Discussion for article #240027
More important, he rejects global warming, evolution, and the age of the earth.
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Since the GOP base rejects those facts as well, he’s golden with them. He’s Exhibit A for the fact that the Republican Party is anti-science and anti-education.
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He does a spot on imitation of Peter Sellers’ Chauncey Gardiner character.
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It’s unclear at this moment how many of his fans understand what he’s saying and how many don’t.
Personally, I don’t even think that’s the point. “Understading” is NOT something the GOP base cares to deal with. Why do I say that? Because at one point, Carson was listed in a survey/poll as doing very well on the abortion issue by the base.
Well, aside from the fact that Carson himself has utilized fetal tissue for medical research purposes. As well as any medical practitioner worth their salt in the profession.
But, - he’s an MD so, of course, if he says that abortion is killing every Black baby ever and if he did use fetal tissue, that was totally different then that’s understandable. Like, totally.
They don’t bother to understand anything. They just make it up as they go along.
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A know-nuthin’ whackjob wingnut that panders to GOP “core values”
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A lot of surgeons are psychopaths: http://www.alternet.org/culture/10-careers-most-psychopaths. While most aren’t, from those I’ve met it seems like this resolutely quiet dispassion and calmness is pretty characteristic of the profession.
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I think the article is great, while it still only glosses over the real reason Ben Carson–like Herman Cain before him–is rising in the polls despite no track record of governance and not really distinguishing himself from any other conservative candidate. The true cachet of a Ben Carson lies in the fact that he is a black man saying these things.
Conservatives are often told they are racist because they’ve traded in their overt racism for dog whistle politics. A guy like Carson says the exact same things they’re saying and thinking, while being black. They believe it insulates them from being called racists. In a way, and among other things, this is an overcompensation of their own racism.
In the same way that I feel more comfortable when a white person says that racism exists, a white person is more likely to seek out a black person who says that it doesn’t to lend credence to their arguments.
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Yeah yeah, a wingnut is a wingnut and it all comes out in the laundry eventually. Scott Walker wanting to wall in America or wall out Canada, Trump just being Trump, Rick Perry dumb, Romnerd spouting 47%-self-deportation and basic lies, Cruz wanting to end birthright citizenship and JebBush trying to act Mexican.
A casual goober like Carson is still a goober and no amount of calm can hide it and let’s be real, the hardcore racists on the right that are teaming up with Trump may not be showing their true color, or lack thereof, yet, but if and when Carson gets past the 999 stage that Herman Cain got to, they will burn him in effigy and possibly literally burn him.
It’s an old white male tied to ridiculously huge money or nothing for the Repubs. Sorry Carly, you’re out too.
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Not Mr. Kilgore’s best work. Carson is dumb…that’s why he says dumb things. He lives in a fantasy tailor made to fit his belief system and wants to solve that fantasy worlds problems.
Carson isn’t going to be the nominee. Despite is nonsensical remark to the contrary Clinton would pummel him in a record breaking loss for the GOP. Other GOP’ers aren’t dumb like Carson…many are very smart. He’s a side show and that is where the GOP machine is going to keep him.
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That’s because most of them aren’t all that bright.
So, Carson is fringe, paranoid, enthralled with conspiracy politics, prone to outlandish hyperbole and foists all that on the gullible. Kilgore implies these are qualities to be aware of, watched and maybe will ultimately be Carson’s undoing. Yet this profile fits the GOP electorate for the most part. Carson is a kindred spirit to the very people he needs support from to get the nod for Prez. Carson is the embodiment of the GOP.
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The only political correctness with any sort of force in America today, is Republicans shouting down anyone who might hurt a white man’s feelings.
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More important?
Anyhow, I found this decoder ring very helpful. Good article.
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Carson is proof positive that someone can be highly educated, accomplished, skilled in a specialty, and still be a kook, wingnut, nutjob, or whatever you want to call it. History is littered with such folks.
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…You’d think a Yale grad would be smarter than the average stump…
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George W. Bush graduated from Yale…
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…Or so we’ve told.
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Consider this moment from the first GOP presidential debate, in which he was generally rated as among the “winners.” Chris Wallace asked Carson how he would deal with Hillary Clinton as an opponent who might accuse Republicans of fighting the aspirations of women and minorities and the poor and taking the country backwards:
CARSON: If Hillary is the candidate, which I doubt, that would be a dream come true.
HRC would shred him like the slow-cooked pork rump he is.
Also, these poll numbers are for Iowa so there’s that. I mean in 2012 it was Santorum won the Iowa caucuses! Romney right on his heels and Ron Paul in third right on Romney’s heels --losers all.
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"Carson reportedly has four paid staffers in Iowa. So his popularity is not the product of any “ground game.”
From the actual article referenced:
“The Carson campaign in Iowa—with four paid staffers—is helped significantly by the super PAC supporting Carson’s candidacy. Originally started as an effort to draft Carson to run, the super PAC laid early groundwork in the state–identifying supporters in all 99 counties–prior to Carson’s entrance into the race. It continues to have a strong presence at events, like the Iowa State Fair and county GOP dinners.”
And not just supporters:
That’s a ground game, and a pretty extensive organization. The fact that he is relying more on existing political structures in the state instead of paying to build his own, probably makes it even more effective.
And in my opinion, that’s the big differentiator between Carson and Trump at this point. Carson has people…lots of people…working for him that have been working for him since the beginning. Trump is picking up a defector from the Perry campaign that wants to be paid…and only recently, and Lauder.
Chuck Lauder is the guy who ran Santorum’s campaign in Iowa in 2012, and from the bits an pieces I have read, seems to be trying to turn Iowa GOP politics on its head, disdaining the typical retail model and going more towards big events. And relying heavily on people that have never voted in a caucus before. That’s a bit of a red flag, in my opinion.