On November 4, 2015 Ben Carson released the following statement via Facebook, and I apologize for difference in appearance as I had to screen grab this message in three separate photos and then crop them to past here. Anyway, the point of this exercise will be to laugh at most of this, because if you're laughing, you're not sad.
Ok, first....
"Tonight, going through all of your questions, I wanted to touch on a few issues that seem to be asked by many people."
If you actually read through all of that, God Bless you, but you probably noticed, he failed to address a single fucking question or issue of any significance or realistic concern. So, this was pointless, and should have in no way inspired any greater confidence in this man's ability to Govern than we've had as he's rambled on comparing homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality. But pointlessness has never stopped our good friend, Ben.
"I would like to deal with one question tonight in some detail. The issue is experience. Several people ask what they should tell their friends when people say “I like Carson but he has no political experience”.
You are absolutely right — I have no political experience. The current Members of Congress have a combined 8,700 years of political experience. Are we sure political experience is what we need. Every signer of the Declaration of Independence had no elected office experience."
Wrong! As the Huffington Post was quick to point out (here), "Thirteen of the 56 signers did not hold elected office before being elected to the Second Continental Congress in 1775,” Wagner said. “But most of them were good ol’ career politicians.". Swing and a miss! Not a strong start for the good doctor. Let's see if he recovers.
"What they had was a deep belief that freedom is a gift from God. They had a determination to rise up against a tyrannical King. They were willing to risk all they had, even their lives, to be free. Today we find ourselves with an entire class of politicians. No one in Philadelphia, during that summer our nation was born, dreamed that service was a career with a pension. America was the land of the Citizen Statesmen. They were merchants, lawyers, farmers — and yes, even doctors. They were willing to stand for freedom. Today, the political class stands in the way, not for the people. They demand pensions and perks. This is not what our Founders envisioned for America."
The first two sentences here are almost contradictory. Freedom, as the early settlers viewed it, was not something that was going to be gifted from God, because that's not how reality works, so it required the determination to risk their lives, rising up against a tyrannical King. Which, it should be stated, was as much about freedom from paying taxes without colonial representation in the British Parliament than anything, as upon arrival in the colonies, they were already afforded religious freedom, and so on.
The second part of this, is again, false. The way our current system of Government operates is exactly how our Founders envisioned it, because they designed it that way. The sense we have of our society being, and having been designed to be, in the dictionary definition, a democratic society, is incorrect. If you actually read the works dating back to the earliest modern democratic revolutions of the 17th Century through the Modern period, you'll find the prevailing idea of a properly functioning democracy is one where a small population, the elite, have to take an active role in running general affairs as the common interests can only be understood and managed by a specialized class of responsible, intellectual men, because, as Walter Lippmann stated, "the common interests elude public opinion entirely". Again, to quote Lippmann, the remaining citizens, the majority, their function in a democracy was to be "spectators, not participants, in action". Noam Chomsky explained, "Occasionally they are allowed to lend their weight to one or the other member of the specialized class, because it's a democracy and not a totalitarian state. But once they've elected their leader, they're supposed to sink back and become spectators of action, not participants." That's how it was designed, and that's what we're getting. All he's doing is perpetuating this idea of our American democratic society that is often mentioned, but never really existed. I guess there's an element of blind faith required to believe in that too.
"I spent my life treating very ill children. Over 15,000 times I gave my all to prolong their lives. I was blessed to do it. But when it came time for me to retire, I simply could not sit back any longer. These children became my family. What our government is doing to them is outrageous. I am prepared to risk all that I have to try and make a difference in their future. I built one of the nation’s best medical centers. I served for two decades on the boards of Costco and Kellogg. I built a national scholarship program."
The first part of this is actually commendable. Using whatever gifts or talents you have to treat others is worthy of praise.
