Carson imploding Nov 23^rd

We begin with Dr. Ben Carson: He has taken a sudden and well deserved drop in the polls. Just today the New York Times had a front page article about his remarkable surgical abilities. He has been indefatigable in the operating room doing far more surgeries than most other surgeons of equivalent stature. And getting very good outcomes in cases other surgeons refused to take. His quiet unassuming manner helped to make other medical professionals see him as a truly noble figure.

As a surgeon he was always well known to be very religious. He would regularly pray before entering the surgical theater. Attitudes toward him began to change after his remarks at a prayer breakfast, remarks which were considered by many to be insulting to the President. The medical community that had so revered him was shocked by his comments about vaccinations being given too close together. Some laudatory awards were cancelled.

Now, after surging well ahead of Donald Trump in Iowa where Trump’s remark about “eating his little cracker” didn’t go over well with the fundamentalists, Carson’s poll numbers have taken a dive. This is not a surprising development: Carson has made some comments that do not reflect well on his chances to lead the country. First, he is badly upset by what he considers excessive political correctness. Political correctness can be carried to extremes but in its typical role it is no more than an effort to be considerate toward the sensitivities of others; hardly objectionable for someone professing a Christian ethic. Then we have his uncharitable comment about Muslims in which he compares Muslim refugees to mad dogs running loose. There have been other comments such as suggesting that Joseph constructed the Egyptian pyramids to store grain and suggesting, with an apparent straight face, that evolution is a myth created by the Devil to mock God.

Most recently he professes bewilderment that his foreign policy comments have not earned him any status in that arena. He claims that he has said over and over that “we should fight them over there so that we don’t have to fight them over here.” He tells us that other candidates have picked this phrase up from him but that the biased media does not credit him with originating it. The obtuseness of that remark requires no comment from me.

Finally we discover that Carson stands to earn a million dollars just this year just from his book sales. Then there are speaker fees that allow him to charge about 50 thousand dollars an appearance; five or six of those speaking dates a year will cover most of his taxes on the book royalties. Who says you can’t get rich running for President?