Watching the meteoric rise of Dr. Ben Carson in the polls is at the same time completely understandable, and completely baffling. Aaron Sorkin couldn't write a worse candidate that even the most jaded and engrossed in the suspension-of-disbelief political drama viewer would hesitate to take seriously. For starters, let's reexamine how Dr. Carson put himself on the political radar. At the 2013 National Prayer Breakfast, he used what is traditionally a mostly-ignored get together of influential politicians and non-political types to speak in general terms about philanthropic duties and so forth. Instead, he took the opportunity to bash Obama and froth about "moral decay and fiscal irresponsibility" (read: Too many rights for gays, entitlements for poor people). He cleverly followed this up with lamenting the evils of "political correctness" and the liberal media "putting a muzzle on people" (ostensibly with his right-wing blowhard ideals).
For a guy trying get his name on to the conservative political radar, it was a work of genius. First, use a nationally televised opportunity that's generally apolitical and subject to typical unwritten rules of decorum to take naked partisan political shots at the reviled sitting president and his non gay/poor-hating policies, then add in a bit about how the inevitably coming criticism for this blindside attack is unfair and "PC." 10 National Review editors and Cato Institute think-piecers couldn't have crafted a more perfect Tea Party/Fox News love letter, and it worked like charm.
Flash forward to today, and Dr. Carson finds himself approaching neck-and-neck status for the GOP Presidential nomination with another loud-mouthed, mean, callous political outsider (I needn't repeat his name). Followed closely behind the two of them is yet another of these types, this one female. Forgetting the other 2 "political outsiders" for a moment, let's take a hard look at exactly what kind of candidate Dr. Carson really is, and what a strong Ben Carson candidacy means for the Party.
Dr. Carson, is as we know by now, a brilliant retired pediatric neurosurgeon. Therefore it's safe to say he's a very, very smart guy. I've worked in neuroscience myself, with many neurosurgeons, and it might be necessary to state the obvious at this point. A person who is near the top of his or her field, even in one of the most advanced scientific fields in the world, isn't necessarily a genius in other fields. Some of the neurosurgeons I worked with would be hard-pressed to navigate a dinner party with any semblance of social competency, and would fail as spectacularly while challenging their 10 year old child in a game of Risk or Monopoly. In short: a brilliant brain surgeon might not make a brilliant presidential candidate.
To wit: It would seem Dr. Carson conflates the Debt Ceiling with federal budget, and doesn't quite grasp interest rates. Spoiler: They're very, very different things, and having a solid understanding of the latter is a tad bit important when presiding over the world's largest economy. To make matters worse, Dr. Carson doesn't seem to grasp how the separation of powers works, or the basics of what the Supreme Court does. (or perhaps this is better, in light of the fact that the POTUS nominates Supreme Court Justices. I wouldn't be so sure he's aware of that either).
But wait.. there's more! How about national security? Dr. Carson doesn't seem to know who the U.S.'s NATO allies are. That would seem to be a pretty important thing to have a handle on, particular as we are entering a neo-Red Scare era, with Putin clumsily flexing Russian military muscle in what will be inevitable quagmires. After all, last I checked the POTUS is the guy with his hands on the nuclear launch keys. I wonder if Dr. Carson is aware of that, however.
Now, putting aside for the moment Dr. Carson's stunning lack of insight into how the basics of the American economy, the budget, the judicial branch, or NATO work (as many GOP primary voters seemingly have) Dr. Carson is also a huge jerk, and a nutbag conspiracy theorist. At a time when more and more Americans are becoming accepting of gay couples and gay marriage, Dr. Carson is lurching in the opposite direction, whipping up some old fashion false connections and scare-mongering, like conflating gay people with child molesters and those who practice bestiality (an old right wing trick). Dr. Carson also doesn't seem to understand what rape is. This is clear from a bizarre exchange wherein Dr. Carson proclaimed that prison rape somehow proves homosexuality is a choice. It was so bizarre and tone deaf, he even apologized for this strange turn (he doesn't make a practice of apologizing for most of the bizarre shit he says).
