expose everything, including your academic records. Let us know, you know, where did you apply – when you applied to Columbia, from where were you applying?
Don’t you think it is reasonable for people who are seeking public office, or are in public office, to allow people to see what they’re getting, and to expose their past records?”
His academic records? How far back should we go, kindergarten? You want to see his 2nd grade Popsicle stick projects? How about the finger paintings that hung on the fridge, or a list of the games he played during recess. Are you too damned lazy to Google it, Ben? It took me all of 10 seconds to get the info
It is pathetically transparent for a man of Dr. Carson’s reknown to engage in such nonsense. He claims part of it has to do with the President’s “foreign sounding name”. My God, this is America, leaf through a phone book pal.
Aside from the fact that he has less political experience than our current Senator turned President (who Conservatives refer to as “inexperienced”), Ben Carson is a sellout. Here’s a man who knows firsthand what public assistance can do for an impoverished family, and a young child with learning disabilities (in fact his favorite story is the one about how he overcame those obstacles with the help of government); yet, as McClatchy D.C. put it:
Ben Carson now, though, bemoans the “welfare state” and talks about how the rich have always taken care of the poor, how “no one is starving in America” and how government dependence kills initiative.
What happened to Mr. Success Story to make him hop on the Bullshit Express you ask? He became a Republican, that’s what; and the surefire way to become “someone” in Conservative circles is by showing your ass. So, like any good Republican would, he began disrespecting the President, attacking all the right groups, and voila: practically overnight he thinks he belongs in the Oval Office. A little attention can do that to some people, black white or otherwise – make them start believing the hype, thinking they’re somehow an important voice in America (Consider the Wasilla Hillbilly).
Like most people I have great respect for everything Dr. Carson has achieved, but as a person – not so much. To paraphrase Martin Luther King, it’s not the color of his skin, but the “content of his character”.
He’s compared The Affordable Care Act to slavery, whined about Democrats not wanting him to “come off the plantation” (I’m frankly sick to death of black conservatives trivializing slavery by playing that card), while ignoring the fact that his own party held a panel at CPAC titled: “The Failure of Multiculturalism: How the Pursuit of Diversity Is Weakening the American Identity” which featured a couple of white nationalists.
In addition, while Mr. Carson’s party was denying the conservative gay organization Go Proud a place at the CPAC table, they were welcoming Peter Brimelow, founder of VDARE, which People For the American Way has reported is
…a white nationalist website which frequently publishes the works of anti-Semitic and racist writers
A 2013 anti-immigration reform protest which included Rep. Steve King (Iowa), Sen. Jeff Sessions (Ala.) and Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), was organized in part by John Tanton, who has referred to African-Americans as a “retrograde species”. Then there’s this bit from a story published in Philadelphia Magazine:
Kansas House Speaker Mike O’Neal… forwarded an email to state house Republicans referring to the First Lady as “Mrs. YoMamma.” … Marilyn Davenport, an elected member of the Orange County (California) Republican Central Committee, forwarded her own email in April of last year that included a doctored photo of the President and his parents as monkeys. Four months later, Colorado Congressman Doug Lamborn candidly said during a radio interview that he didn’t “even want to have to be associated with … (President Obama). It’s like touching a tar baby …”
Not a peep from Carson.
He remains silent about the Republican Governors across the country who are attempting to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of minority voters as well as the elderly, and college students.
He chooses not to stand up to his party when they continually insinuate to their voters that Black people are the majority welfare and food stamp users, when it’s actually whites.
In a speech at CPAC 2013 he asked:
“When did we reach a point where you had to have a certain philosophy because of your skin color?”
Integrity is not a “philosophy”; white, black, or otherwise, you either have it or you don’t. We’re not talking about a handful of racists here, we are talking about a culture that is accepted within the Conservative Movement, and welcomes those miscreants with open arms. Still, prominent Black Republicans choose to keep their heads in the sand telling themselves the party sees them differently.
In an interview for the Freeman Institute’s Everyday Matters, Carson had this to say:
“…when I open that skull and look at that brain, I can’t tell whether it’s a black brain, white brain, Asian brain or Hispanic brain. They are all the same. That’s what makes you the person you are. Not the racial stuff. That’s superfluous. It means absolutely nothing. I came to that realization a very long time ago.”
Actually, those brains aren’t all the same, or there’d be no “superfluous” racism. What does that even mean?
In 2012, Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to Colin Powell and a Republican, had this to say about his party:
“My party, unfortunately, is the bastion of those people, not all of them, but most of them, who are still basing their decision on race. Let me just be candid: My party is full of racists. And the real reason a considerable portion of my party wants President Obama out of the White House has nothing to do with the content of his character, nothing to do with his competence as commander-in-chief and president, and everything to do with the color of his skin. And that’s despicable.”
So far, Ben Carson has offered up nothing different than any other prominent RWNJ, black or white, including selling his race short; but being white myself, I figured I’d check prominent African-American sites to see how they view the man. Here’s what some of them have written:
The Grio: A black doctor who is against people having medical care, and tries to make intolerant, discriminatory policies acceptable by putting a black face on them? Dr. Ben Carson is made to order.
The Wattree Chronicle: … it seems that White conservatives will never learn that by trotting people like Allen West, Herman Cain, or Dr. Ben Carson out before the public, they’re doing themselves a disservice in the Black community.
Your Black World: the idea that black Democrats are somehow stuck on a plantation implies that black people are far less capable of assessing their interests and making political judgments than whites. The implication here is that, although Carson and the vast majority of white voters make decisions based on their critical interests, blacks who vote for Democrats just don’t know any better and thus, are still stuck on the plantation. The conclusion reached is that blacks who vote for Democrats need to be freed by smarter and more astute Negroes, such as Dr. Carson. (As an aside, isn’t it curious how the colorblind GOP loves to hurl slavery references?)
[And]: I think it helps to understand why so many blacks are disappointed with Dr. Carson. It’s not because Carson doesn’t support Obama. This is not about race pride so much as class awareness. We’re disappointed because Carson doesn’t seem to support women who share the very same class designation as his own mother. Maybe I’m wrong, but it feels as though Carson is slyly pulling up the ladder behind him now that he’s made it to the top. That’s a hard pill to swallow.
Thy Black Man: Short of endlessly milking his past reputation as a rags to successful neurosurgeon, and making a few inane quips about President Obama and Democrats before a pack of ultra-conservative fawners and groupies, what makes him real political timber, let alone presidential stuff?
Politic365: Dr. Ben Carson has a very motivational story but his political analysis and message lack real understanding of the issues necessary to be taken seriously. It is dangerous to use the success of an individual(s) as the basis of a sociological or economic indictment of an entire class of individuals. A reporter once asked Dr. Carson why he never talked about race to which he responded, “…because I’m a neurosurgeon”. Well, Dr. Carson, I’ll make a deal with you, I’ll stay out of the operating room if you leave the political analysis and dialogue to trained professionals.
Oh, if only…