# Ben Carson for President thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [August 31, 2015, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554 "2015-08-31T22:58:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/181 "2015-10-07T05:41:18Z")
I’ve pointed it out before, but the good Doctor comes across on camera as an utter dimwitted boob. On The View - [Kindergarten Teachers](https://youtu.be/SZeatDkMK7E) As much as I may or may not agree with what he is saying, the man is clearly having trouble collecting his thoughts in a coherent fashion. He’s dumb as a post. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/182 "2015-10-07T05:42:13Z")
He’s a neurosurgeon. He can’t be dumb. But he can be poor at speaking publicly. ---
**Author:** ![Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kolak_of_twilo/32/73_2.png) [@Kolak\_of\_Twilo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kolak_of_Twilo)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/183 "2015-10-07T05:50:09Z")
Oh, don’t get me wrong. No doubt he can be taught to perform a highly technical task. And has very steady nerves. But, he is incapable of thinkng on his feet or expressing what he believes in a coherent or consistent fashion. I’m sure he can memorize facts and repeat them back. Challenge him or take him off the talking point and he crumbles. Interepeting or analyzing information is something he seems to lack. And he’s the only candidate of either party who I would say strikes me this way. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/184 "2015-10-07T05:50:49Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He’s a neurosurgeon. He can’t be dumb. But he can be poor at speaking publicly. He already has demonstrated that he is dumb in other fields but one. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/185 "2015-10-07T07:57:13Z")
So he’s Rain Man? Yeah, I don’t think so. He’s just a guy who is learning a new trade. He’s more likely to figure this politics thing out than Barack Obama or Bill Clinton are to figure out brain surgery. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/186 "2015-10-07T08:05:26Z")
It’s too bad Dr. Carson wasn’t in Oregon for the recent mass shooting, [as he would totally have stopped it](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/10/06/ben-carson-says-he-would-have-been-more-aggressive-against-oregon-gunman/?_r=0). > [@](#): > > “I would not just stand there and let him shoot me,” Mr. Carson, who has been surging in recent polls, said on Fox News. “I would say: ‘Hey, guys, everybody attack him! He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all.’ ” That is _spectacular_. Of course, [there were people who did try to stop the shooter rather than “just standing there”.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/10/02/he-just-tried-to-do-the-right-thing-veteran-tried-to-block-oregon-shooter-family-says/)Guess what - they got shot. And didn’t stop him. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 10:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/187 "2015-10-07T10:14:38Z")
Even better, **Gyrate** , was when he was critical of Obama for going to Oregon for what Carson says was politically motivated. If he were PotUS, he says, he’d skip it and [“that I’d go to the next one.”](http://www.salon.com/2015/10/06/ben_carson_admits_gop_gun_policy_defeat_obama_should_skip_meeting_families_of_oregon_shooting_victims_wait_for_the_next_one/) ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/188 "2015-10-07T12:05:03Z")
I can’t fathom his appeal. Are Republicans so desperate for someone with no experience that they want to nominate someone who is a blithering idiot outside his narrow field? ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/189 "2015-10-07T12:29:43Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He’s a neurosurgeon. He can’t be dumb. But he can be poor at speaking publicly. A bit of Department of Medicine humor: > [@](#): > > How does a surgeon stop an elevator door from closing? > > \*(Eminent MD bends over & pantomimes inserting his head in the imaginary door. Gotta save the hands–don’t need the head.) \* If Dr Carson wants politics as his post-retirement career, perhaps he ought to run for a lesser office & prove he can govern. “Learning the trade” while campaigning for President just makes him & his fans look stupid. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/190 "2015-10-07T12:37:11Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I can’t fathom his appeal. Dare we suggest part of it is a desire to show they’re not racist after all, history notwithstanding? He’s also a proud Christianist zealot, like many of his supporters, and is not as secretive or apologetic or halfway about it as any other plausible GOP candidate of recent years. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/191 "2015-10-07T13:54:43Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > He really is looking like a game changer. He turned a single mom piano player into a $100,000 bundler: > > [Ben Carson raising millions to become fundraising juggernaut - CBS News](http://www.cbsnews.com/news/ben-carson-raising-millions-to-become-fundraising-juggernaut/) That article includes one of the best unintentionally ironic sentences of all time: > [@](#): > > “This is a campaign of for and by the people and I’ve made it very clear that I’m not going after the billionaires, the special interest groups,” Carson told **a crowd of medical doctors** and supporters. Yeah, because physicians aren’t a special interest group _at all._ ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/192 "2015-10-07T14:02:29Z")
Right, one of the reasons it took so long to get Obamacare was the AMA’s opposition to “socialized medicine”, and the possible threat to their incomes they were scared it might represent. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/193 "2015-10-07T14:28:53Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Dare we suggest part of it is a desire to show they’re not racist after all, history notwithstanding? He’s also a proud Christianist zealot, like many of his supporters, and is not as secretive or apologetic or halfway about it as any other plausible GOP candidate of recent years. Less cynically, he’s respectable (for a given value of “respectable”) - he’s an eminent doctor in his field (unlike Rand Paul), he’s successful (unlike Fiorina), he’s soft-spoken and reserved (unlike Trump) and he’s untainted by the stain of prior political office (unlike everyone else). He holds all the “correct” positions for the TP base without being overtly unpalatable to the other conservative factions. That he’s a black YEC merely finishes off the whole package from a GOP standpoint. Unfortunately he keeps saying things in public which shatter the illusion of quiet competence, and the more he flounders the worse it will get. A candidate whose best approach is not to say anything can get away with it for a while in the midst of a large primary field, but as that field shrinks and the cover gets winnowed away his flaws will become too obvious to ignore. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/194 "2015-10-07T14:38:01Z")
