Ben Carson, meet Brian Williams?

[IGotWorms 4,063]

http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/05/politics/ben-carson-2016-childhood-violence/index.html

 

Ben Carson, the soft-spoken, Yale-educated brain surgeon who has surged in the GOP presidential race, has written and spoken powerfully of divine intervention at several pivotal moments in his life.

 

At the core of his narrative of spiritual redemption are his acts of violence as an angry young man stabbing, rock throwing, brick hurling and baseball bat beating that preceded Carson's sudden transformation into the composed figure who stands before voters today.

 

In his 1990 autobiography, "Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story," Carson describes those acts as flowing from an uncontrollable "pathological temper." The violent episodes he has detailed in his book, in public statements and in interviews, include punching a classmate in the face with his hand wrapped around a lock, leaving a bloody three-inch gash in the boy's forehead; attempting to attack his own mother with a hammer following an argument over clothes; hurling a large rock at a boy, which broke the youth's glasses and smashed his nose; and, finally, thrusting a knife at the belly of his friend with such force that the blade snapped when it luckily struck a belt buckle covered by the boy's clothes.

 

"I was trying to kill somebody," Carson said, describing the incident -- which he has said occurred at age 14 in ninth grade -- during a September forum at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.

 

But nine friends, classmates and neighbors who grew up with Carson told CNN they have no memory of the anger or violence the candidate has described.

 

That person is unrecognizable to those whom CNN interviewed, who knew him during those formative years.

 

All of the people interviewed expressed surprise about the incidents Carson has described. No one challenged the stories directly. Some of those interviewed expressed skepticism, but noted that they could not know what had happened behind closed doors.

 

Gerald Ware, a classmate at Southwestern High School said he was "shocked" to read about the violence in Carson's book.

 

"I don't know nothing about that," said Ware, who still lives in southwestern Detroit. "It would have been all over the whole school."

 

CNN was unable to independently confirm any of the incidents, which Carson said occurred when he was a juvenile.

Much more at the link...

 

"Gotcha journalism" or a fair line of inquiry?

[Bert 1,128]

Like every autobiography it is probably greatly exaggerated.

[KSB2424 3,174]

Why would you lie about being violent? Seems odd. It would seem like you'd lie about NOT being violent.

 

Either way, meh. Prolly just a bit of exaggeration.

 

One of my favorite bumper stickers I ever saw was: The older I get the better I was

[fandandy 3,314]

That would be some odd stuff to make up.

[Bert 1,128]

Why would you lie about being violent? Seems odd. It would seem like you'd lie about NOT being violent.

 

Either way, meh. Prolly just a bit of exaggeration.

 

One of my favorite bumper stickers I ever saw was: The older I get the better I was

Street cred so he can get the black vote

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Why would you lie about being violent? Seems odd. It would seem like you'd lie about NOT being violent.

 

Either way, meh. Prolly just a bit of exaggeration.

 

One of my favorite bumper stickers I ever saw was: The older I get the better I was

The story of redemption appeals to the Christian righties. Can't be redeemed if you never really strayed

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

He said he had prostrate surgery even though he claims his cancer was cured by that junk he was hawking, so he could set a good example. This should be over soon. Herman Cain part 2.

[NewbieJr 541]

The fact that the guy is a medical professional and pretends to not believe in evolution is enough for me to dismiss him.

[Bert 1,128]

He said he had prostrate surgery even though he claims his cancer was cured by that junk he was hawking, so he could set a good example. This should be over soon. Herman Cain part 2.

A Herman Cain/Dr. Oz combo is all kinds of crazy focked up.

[kilroy69 1,271]

He is a moron.

[Mike Honcho 5,518]

Ben Carson Releases Rap Targeted to Black Voters.

 

[KSB2424 3,174]

The fact that the guy is a medical professional and pretends to not believe in evolution is enough for me to dismiss him.

 

I had not heard of this. On face value it does seem odd.

 

He goes into detail. Seems thought out, if a bit off the beaten path.

 

 

In an interview for the Discovery Institute, "ID the Future" host David Boze asked Carson, "What things come to mind when people ask you, why do you question the theory of materialist evolution?"

"Well, the first thing is, how does something come out of nothing?" said Carson, who has written more than 100 neurosurgical publications. "And the second thing is, how does life evolve from non-life? Which, if you want to talk about fairy tales, those are incredible fairy tales."

