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On Ben Carson
I like Ben Carson. I really do. I think he is probably a wonderful man, certainly a gifted surgeon, and he takes a strong, no-nonsense stand on abortion.
But I don’t see him as president.
First, some of the things he’s said are going to haunt him in the unlikely event he becomes the Republican nominee. That bit he said about “bodies filled with holes,” was a strange way of talking about murder victims. I’m sure what he meant was “It’s tragic that people choose to do these horrible things, but those horrible things done by criminals and madmen don’t justify taking away the rights of ordinary, law abiding citizens.” But what he actually said was “I never saw a body with bullet holes that was more devastating than taking the right to arm ourselves away.” I know what he meant, but I also know how it’s been spun.
Second, I am sure he is a fine doctor, but does that qualify him to be a political leader? It certainly doesn’t disqualify him, but I don’t see anything in his experience that will translate well.
Third, he seems a bit mousey to me. His answers during the debates and his comments in videos and other things I’ve seen leave me feeling like he is just trying to be nice to everyone. He is a super nice guy, I am sure, and I wonder if he wouldn’t just get trampled by people like Biden, Clinton, etc.?
Well, what about you Carson supporters? Am I wrong? Tell me why.
Image Credit: “Dr Ben Carson at the Southern Republican Leadership Conference” by Michael Vadon – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Published in Politics
I would love to see a President tell the House of Sods that “We don’t care if you ever pump another drop of oil. We have oil to export, so it just pads our bank accounts if you embargo your oil. You will immediately cut off all funding to Islamist groups worldwide, including the foreign madrassas, or we will give you things to spend your money on at home – like rebuilding your cities.”
Wars are won by logistics, and Saudi Arabia is the paymaster for the Sunni Islamists. To paraphrase Cato the Elder, I am of the opinion that Riyadh must be destroyed.
They’ll say that about any Republican candidate they can’t simply paint as a monster who wants to starve children. It’s what they do.
First) That his “mouseyness” is a detriment. In my opinion, it could be an attractive trait to many.
Second) That being a highly trained surgeon has no skill sets that translate into public administration success. For one example: he has exhibited expertise in making quick decisions under high stress and has shown that he is capable of putting large quantities of often conflicting information together very quickly to solve serious problems.
Third) That having been immersed in the miserable failure that is our current political system gives more experienced politicians an advantage in getting things done.
“Carthago delenda est” becomes ‘Saudi delenda est”. Nice.
However, not sure we want to weaken the Sunni too much, lest the Shia become overly dominant. What say thou?
(Speaking, where is Carthago (<-Rico member) these days?”
Please restate the question. I don’t understand what you are asking.
Here it is as a statement: Recent history has shown me that the qualities needed to get elected President are not necessarily the qualities needed to be a great one.
What has recent history shown you?
Carson’s lack of political experience makes him a wildcard and I understand why many of the comments question his ability to be a good President. However, we have clearly seen that being a lifelong politician is no guarantee of Presidential success. In fact, I would argue that we have a serious problem with a political class that is insulated from what the average voter thinks. Sometimes the only way to fix a broken system is to bring in a change agent who is not tainted by group-think or conditioned to accept various assumptions that should actually be challenged.
Carson has demonstrated conservative values and is not afraid to speak truth to power (ex: his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast). I don’t equate his calm demeanor with weakness. Remember the famous quote from Teddy Roosevelt, “speak softly and carry a big stick”.
He is not my favorite candidate, but given a choice between Carson and Trump I would favor Carson by a lot.
I find Carson to be really smart. Authentically analytically smart. If he could get to be President, I think that virtue would trump (<-pun, if you missed it) any weaknesses. He’d be a better than average president for sure. Just don’t know if the electorate will get the same ‘chill up their legs’ that I get whenever I witness a smart Republican, being smart.
