He insists that leaders can come from any background. Raised in poverty in Detroit by a semi-literate mother who was one of 24 children, he succeeded because of his faith in God and his mother’s insistence that he study hard and not accept his disadvantages as permanent. When he was 15, he almost stabbed a friend to death in a fit of anger. He went home, locked himself in a bathroom, and prayed to God to remove his anger before it prevented him from realizing his dreams of becoming a doctor. He has never had an issue with his temper since.
When asked what he thinks are the biggest obstacles facing the country, Carson singles out political correctness and the “deliberate dumbing down of our public schools.” He says, “Our schools too often want to shut people up so they can’t talk about real solutions. People who think differently tend to clam up because they think something is wrong with their ideas.” Another problem is people who indiscriminately accuse others of racism or sexism. “Illogical thinkers throw names and slurs around because they have no arguments with which to rebut their opponents,” he tells me. “Rational people have to keep hammering their points home.”
Honesty and political correctness have never gotten along, which is precisely the reason the lefty talking heads were exploding after Carson’s National Prayer Breakfast speech.
Also, for you social media types out there, the good doctor is now on Twitter:
Today I’ve officially joined the twitterverse.
— Dr. Ben Carson (@RealBenCarson) February 15, 2013
It’s pretty obvious the gentleman is contemplating getting into politics, so the Palinization will begin at dawn.
As others have said, Mr. Carter, like everybody, has some things he doesn’t really want other people to know about. The criminals will find them and exploit them. His career as a good and decent person who is widely respected for what he does and who he is, is about to come to a rude conclusion. Herman Cain. Nuff said.
Not fighting back doesn’t make it stop either. Neither does being the closest thing to a saint. Mitt Romney. Nuff said.
We need some assholes who now how to get dirty. Ted Cruz looks like one at the moment. After a enough roughnecks, it might be safe for some Ben Carters to emerge.
I’m of two minds about this. He has been given an incredible gift as a surgeon, should we want to waste that gift in politics just because he seems like an honorable man?
I suspect Dr. Carson is retiring from active neurosurgery because at 61, he realizes his manual dexterity is not what it once was. There will be young genius surgeons to take his place in that field. I would say if Dr. Carson can instill his ideas into the political dialogue with any degree of success he will have an historic impact. We desperately need his ideas to take root, for we are doomed as a society and great country w/o them.
Maybe it’s his judgement that should count here? Having said that, it’s grasping at straws to assume he can be a game changer overnight. So far the buzz on him isn’t that much more widespread than Clint’s awesome dialogue with an empty chair at the Republican convention. That moment seemed to be a game-changer, too, but then wasn’t.