Boze also asked Carson how work on the human brain has influenced his thoughts on the issue of intelligent design.

Carson, who was the first surgeon to successfully separate twins conjoined at the head, said, "Well, just knowing how incredibly complex our brains are – billions of neurons, hundreds of billions of interconnections, the ability to process more than 2 million bits of information in one second. That is an amazingly complex organism."

"And to say that that just came about sort of randomly by various mutations over the course of time, when as I just said mutations tend to lead to degeneration rather than improvement, just doesn’t make any sense," said Dr. Carson. "So, the very things that they claim are evidence for evolution are the very things that damn the theory."

"And the other thing is there are no intermediate species," said Dr. Carson. "Where are they? It shouldn’t just evolve up to a certain point and then leap to the next species. There should be something in between at all given points of time, and there aren’t, and no one’s ever found them."

A little earlier in the interview, which took place in February 2013, host David Boze asked, "What about the diversity of life here. How has your examination of life here influenced your view on the theory of evolution and whether or not there’s an intelligent designer?"

Carson, who was the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and co-director of the Johns Hopkins Craniofacial Center, said, "Well, the evolutionists look at the similarities that you see in the various life forms and they say, because this creature and this creature share the same type of digestive system or the same type of structures in their head, that clearly one evolved from the other."

"I don’t know how clear that is," he said. "Because if you have an intelligent designer, why wouldn’t he use a basic structure that works on multiple different creatures? Just like an automobile manufacturer. General Motors, same basic chassis as Chevrolet, a Buick, a Pontiac, or a Cadillac. And yet, they’re all different. And one did not evolve from the other."

"And why would you have to go and completely change the motor, the chassis, and all the other infrastructure because you’re creating a different model?" said Carson. "That doesn’t make any sense to me. I think one of the most damning pieces of evidence against evolution is the human genome."

Continuing with his point about the human genome, Dr. Carson said, "You can see that you have a very complex, sophisticated coding mechanism for different amino acids and various sequences that give you millions of different genetic instruction – very much like computer programming, which uses a series of zeros and ones and different sequences, it gives you very specific information about what that computer is to do."

"Well this [human genome] is at least twice that complex," he said. "Instead of just 2 digits, we’ve got 4 digits, repeating in different sequences but always resulting in the same thing unless there is a mutation. And if there is a mutation, it tends to be toward degeneration rather than improvement."

Carson, 63, is married and has three children. Over the years he has been awarded numerous honors, including 38 honorary doctorate degrees, many national merit citations, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and in 2010 he was elected into the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine. His most recent New York Times best seller is One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America's Future.

 

 

[Mike Honcho 5,518]

 

I had not heard of this. On face value it does seem odd.

 

He goes into detail. Seems thought out, if a bit off the beaten path.

 

 

 

 

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson told graduates during a commencement address in the late ’90s that he believed the pyramids in Egypt were built by the biblical figure Joseph to store grain, and not, as most archeologists contend, as tombs for pharaohs. ... “My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain,” Carson said. “And when you look at the way that the pyramids are made, with many chambers that are hermetically sealed, they’d have to be that way for various reasons. And various of scientists have said, ‘Well, you know there were alien beings that came down and they have special knowledge and that’s how—’ you know, it doesn’t require an alien being when God is with you.”

 

"The likelihood of Hitler being able to accomplish his goals" during the Holocaust would've been "greatly diminished" if the Nazis had not previously instituted gun control.

Darwin's theory of evolution "was something that was encouraged by the adversary," aka the devil.

 

The U.S. is currently "very much like Nazi Germany."

 

Prison can make people gay.

 

Your health can be improved by the "glyconutrients" in vitamins sold by a multilevel marketing company called Mannatech.

 

 

He's a nut, HTH.

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

So this is looking like Trump vs Rubio now?

[KSB2424 3,174]

 

 

He's a nut, HTH.

 

Interesting stuff. Some of that smelled funny so I looked on factcheck and polticfact and snopes sites. Seems some are taken out of context and/or true, and some false.

