# Would you rather have Ben Carson as president right now? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [January 4, 2018, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867 "2018-01-04T20:40:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/41 "2018-01-05T18:07:19Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > With Trump I feel he doesn’t even care that he’s doing a terrible job. You are being too generous. I don’t think he’s _aware_ he’s doing a terrible job. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/42 "2018-01-05T21:54:56Z")
Obama said he couldn’t bypass Congress and enact DACA thru executive order, and then bypassed Congress and enacted DACA thru executive order. _:shrugs:_ You can lead a horse to water… Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/43 "2018-01-05T23:01:46Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > I think we were talking past each other. When I said “Obama said several times that the president did NOT have that power”, the “that power” I was referring to was the power to enact the DREAM Act via executive order. > > [source](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2011/04/29/remarks-president-miami-dade-college-commencement) > > [source](https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/obama-daca-dreamers_us_58593f7ce4b0b3ddfd8ea15b) He didn’t “enact the Dream Act”. That’s why Trump can reverse it without going through Congress. Nowhere in your quote does he say he can’t set enforcement priorities. He made that clearer in your earlier cites, where he said stuff like: > [@](#): > > With respect to the notion that I can just suspend deportations through executive orders, that’s just not the case, because there are laws on the books that Congress has passed - and I know that everybody here at Bell is studying hard, so you know that we’ve got three branches of government. Congress passes the law. The executive branch’s job is to enforce and implement those laws. And then the judiciary has to interpret the laws. > > “There are enough laws on the books that are very clear in terms of how we enforce our immigration system that for me to, simply through executive order, ignore these constitutional mandates would not conform with my appropriate role as president. That does not mean, though, that we can’t make decisions, for example, to emphasize enforcement on those who’ve engaged in criminal activity.” If you want to catch Obama on a hypocritical aspect of constitutional law as it applies to the presidency, you’re better off focusing on what he said about the use of force against foreign powers. ---
**Author:** ![HurricaneDitka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/96bed5/32.png) [@HurricaneDitka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HurricaneDitka)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/44 "2018-01-05T23:08:58Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > He didn’t “enact the Dream Act”. That’s why Trump can reverse it without going through Congress. Nowhere in your quote does he say he can’t set enforcement priorities. He made that clearer in your earlier cites, where he said stuff like: > > If you want to catch Obama on a hypocritical aspect of constitutional law as it applies to the presidency, you’re better off focusing on what he said about the use of force against foreign powers. _shrug_ it’s done now, Trump fixed it, so it’s not terribly relevant anymore. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/45 "2018-01-05T23:45:18Z")
> [@HurricaneDitka](#): > > _shrug_ it’s done now, Trump fixed it, so it’s not terribly relevant anymore. Trump hasn’t done anything yet wrt deporting folks. We’ll see when he starts deporting some of the Dreamers. Will that be before or after he keeps Transsexuals out of the military? ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2018, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/46 "2018-01-05T23:59:45Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Trump hasn’t done anything yet wrt deporting folks. We’ll see when he starts deporting some of the Dreamers. Will that be before or after he keeps Transsexuals out of the military? Before transexuals, after ‘The Wall’, and in between the seventh and eighth hole at Mar-A-Lago, if Putin will let him. And then he’ll have a big beautiful piece of chocolate cake to reward himself for working so hard. Trump is like a Marx Brothers film come to life, while Carson is kind of a really drowsy Charlie Chaplin. Which I guess makes Ted Cruz a Hammer vampire film. I had a point when I began this but it has since escaped like Paul Newman from a Florida prison farm. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/47 "2018-01-06T00:09:56Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > I had a point when I began this but it has since escaped like Paul Newman from a Florida prison farm. Which candidate made you feel the most like you had just eaten 50 hard-boiled eggs? ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/48 "2018-01-06T00:17:52Z")
Can we not hijack this into arguing about Obama? I know all Negroes look alike to some people, but come on! Oh, Ditka? [Pit.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=20705860#post20705860) ---