Recent history has shown me that if you make statements that are easily spun and used against you, then no matter whether you would make a great president or not, you won’t be president. Candidate Carson needs to be more careful about how he says things. And if he thinks that he can say “I’m just not politically correct” and that is going to rescue him from the sharks, he’s sorely mistaken.
When was the last time we had a lifelong, career politician, in the White House?
Nobody is suggesting that because a we are skeptical of a candidate with no political experience, that we should then elect Bob Byrd.
There is even less reason for restraint in dealing with Iran than there is for restraint in dealing with the Sods. In fact, I’m inclined to wipe Iran out first to provide an example to the Sods.
First off, Dr. Carson is not my top pick for president. However, I very much appreciate the fact that he and Ted Cruz are pretty much alone in tutoring the American voter on the proper functioning of our constitutional republic. And behind the good doctor’s quiet demeanor is a spine of steel. He just does not back down, for which I am deeply appreciative.
As for the specific reference, “I never saw a body full of bullet holes…,” I can guess where this comes from. Like Dr. Carson, I trained in surgery (although, professionally speaking, I am only qualified to shine the former Johns Hopkins neurosurgery chairman’s shoes–in my circles, Dr. C. is pretty much The Man) and working in an ER you do in fact see a lot of bodies with bullet holes in them. And the faces of the people you could not save stay with you. In my mind, Dr. Carson’s formulation amounted to: “I’ve seen horrible things in my career–horribly injured gunshot victims–and as bad as that is, disarming the law-abiding population of this country would be worse.
Er, you are exercising a bit of rhetorical license here, I suppose. Like wiping ones a__, it can get pretty messy sometimes.
Yeah, to paraphrase Marshall McLuhan, the mess is the message.
When was the last time we had someone who wasn’t? GHW Bush spent over 20 years in public office. Ditto Bill Clinton. Dubya spent 14 years in public office. Obama will have had 20 years when he finishes his term.
Right. It’s not the case that no one says anything related to what Carson was saying, it’s just that no one thinks the specific thing Carson was saying. It’s often the case that Carson sounds as if he’s listened to people talking about politics and he’s half understood some of the claims. As you know, I’m not really with you on the Saudis, but your view is within the spectrum of views about the Saudis that are held by informed people. Carson, on the other hand, is simply wrong.
After he compared homosexuality to bestiality, he apologized and said he would not do it again. He later went further and said he wouldn’t talk about homosexuality at all. He went back on that, but there are reasonable numbers of examples of Carson backing down.
Which may be why Trump’s still beating him.
Lesser men have been effective presidents. I make it a point of never assuming what a genius is or isn’t capable of.
Hillary would tear him up on the debate stage. So, no.
Ooh, why do you think this? Just because she would have more fire in her belly than he? (possible) If she prepares well enough to keep him on the defensive throughout the debate for things he has said, maybe. But that is a tall order because Carson is deft enough to slip a lot of punches and counter-punch well. He can get to the essence of matters with few words. And like Trump, he can say things no one else can. He being black neutralizes some of Hillary’s best cards too.
I guess I saw someone different in the most recent Republican debate than you did.
I will defer to your judgment to some degree since I didn’t watch the debate much. In my view, based on interviews and other public exchanges, Carson is going to be a Rock star someday. He has the Gingrich smarts. He is able to really analyze a subject to the core. But he needs a lot of seasoning. (G_d, does Trump need the same, but he probably is invincibly unseasonable – another topic). It is a race against time here.
I didn’t see much “deftness” or punches or counter-punches in either debate. A great surgeon, but NOT a great debater. Too soft-spoken, which in some ways conveys lack of passion. Plus, he really doesn’t speak indepth on issues or policies. Hillary, while her policies are wrong, and dangerous, can and will appear the policy expert, the knowledgeable one on the stage, not a rookie outsider.
OK, I guess I see him getting better and better. He would debate Hillary about a year from now (assuming he were the pick, of course). He would be an order of magnitude more spun up on the issues by then. I await this next debate to see if that growth is in evidence or not.