 

 

 

Claim

In a recently discovered clip of an address given at Andrews University in Michigan in 1998, retired neurosurgeon and Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson claims that the Egyptian pyramids were constructed by the biblical Joseph to store huge quantities of grain and were not, as is commonly believed, tombs for the pharaohs.

Fact?

Carson’s claims seem to be drawn in part from Egyptologist Dr Wyatt Thom’s 1984 book Egypt Egypt Egypt. According to Thom, the pyramids were built to house grain, and mummified bodies were placed inside as scarecrows to keep birds away. If you’re wondering how that makes sense given that the pyramids are enclosed structures, Thom claims this is because you’re “hamstrung by a very modern conception of birds”.

Verdict: fact

 

 

Our ruling

Carson said, "A lot of people who go into prison straight, and when they come out they’re gay."

There is no research that supports this point. The one study that even begins to address the topic has too small a sample size -- and too many variables -- to shed light on Carson's claim. And its author finds Carson's view "simplistic."

Further, Carson used this example to prove that sexual orientation is a personal decision. Respected scientists consider it settled that homosexuality is not a matter of choice. Additionally, experts told us the sex culture in prison is not comparable to sex culture outside of prison, making it a bad analogy.

We rate Carson’s claim False.

 

 

 

 

(CNN) - Ben Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon and a popular figure among conservatives, compared the United States to the Third Reich in an interview.

Asked to elaborate on his previous comments about the U.S. living in "a Gestapo age," the conservative firebrand argued the country has become "very much like Nazi Germany."

 

"I know you're not supposed to say Nazi Germany, but I don't care about political correctness," he said in an interview Monday with the conservative news outlet Breitbart.

His comments came at the New York Meeting, a gathering of conservative politicians, journalists and business leaders.

Carson, who came in third in the GOP presidential nomination straw poll at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, has been a fierce critic of the administration on the IRS controversy. The tax agency admitted last year to scrutinizing conservative political groups, though it maintains the error was not done out of political bias.

"You had the government using its tools to intimidate the population," Carson said. "We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe."

"All of these things are combining to stifle people's conversations," he said.

He argued that if people "are afraid to talk," they'll never reach consensus and they'll grow further apart. "That's exactly what's happening, creating a horrible schism that will destroy our nation if we don't fix it."

 

Some, like the prison-ghey comment is false. Others are either technically correct or un-pc analogy that get people in tizzy. Meh. He seems like an unpolished politician who speaks his mind. I don't think he's a nut, he's just doesn't know how to play the game.

[Mike Honcho 5,518]

 

Interesting stuff. Some of that smelled funny so I looked on factcheck and polticfact and snopes sites. Seems some are taken out of context and/or true, and some false.

 

 

 

Meh, he seems to make bad analogies. Well not bad, but UN-PC one's.

 

what was was false? They are all without context so....

 

Pretty sure the pyramid one isn't true either.

 

ETA: I see you updated your post.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

So this is looking like Trump vs Rubio now?

Cruz will be in there as well

[KSB2424 3,174]

I think people come to their senses on Trump - Carson and a more sensible candidate comes out. I'm still holding out hope Kasich starts to gain steam. He is polling pretty good in NH.

 

Sheesh, who knows. I just can't stomach Trump as the nominee. And I'm not a huge fan of Cruz either. I guess its either Rubio or Kasich for me on the GOP side or else I'm a free agent.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

I think people come to their senses on Trump - Carson and a more sensible candidate comes out. I'm still holding out hope Kasich starts to gain steam. He is polling pretty good in NH.

 

Sheesh, who knows. I just can't stomach Trump as the nominee. And I'm not a huge fan of Cruz either. I guess its either Rubio or Kasich for me on the GOP side or else I'm a free agent.

I like those two guys (Rubio & Kasich) and would likely vote for either of them over Hillary. Only thing that concerns me with Rubio is his connection to certain wealthy financiers but that's just a matter of degree in this day and age

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

I like those two guys (Rubio & Kasich) and would likely vote for either of them over Hillary. Only thing that concerns me with Rubio is his connection to certain wealthy financiers but that's just a matter of degree in this day and age

I think Rubio is immature. Not because of his age, but because of his actions. He blows through a million dollars from his book, and then has to liquidate a retirement plan. Most mature people weather the hard times and leave the retirement alone. Speaks to him being reckless.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

I think Rubio is immature. Not because of his age, but because of his actions. He blows through a million dollars from his book, and then has to liquidate a retirement plan. Most mature people weather the hard times and leave the retirement alone. Speaks to him being reckless.

