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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThe tragedy of Ben Carson: How a brilliant doctor turned into a right-wing provocateur
The GOP's newest presidential candidate is intent on making a fool of himself before as many people as possibleJIM NEWELL
The Ben Carson phenomenon is a case lesson in how some really smart, impressive figures in certain fields should never talk about politics.
Carson is now an official presidential candidate, representing a subset of grassroots conservatives who enjoy being played. This is not an insignificant number of people. He is, to the horror of the people who run the Republican party, polling viably. No would-be candidate has a more dedicated corps of volunteers supporting him. Whether its CPAC or the First in the Nation Summit in New Hampshire, the Carson people are everywhere, handing out stickers and buttons and t-shirts and assorted other tchochkes from dusk till dawn.
But why? What is it that they like about someone whos quite obviously trying to separate conservative movementarians from their money?
Carsons rise to prominence among Tea Party conservatives, or whatever were calling that element of the GOP now, should be bizarre to everyone. Its especially baffling, though, to people like your trusty Salon writer, who grew up in the mid-Atlantic in the 1990s. Most elementary and middle school students from Maryland were at some point assigned to read Ben Carsons autobiography, Gifted Hands typically ahead of a visit from the man himself. Carson was raised in Detroit, rising from abject poverty to Yale, eventually becoming the head of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, one of the best medical centers in the world. To children and adults alike, he was the reigning regional saint. (Along with Cal Ripken Jr., who didnt pull off masterful feats of neurosurgery but did play in thousands of consecutive baseball games.)
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http://www.salon.com/2015/05/04/the_tragedy_of_ben_carson_how_a_brilliant_doctor_turned_into_a_right_wing_provocatuer/
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The tragedy of Ben Carson: How a brilliant doctor turned into a right-wing provocateur (Original Post)
DonViejo
May 2015
OP
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)1. But, as we know in post-racial America
Dr. Carson is given credence for saying the exact same things as so many other Republican candidates, but because he's, well . . . Hmmm. I'm kind of stumped, here. Why does Dr. Carson command extra attention from the popular media? We know it can't be his race, because the Supreme Court has ruled that the United States have gotten over all that unpleasantness, and it's firmly buried in the past. Dr. Carson's glasses? No, Rick Perry wears glasses, too. He went to a big shot Ivy League school? No, Ted Cruz went to a bit shot Ivy League school.
There must be some other reason . . . think, think.
dixiegrrrrl
(60,010 posts)2. Loltz......