# So tell me about Ben Carson... **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [December 2, 2014, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154 "2014-12-02T19:11:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 18
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/341 "2015-04-10T04:08:57Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > [Ben Carson’s diary](http://www.theonion.com/articles/why-do-all-these-homosexuals-keep-sucking-my-cock,10861/) (NSFW text [The Onion]). Knock it off. If you’re going to cite the Onion, at least cite something about Carson, not random _faux_ gay bashing. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/342 "2015-04-10T04:11:14Z")
Quite true. But I would like to see an obviously unqualified individual take coaching well enough to make it a kind of performance art, expose the political game for what it is. Carson’s smart enough to pull that off. It would be nice for a change for the media to step out of the horse race mentality for a moment and say, “Man, this guy Ben Carson, he sure sounds good, but it’s all the work of handlers, there’s nothing there.” Of course, I’m probably being too optimistic to expect them to hold any other politician to that standard. Becuase it’s not like he’s the only guy out there who needs handlers to keep from looking like he has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s a heck of a lot smarter than 90% of politicians, he just hasn’t yet learned the skill of staying on script and avoiding questions he can’t answer. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/343 "2015-04-10T12:46:28Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Quite true. But I would like to see an obviously unqualified individual take coaching well enough to make it a kind of performance art, expose the political game for what it is. Carson’s smart enough to pull that off. It would be nice for a change for the media to step out of the horse race mentality for a moment and say, “Man, this guy Ben Carson, he sure sounds good, but it’s all the work of handlers, there’s nothing there.” Of course, I’m probably being too optimistic to expect them to hold any other politician to that standard. Becuase it’s not like he’s the only guy out there who needs handlers to keep from looking like he has no idea what he’s talking about. He’s a heck of a lot smarter than 90% of politicians, he just hasn’t yet learned the skill of staying on script and avoiding questions he can’t answer. What makes you think Carson is smart? I haven’t seen any indication that he’s intelligent in any field besides medicine. In fact, from what I’ve seen, he’s positively unintelligent – uncurious, ignorant, and foolish – in the fields of politics and history. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/344 "2015-04-10T14:17:41Z")
[Carson takes a bold stand against selfies.](http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/ben-carson-selfies-116813.html) He sounds just like every other retired, bored crank writing letters to the editor, he really does. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2015, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/345 "2015-04-10T16:51:56Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I’m going to make a prediction. Drum roll, please… > > Ben Carson will be a MUCH better candidate by fall than he is now and will win at least 300 delegates. Rick Santorum won 267 in 2012. Rick Santorum is just as extreme on social issues as Carson, but is a more experienced politician, only with pretty much no accomplishments and a very uninspiring biography. Carson should easily be able to outdo him. $20 says Carson won’t win 300 delegates. Deal? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/346 "2015-04-11T03:54:20Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > What makes you think Carson is smart? I haven’t seen any indication that he’s intelligent in any field besides medicine. In fact, from what I’ve seen, he’s positively unintelligent – uncurious, ignorant, and foolish – in the fields of politics and history. Carson was the youngest head of Johns Hopkins’ pediatric neurosurgery department. Brain surgery is considered a supergenius specialty for a reason. He’s ignorant in history and politics because he hasn’t applied himself to those fields yet. We’ll find out how smart he is though. He’s got six months or so to figure it out before things get serious. I hope he succeeds, if only to hear his detractors say, “But… But… six months ago he said X! He’s just covering up his true beliefs and being coached by experts!” Well yeah, just like every other politician. Now what are we going to do about that? ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/347 "2015-04-11T04:15:42Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > $20 says Carson won’t win 300 delegates. Deal? No. I’d be very poor if I bet based on my predictions vs. nothing. But I will bet on my prediction vs. your prediction. Give me a number of delegates you think he is likely to win and winner is who comes closer. If he drops out before the primaries, then neither of us win. Since he is undeclared, rather than going to the trouble of trying to be the candidate I think he’s capable of being, he might just decide he’d rather do something else, like take a Fox News gig. But if he is in this for real, then I think he can outperform Rick Santorum’s 2012 performance. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/348 "2015-04-11T07:08:52Z")