The flip side of that is he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth like most of these people, and that appeals to me

[Sho Nuff 720]

The flip side of that is he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth like most of these people, and that appeals to me

But he and Kasich won't go far enough right for the base to accept them. Rubio may.

 

Kasich just seems to be lining up to be a VP choice to rangle in the moderates.

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

The flip side of that is he wasn't born with a silver spoon in his mouth like most of these people, and that appeals to me

I guess, but once you get a million dollar windfall to go with your all expenses paid, six figure job, that kind of loses its cache to me.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

I guess, but once you get a million dollar windfall to go with your all expenses paid, six figure job, that kind of loses its cache to me.

A bit, but not entirely. A million bucks isn't sh1t to a fella like Mitt Romney, for example

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

A bit, but not entirely. A million bucks isn't sh1t to a fella like Mitt Romney, for example

Right, but if you come up without you should know what a million dollars will mean to your family. You don't go out and buy a boat. You do that after the second million. I am presently sans a boat. Or the first million

[Voltaire 5,506]

I'm kinda done with Ben Carson. I'm now back to hoping Carley isn't awful.

 

It's asking much to keep holding my breath for Kasich and Paul but that's still the best hope.

[KSB2424 3,174]

So MB won't vote for somebody who has any kind of money?

 

They all do. Have you guys seen Hillary's summer home? It's out of homes of the rich and famous.

 

But Rubio has a....wait for it....a boat. So we gotta cross him off the list as unelectable.

 

This place kills me sometimes. :facepalm:

[MDC 8,011]

I was really disappointed to learn that Ben Carson's "rap" doesn't actually feature him rapping at all. It's a bunch of Carson quotes with some other dude rapping a chorus. I did learn that Carson rhymes with awesome, so there's that.

 

I also registered Republican just so I can vote Trump in the PA primary, purely for the comedy factor and so I can tell my hippy MIL about it.

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

So MB won't vote for somebody who has any kind of money?

 

They all do. Have you guys seen Hillary's summer home? It's out of homes of the rich and famous.

 

But Rubio has a....wait for it....a boat. So we gotta cross him off the list as unelectable.

 

This place kills me sometimes. :facepalm:

When did I say that? You're stupid. Rubio bought a boat he could not afford. That's the problem. Did you read what I said about the second million?

[IGotWorms 4,063]

So MB won't vote for somebody who has any kind of money?

 

They all do. Have you guys seen Hillary's summer home? It's out of homes of the rich and famous.

 

But Rubio has a....wait for it....a boat. So we gotta cross him off the list as unelectable.

 

This place kills me sometimes. :facepalm:

MB is an idiot, pay him no mind

[KSB2424 3,174]

When did I say that? You're stupid. Rubio bought a boat he could not afford. That's the problem. Did you read what I said about the second million?

Dude. Do you work for CNBC?

 

This is a presidential election with things like ISIS, healthcare, energy, Syria, stagnant economy, social issues, on and on.

 

And you want to talk about a....boat. What's next, wanna ask Rubio about Fantasy Football?

 

If he drafted Jeremy Hill that shows poor decision making so Rubio is unfit to be President!$&@!

[RaiderHaters Revenge 4,576]

so what this article tells me is that Carson is actually Morgan

[Magnificent Bastard 192]

Dude. Do you work for CNBC?

 

This is a presidential election with things like ISIS, healthcare, energy, Syria, stagnant economy, social issues, on and on.

 

And you want to talk about a....boat. What's next, wanna ask Rubio about Fantasy Football?

 

If he drafted Jeremy Hill that shows poor decision making so Rubio is unfit to be President!$&@!

So his handling, I should say butchering, of his finances doesn't matter to you? Fair enough,they do to me. And spare me the "we have real issues to talk about" I didn't hear you complaining when at the fox debate the candidates were asked if they had received word form God about what to do, and somehow Rosie O'Donnels name got mentioned What does she have to do with Isis or the economy?

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Dude. Do you work for CNBC?

[Frank M 181]

Anybody who says the human genome, the greatest evidence for evolution on the planet, is actually evidence against evolution is either a religious nutbag with no real idea of how nature works or they're pandering for votes.

