OCTOBER 8, 2015
If you were asked which Republican candidate has made the most outrageous comments in this campaign, you’d likely say Donald Trump. Yes, the billionaire has crossed the line several times, calling Mexican immigrants “rapists,” asserting that John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured and insinuating that Fox News host Megan Kelly was having her period when she asked him tough questions.
But I would argue that he doesn’t hold a candle to the king of lunatic quotes, Dr. Ben Carson. With his soft voice and impressive resume, the esteemed neurosurgeon is running second to Trump in almost every national & state poll and seems poised to scoop up Trump voters if (or when) the billionaire implodes.
Carson really upped his game on Tuesday when he implied that the recent shooting victims in Oregon didn’t do enough to save themselves.
“I would ask everybody to attack the gunman because he can only shoot one of us at a time. That way, we don’t all wind up dead.”
Huh? What??? To add to the victim shaming, Carson then added that he, Ben Carson, would never let himself be shot like those people did.
“Not only would I probably not cooperate with him, I would not just stand there and let him shoot me, I would say, ‘Hey guys, everybody attack him. He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all’ “
Wow, he’s so brave in his imaginary world of hypotheticals. But wait, there’s more.
“If I had a little kid in kindergarten somewhere I would feel much more comfortable if I knew on that campus there was a police officer or somebody who was trained with a weapon…If the teacher was trained in the use of that weapon and had access to it, I would be much more comfortable if they had one than if they didn’t.”
My mom taught grammar school until her late seventies, and I would of course have felt much more comfortable if she had a Glock in her hand.
This one’s nice — if he were President, would he go to Oregon to console the victims’ families, as Obama is planning to do?
“I mean, I would probably have so many things on my agenda that I would go to the next one.”
And there’s yesterday’s lovely Facebook posting:
“I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away.”
Oh brother. Carson, though, is not just loony on the subject of guns. Check out these doozies from Ben’s greatest hits.
“You know, Obamacare is really, I think, the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.”
“[Obama is] like most psychopaths. That’s why they’re successful. That’s the way they look. They all look great […] But he knows he’s telling a lie! He’s trying to sell what he thinks is not true! He’s sitting there saying, “These Americans are so stupid I can tell them anything.”
“I mean, [our society is] very much like Nazi Germany. And I know you’re not supposed to say “Nazi Germany,” but I don’t care about political correctness.”
“I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.”
And, of course, my all-time person favorite Ben-ism:
“A lot of people who go into prison [are] straight, and when they come out, they’re gay.”
Seriously, why hasn’t someone in the media called this guy out? He’s been saying this kind of stuff for months. Is it because of his calm demeanor in which he spouts this nonsense? (He seems to be the kind of doctor who could calmly say to a patient, “You have breast cancer. It’s your own fault. Now have a nice day,” and the patient would thank him.)
Most of these whoppers stay in the news for a day at most, and many commentators seem to have the attitude of “Oh, that’s just Ben.” Rupert Murdoch, arbiter of all things black, tweeted yesterday “Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide?” Thanks, Rupe. Carson’s ideas aren’t “real” or cute, they’re dangerous. Think at the America that Carson is envisioning when he says these things. And he’s running second…second!…for the Republican nomination for President of the United States.
For a media obsessed with Hillary’s e-mail server or Rubio’s Congressional attendance record, they need a wake-up call that there’s a larger story out there. Hopefully, there’s someone who will notice before it’s too late.