ACtually, I’ll make it simple. Carson will get at least 300 delegates if he’s an active candidate when the iowa caucuses occur. So he has to drop out of the race(or win it) with at least 300 delegates in order for me to win, or less than 300 in order for you to win. If he drops out or suspends his campaign without ever having competed in Iowa, the bet is just void. Deal? ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/349 "2015-04-11T12:23:39Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Carson was the youngest head of Johns Hopkins’ pediatric neurosurgery department. Brain surgery is considered a supergenius specialty for a reason. He’s ignorant in history and politics because he hasn’t applied himself to those fields yet. We’ll find out how smart he is though. He’s got six months or so to figure it out before things get serious. I hope he succeeds, if only to hear his detractors say, “But… But… six months ago he said X! He’s just covering up his true beliefs and being coached by experts!” Well yeah, just like every other politician. Now what are we going to do about that? That sounds pretty pathetic to me – “sure, he’s an idiot right now in major subjects that _every adult should be moderately knowledgeable on_, but that’s just because he hasn’t tried yet”. If I hold him to the standard of “American adult with a degree”, he’s an ignorant, uncurious idiot. ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/350 "2015-04-11T12:43:51Z")
I would really, really dispute that the average adult is moderately knowledgable about the things he’s gotten wrong. Plus he got one thing right: he knew there were three Baltic Republics. Wish he’d known they were in NATO, but at least he remembered something from his days studying geography at Yale, that school that produces mainly morons. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/351 "2015-04-11T13:03:03Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I would really, really dispute that the average adult is moderately knowledgable about the things he’s gotten wrong. That’s not what I’m saying – I’m saying I’m holding him up to the standard of what an average, educated adult _should_ know. I’m well aware that many or most Americans wouldn’t meet this standard… but a presidential candidate should. That Carson doesn’t speaks extremely poorly of him – despite being a lot older, and with a lot more advanced education, than me, he’s much, much more ignorant than me. That’s pathetic for a presidential candidate. > [@](#): > > Plus he got one thing right: he knew there were three Baltic Republics. Wish he’d known they were in NATO, but at least he remembered something from his days studying geography at Yale, that school that produces mainly morons. This makes it worse, not better. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/352 "2015-04-11T13:13:52Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > I would really, really dispute that the average adult is moderately knowledgable about the things he’s gotten wrong. Even if so, should the President be no more knowledgeable, curious, and intellectually active than an average adult, if that? Hint: We’ve already tried that. We’re still cleaning up the mess. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/353 "2015-04-11T22:06:48Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > . . . at Yale, that school that produces mainly morons. You should not be so hard on GWB. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2015, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/354 "2015-04-11T22:43:24Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > You should not be so hard on GWB. Who is smarter than the average American, to be sure, smart enough to earn an MBA; but much dumber than the average POTUS. His record shows how dangerous it is to let a even a pretty-good-but-subpar mind have that much power. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2015, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/355 "2015-04-17T17:33:14Z")
Even well-regarded doctors can go astray: [http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/16/physicians-want-dr-oz-gone-from-columbia-medical-faculty/21173259/?ncid](http://www.aol.com/article/2015/04/16/physicians-want-dr-oz-gone-from-columbia-medical-faculty/21173259/?ncid) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/356 "2015-07-23T13:17:34Z")
[Ben Carson thinks prison is too comfy.](http://www.salon.com/2015/07/22/ben_carson_thinks_prison_is_too_comfy_i_was_flabbergasted_by_the_accommodations/) ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/357 "2015-07-24T03:02:48Z")
It is and it isn’t. Tons of money is spent on things prisoners don’t need, and not enough on what they do(safety). Doesn’t mean Carson’s right, but our prisons suck for stupid reasons. For example, why cable TV but shitty food? Why a computer room but uncomfortable beds? It’s like on one hand we’re trying to keep a traditional idea of what a spartan prison should be while on the other trying to move past it, while fully accomplishing neither. And most importantly, why do we not only let prisoners rape each other, but even consider it appropriate to wish prison rape on convicts? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/358 "2015-07-24T13:18:46Z")
Who is “we”? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![adaher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@adaher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/adaher)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/359 "2015-08-13T03:27:49Z")
Might as well bump this thread, since two state polls show him with a nice bump from the debate: [http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest\_polls/](http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/latest_polls/) He’s 2nd in Iowa, 3rd in Michigan. Which means he’s 1st in Iowa, 2nd in Michigan, since Trump is still not building an actual campaign. Carson is. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2015, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154/360 "2015-08-13T20:09:25Z")
Carson, who is one of the most virulent Planned Parenthood attackers, has been proven to be a hypocrite, since [he has used fetal tissue in his own research](http://gawker.com/ben-carson-gives-himself-permission-to-use-fetal-tissue-1723902158?). However, that’s different, because he wasn’t the one killing the babies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154.md?page=17) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-tell-me-about-ben-carson/706154.md?page=19)