Then he says, "what our Government is doing to them is outrageous". I don't have any clue what that means. Knowing his foreign policy stances, views on police violence, the war on drugs, economics, and so on, I can't imagine he's talking about sending them to fight in wars for profit, institutionalized racism, the private prison industry, wealth inequality. I think he might actually be pissed off about healthcare, which is a bit ironic from a guy who just spent a paragraph congratulating himself for his accomplishments in treating children's medical needs, but who the fuck knows.
The last bit is masturbation. I'm a four-time Fantasy Baseball Champion. I'm good at Yahtzee. I ran a frozen foods department. My car is paid off.
"My experience is very different than what we have come to expect. I grew up poor. I know what it is like to be homeless and hungry. I know the pain of poverty."
But now I'm rich, so get busy praying, bitches. You'll get no entitlements from me. Just some encouragement in words of Nat 'King' Cole.
"Pick yourself up,
Take a deep breath,
Dust yourself off.
And start all over again"
"I know what it is like to see water fountains you are not allowed to drink out of because of your skin color. I also know that once you peal back the skin, the brain is the same no matter what your skin color or continent you live on."
Says one of the most aggressive anti-LGBT candidates in the race.
"I know my faith is strong and my ego is small."
Says the guy with the no political experience, who's running because his ideas alone are so profoundly brilliant, they just might save this once great Nation.
"Bill Clinton was famous for saying “I feel your pain” — well, I have walked in your shoes."
Is that was Bill Clinton was famous for? Because if you asked me, what's Bill Clinton famous for? "I feel your pain" would never have come up.
"I do not have political experience, I have a life journey. A journey that not only made it possible for me to relate to so many different people, but also one where time and time again I was told I would fail, only to succeed."
Yeah, that's super unique. If that qualifies you for the Presidency, then 150-million people just became as qualified as you.
"My candidacy is different, that I grant you. I have neither Donald Trump’s money or Jeb Bush’s political network. However, I would trade a single child I treated for all of Trump’s money."
Yes, I quoted that last sentence exactly correct. He claimed he would trade a single child for all of Trump's money, which frankly, sounds like a bad deal for Trump. You'd have to think all of Trump's money could buy more than a single child. One who's had his brain operated on by Dr. Frankenstein over here, no less.
Seriously though, getting the money out of politics is an important issue. If we want to live in a society where our democracy more closely resembles the dictionary version than the one previously discussed, there needs to be an overhaul to the entire system. Guys like Trump and Carson are right, it is important for a candidate to not be indebted to the largest financial contributors to their campaigns, but that doesn't mean anything if all of your policy suggestions are already in exact agreement with those of the specialized class.
"While I admire the Bush family’s dedication to service, I too served — nights, weekends, holidays, birthdays and anniversaries with severely injured patients were my public service."
Ok, dickhead. Not only is the Bush family a bunch of war criminals, but their dedication to service was lying to the entire World, asking our young men and women to sacrifice their lives to further US business interests in several different regions. And at some point, you can't refer to what you did as service, in the same vein as military service, when you're being handsomely rewarded for your work, at very little personal risk and sacrifice. If that's the case, then we're all serving. NOT. THE. SAME. FUCKING. THING.
"I have experienced the American Dream. No where in the world, other than America, could a man whose ancestors were slaves, rise to become a leading brain surgeon and one day seek the Office of President."
Except Greece, Portugal, Brazil, All of Africa (most notably North Africa), Turkey, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Great Britain, Ireland, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Haiti, China, Spain, Cuba, The Netherlands, Algeria, Germany, France, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia. Basically everywhere. More and more perpetuation of this idea of American Exceptionalism that isn't in conjunction with reality. In fact, excpetionalism isn't even exceptional. It's ordinary, as it's been the belief of every Nation ever known. Doc is peddling more bullshit.
"The very fact that I am running is testament to the greatness of America. If all you want is political experience then I cannot be your candidate.
Thank you for staying up with me.
Goodnight,
Ben"
Go to bed, Doctor. We're all tired.
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