Paul _was_ actually a well-respected ophthalmologist. The NBO/ABO flap was about the “real” certifying board deciding to grandfather in old doctors while requiring newer ones (including Paul) to recertify every 10 years. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/195 "2015-10-08T11:28:08Z")
[Rupert Murdoch](https://mobile.twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/651924724960874497?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) is a Ben Carson fan: > [@](#): > > Ben and Candy Carson terrific. What about a real black President who can properly address the racial divide? And much else. Vote Ben Carson, for a _real_ black president! ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/196 "2015-10-08T11:41:33Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > [Rupert Murdoch](https://mobile.twitter.com/rupertmurdoch/status/651924724960874497?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet) is a Ben Carson fan: > Vote Ben Carson, for a _real_ black president! Wait, so now Obama’s not Kenyan enough? ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/197 "2015-10-08T14:21:50Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > It’s too bad Dr. Carson wasn’t in Oregon for the recent mass shooting, [as he would totally have stopped it](http://www.nytimes.com/politics/first-draft/2015/10/06/ben-carson-says-he-would-have-been-more-aggressive-against-oregon-gunman/?_r=0).That is _spectacular_. > > > [@](#): > > > > “I would not just stand there and let him shoot me,” Mr. Carson, who has been surging in recent polls, said on Fox News. “I would say: ‘Hey, guys, everybody attack him! He may shoot me, but he can’t get us all.’ ” > > Of course, [there were people who did try to stop the shooter rather than “just standing there”.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2015/10/02/he-just-tried-to-do-the-right-thing-veteran-tried-to-block-oregon-shooter-family-says/)Guess what - they got shot. And didn’t stop him. Interestingly enough: [he recently told about a time when he was held up at gun-point.](http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/08/politics/ben-carson-guns-hold-up-popeyes/) > [@](#): > > “I have had a gun held on me when I was in a Popeye’s organization” in Baltimore, the retired neurosurgeon told Karen Hunter on Sirius XM Radio, referring to the fried chicken fast-food chain. > > “Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs. And I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter,’” Carson. Not exactly the same as a mass shooting situation, but also not exactly heroic to say ‘hey don’t point the gun at me, point it at this other guy’. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/198 "2015-10-08T14:37:04Z")
Apparently [Ben Carson doesn’t understand what the debt limit is.](http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/08/stupid-gop-ben-carson-idea-debt-limit.html) > [@](#): > > Carson: Let me put it this way: if I were the president, I would not sign an increased budget. Absolutely would not do it. They would have to find a place to cut. > > Ryssdal: To be clear, it’s increasing the debt limit, not the budget, but I want to make sure I understand you. You’d let the United States default rather than raise the debt limit. > Carson: No, I would provide the kind of leadership that says, “Get on the stick guys, and stop messing around, and cut where you need to cut, because we’re not raising any spending limits, period.” Moronic on a Palinesque scale. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/199 "2015-10-08T14:50:35Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Apparently [Ben Carson doesn’t understand what the debt limit is.](http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/08/stupid-gop-ben-carson-idea-debt-limit.html) > > Moronic on a Palinesque scale. Yeah, I was just getting ready to post about this. [Here](http://www.marketplace.org/topics/elections/full-interview-dr-ben-carson-economy)is a transcript of Carson’s full interview with Kai Ryssdal on _Marketplace_ (which, by the way, is a damned awesome business/economics program). The interview also includes this gem: > [@Marketplace](#): > > **Ryssdal** : Yes. You keep saying we’re doing things in the government we don’t need to do, but when I ask you what you’re gonna stop doing, you don’t tell me. > > **Carson** : Because you don’t understand the concept of what I’m talking about. The concept of across the board cutting of fat, because there’s so much of it in so many different departments. > > **Ryssdal** : So will we stop health services for the poor? Will we stop supplementing nutrition programs? Will we stop corporate tax breaks? Will we stop the offshoring of corporate profits? Those kinds of things. What are we gonna stop? > > **Carson** : See that’s what certain people always say. They come out and they pick things, and they say, particularly they try to pick things that, you know, might upset people. You remember a couple of years ago? “Well if we can shut down White House tours, and we can close the national parks, and we can do this.” You know, whatever you can do to get people’s emotions stirred up. And what I’m talking about is across-the-board everything. You cannot convince me that there isn’t any department that is completely 100 percent efficient and you can’t find fat. So, an across-the-board 3-4% budget cut of _everything_, right? Defense, veterans, border enforcement, the whole shebang? ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554/200 "2015-10-08T14:50:44Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > Apparently [Ben Carson doesn’t understand what the debt limit is.](http://www.politicususa.com/2015/10/08/stupid-gop-ben-carson-idea-debt-limit.html) > > Moronic on a Palinesque scale. You might want to re-think your description. . . . You obviously can’t grasp the fact that Carson is calling for spending cuts in order to avoid bumping into the debt limit in the first place. Ryssdal says, “You’d let the United States default,” and Carson says “No.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554.md?page=9) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ben-carson-for-president-thread/729554.md?page=11)