Last but not least, Dr. Carson is a whack-job conspiracy theorist. While this isn't news for those of us who watched Republicans dig bunkers in Texas for Jade Helm '15 or arm themselves to the hilt anticipating the any-day-now Obama Martial Law gun-confiscation War, to espouse this zany shit as a legit major-party Presidential Candidate who's a close 2d in the polls is quite something to behold. Taking a page from Allen West, Dr. Carson has an eye on secret Marxists laying in wait to take down the U.S. Government. But as far as modern conservative conspiracy-mongering goes, this is lightweight stuff. More interestingly (and topical), Dr. Carson is pushing forward a theory that Planned Parenthood is part of some liberal-cum-Nazi conspiracy to abort lots of black babies. Who says the towering intellectual influence of Michele Bachmann is finally out of politics? This line of thinking doesn't hold up well when also decrying the health care liberals champion to keep lots of poor and black Americans alive at a much better rate than the conservative "let them die" health care plan.
But even that is old hat in modern conservative circles. Let's get to the good stuff. Dr. Carson has even floated the idea that President Obama will declare himself dictator and institute martial law to suspend elections and hold on to power past 2016. I guess someone actually did like the Star Wars prequels after all? Then there's this... A champion of "religious liberty" (i.e. a cover for discriminating against gay people) Dr. Carson doesn't feel this applies to Muslims, as their faith precludes them from holding the highest office, because, ironically, something something Article VI of the Constitution.
Not to stay out of the news for long by abstaining from saying tone-deaf asinine things, Dr. Carson jumped on the tragic Oregon community college massacre by decrying the idea of gun control (not surprising)then went a step further to suggest the victims maybe could have gone all action-movie and used themselves as bullet fodder, as he would have. Oddly, he then seemed to contradict this very idea, by saying he was once involved in a robbery at a Popeye's Chicken, where he bravely told the gunman to point the gun at a cashier rather than himself (There is some question as to whether this event actually ever happened).
If you've been following The Ben Carson candidacy from the beginning, none of this is terribly surprising. It has become clear to anyone paying attention that Dr. Carson's M.O. is to say inflammatory, ridiculous things, all under the over-arching premise of an Obama/liberal evil empire push-back in the vein of a World Net Daily series of "The end is Nigh" click-bait articles. Dr. Carson is the embodiment of that crazy, fringy, facts-be-damned narrative. And these sorts of candidates aren't necessarily a new thing. Tom Tancredo and Alan Keyes were once technically GOP presidential candidates too out on the fringes and extreme to be taken seriously. But now, well, it would seem times have changed.
Why yes, Dr. Carson is either a know-nothing nut job, with a tenuous grip on reality, and an even looser grip on the substance of the most important things a presidential candidate should have a firm grasp on, like, oh.... how the mechanics of the U.S. government actually works, how the budget actually operates, and just who the U.S.'s NATO allies actually are. Or, Dr. Carson is dutifully playing a role of know-nothing nut job, for the sake of a conservative voting block who finds all these aforementioned things likable. Hence Trump, Carson, and Fiorina currently claiming the top 3 spots in GOP primary polls, while career politicians like Jeb!, Rubio, Kasich, Paul, et al. flounder and find themselves very much on the outside looking in.
The problem is, once we're down to brass tacks, and the American Public actually starts paying attention to whom they might trust to lead the free world, wild-ass tales of Obama-led Illuminatis, gross ignorance of the very basics of the essential operation of government, and nasty, mean, divisive stances on gays and non-Christians probably aren't going to fly. To make matters worse, if say a Dr. Carson were to claim the GOP nomination, he would then be forced every day to defend his bizarro ideas on, well.. everything, and be forced to debate head-to-head a seasoned candidate on the other side who most certainly knows precisely what the Debt Ceiling is, and who is actually a member of NATO. This would not be a good look for Dr. Carson and the GOP. In fact, it's a horrifically terrible look right now, with the luxury of the fact that most Americans simply aren't even paying attention yet. Wait until the American public really gets a load of who Dr. Carson really is, and what he believes. I'll grab the popcorn.