 

I think this guy is both.

 

But he's a black conservative Republican, that will keep him in the race way longer than his credentials would suggest he deserves.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Washington (CNN)Ben Carson slammed CNN's reporting into his past as a "bunch of lies" in a combative interview on Friday, strengthening his defense of his violent past that the media have thus far been unable to corroborate.

 

"This is a bunch of lies, that is what it is," Carson said on CNN's "New Day" when Alisyn Camerota asked about the report by Scott Glover and Maeve Reston in which they spoke to people Carson grew up with. "This is a bunch of lies attempting to say I'm lying about my history, I think it's pathetic, and basically what the media does is they try to get you distracted."

 

Camerota pushed back on Carson's argument that the reporters on the story did not talk to people who knew him earlier than high school, but Carson rejected that and launched into an aggressive attack on the media. He also accused the media of not doing the same with Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama.

 

"The vetting that you all did with President Obama doesn't even come close, doesn't even come close to what you guys are trying to do in my case, and you're just going to keep going back, 'He said this 12 years ago' -- it is just garbage," Carson said. "Give me a break."

 

The two journalists repeatedly approached the Carson campaign during their reporting and again before publication of the story. But the campaign staff declined to comment or to assist them in locating classmate or victims of violence who could provide insights about Carson's past.

 

On "New Day," Carson did not explain what aspects of the story he feels are incorrect.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

Carson has had a shifting explanation of why the stories cannot be corroborated since CNN published its findings on Thursday morning.

 

At first, he said CNN spoke only with people who knew him after his temper changed, but when he was informed that some of the interviewees knew him going back to elementary school and his early childhood, he said the incidents were private and that's why others weren't aware of them. He then returned to the earlier line Friday on CNN.

[KSB2424 3,174]

And so it begins. You know we are getting into an election year now. What used to be called a "vetting process" to ensure canidates are qualified is now a "lets dig up anything we can find to pander to the fringes to get ratings" has begun!

 

And I'm not even a Carson guy, but this is sorta stupid. It was the lead story on CNN last night and this morning. BEN CARSON WAS NOT QUITE AS VIOLENT AS HE SAID BACK WHEN HE WAS 12!@#!

 

I love it.

[IGotWorms 4,063]

And so it begins. You know we are getting into an election year now. What used to be called a "vetting process" to ensure canidates are qualified is now a "lets dig up anything we can find to pander to the fringes to get ratings" has begun!

 

And I'm not even a Carson guy, but this is sorta stupid. It was the lead story on CNN last night and this morning. BEN CARSON WAS NOT QUITE AS VIOLENT AS HE SAID BACK WHEN HE WAS 12!@#!

 

I love it.

I dunno, seems to me it may be relevant if the story he has used to sell himself to evangelical voters is a total lie. Generally I do agree with your premise though, and maybe it does apply here.

 

We were all so quick to tear down Brian Williams so why not Carson? Public trust is at least as important in a presidential candidate than a news anchor, if not more so

[KSB2424 3,174]

I dunno, seems to me it may be relevant if the story he has used to sell himself to evangelical voters is a total lie. Generally I do agree with your premise though, and maybe it does apply here.

 

We were all so quick to tear down Brian Williams so why not Carson? Public trust is at least as important in a presidential candidate than a news anchor, if not more so

 

As a Kasich guy, I've been waiting for this moment. For the media to find something, anything they can, on Trump and Carson to level the field. I knew they'd come through.....they always do. Secretly I'm happy about this.

 

But honestly, come on. A. We don't even know he was "lying". B. Nobody gives a fock if he was violent or not when he was in middle school that isn't pandering....that is absurd spin. C. This is really reaching man. Totally different than Brian Williams complete fabrication; if anything Carson may just have exaggerated something (rather small of not much significance) from 40 years ago. 99% of the population has done that.

 

I just don't see how this is a big deal, enough to lead on CNN. Seems they are really digging deep and it reeks of trying to hard. The people on the left that try and spin this out to mean something substantial are the same type of group that you guys called the "Birthers" on the right. Grasping at straws to discredit a person.

 

But, honestly, this may work for me. Hopefully they find something stupid on Trump next and we can backdoor Kasich into the top 3.