**Author:** ![vivalostwages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d07c76/32.png) [@vivalostwages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vivalostwages)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/49 "2018-01-06T00:29:42Z")
> [@Happy\_Lendervedder](#): > > I think he’d be just as incompetent, just lower key. Less sizzle. We’d be bored into complacency by his sleepiness and hushed tones. Y’ know, I’m convinced that Carson performed a lobotomy on himself years ago and just doesn’t remember it. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/50 "2018-01-06T00:39:27Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Which candidate made you feel the most like you had just eaten 50 hard-boiled eggs? He wasn’t a candidate, but whenever Jeff Sessions is speaking I get flashbacks of Strother Martin. [“I wish you’d stop bein’ so good to me, Captain.”](https://youtu.be/452XjnaHr1A) Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/51 "2018-01-06T00:42:21Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Can we not hijack this into arguing about Obama? I know all Negroes look alike to some people, but come on! First - I agree, please everyone drop the hijack about Obama. I’m not sure what DACA or DAPA has to do with the question of Carson v. Trump. Second - please dial back the faux racism. I think you’re joking, but they can’t all be winners. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/52 "2018-01-06T01:35:53Z")
I would choose Carson over Trump, I would have picked pretty much every candidate but one over Trump. Only Ted Cruz would be worse. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/53 "2018-01-06T01:39:16Z")
Getting back to the OP: my answer is "Hell, yeah. " To quote PJ O’Rourke, Carson may be wrong, but he’s wrong within normal parameters. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/54 "2018-01-06T02:22:00Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > I would choose Carson over Trump, I would have picked pretty much every candidate but one over Trump. Only Ted Cruz would be worse. You just made Ted Cruz cry. I mean, he would if he could figure out how to emulate emotions of the living. > [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > To quote PJ O’Rourke, Carson may be wrong, but he’s wrong within normal parameters. Dude, Carson defines abnormal. The dude is one standard deviation away from being proof of extraterrestrial life. He’s the guy the _Left Behind_ fans think is “kinda out there”. He’s basically on his own coordinate system beyond that of space and time. The ghost of Rod Serling is his advance man. If you entered a portal into his brain you’d be deposited around a black hole somewhere in the constellation of Cygnus. I’m not sure how Carson would handle North Korea, or immigration reform, or the opiod crisis, but I’m morally sure that his solutions with have the singular virtue of not only never having been tried bit not even comprehensible to a rational person. And yet, the SDA contingent would still vote for him right down the line. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/55 "2018-01-06T02:59:40Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Getting back to the OP: my answer is "Hell, yeah. " > > To quote PJ O’Rourke, Carson may be wrong, but he’s wrong within normal parameters. He said that about HRC, not Carson. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/56 "2018-01-06T03:54:01Z")
So, Stranger On A Train, you’re saying that Carson is a couple of Cuils away from a typical candidate. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/57 "2018-01-06T05:10:10Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Before transexuals, after ‘The Wall’, and in between the seventh and eighth hole at Mar-A-Lago, if Putin will let him. And then he’ll have a big beautiful piece of chocolate cake to reward himself for working so hard. > > Trump is like a Marx Brothers film come to life, while Carson is kind of a really drowsy Charlie Chaplin. Which I guess makes Ted Cruz a Hammer vampire film. > > I had a point when I began this but it has since escaped like Paul Newman from a Florida prison farm. > > Stranger Man do I need a Like button. I literally got every reference you made. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/58 "2018-01-06T11:33:46Z")
Carson would be just as bad, and in some ways worse. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/59 "2018-01-06T13:29:28Z")
> [@asahi](#): > > Carson would be just as bad, and in some ways worse. Would he be rattling sabres with the fellow madman in N. Korea? Would he be spewing all over twitter all the time? I mean the cabinet of evil might have been similar but I think the individual actions would be more subdued at least. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2018, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867/60 "2018-01-06T13:44:34Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Would he be rattling sabres with the fellow madman in N. Korea? Would he be spewing all over twitter all the time? I mean the cabinet of evil might have been similar but I think the individual actions would be more subdued at least. You’re addressing Trump’s optics, which are probably a valid distinction to make. But in terms of substance, I doubt that Ben Carson would be necessarily any better. Instead of someone pandering to religious ideologues and other types of extremists, we would, in fact, have a religious ideologue - and an anti-Muslim, anti-gay, and anti-minority one at that. And no, the fact that Ben Carson is black wouldn’t make him much less anti-minority, either. Maybe a little less anti-black, I suppose, but like Clarence Thomas, Carson seems to have contempt for blacks who aren’t wealthy like he is. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-rather-have-ben-carson-as-president-right-now/805867.md?page=4)