Dr. Ben Carson, who has
currently been auditioning for a role as the new Republican savior, got into very hot water recently after an appearance on Fox News in which he
seemingly compared same sex marriage to bestiality and pedophilia. After a few half-apologies, he's out with a fuller one, sent to the Johns Hopkins University community. Politico
obtained a copy:
“As you know, I have been in the national news quite a bit recently and my 36 year association with Johns Hopkins has unfortunately dragged our institution into the spotlight as well. I am sorry for any embarrassment this has caused,” wrote Carson, who is the director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. “But what really saddens me is that my poorly chosen words caused pain for some members of our community and for that I offer a most sincere and heartfelt apology. Hurting others is diametrically opposed to who I am and what I believe.” […]
“There are many lessons to be learned when venturing into the political world and this is one I will not forget. Although I do believe marriage is between a man and a woman, there are much less offensive ways to make that point. I hope all will look at a lifetime of service over some poorly chosen words,” he said.
The dean of the medical faculty today called Carson's remarks "
offensive", and a petition asking Carson to be removed as this year's commencement speaker had collected signatures from a "
majority of the graduating class". So far there's been no word on whether this newest apology will suffice.
This is the problem with auditioning for a role in the conservative movement: What the movement likes to hear is not what the rest of America likes to hear, and trying to balance the two so as to achieve "hero" status while somehow not being perceived as a mean-spirited crackpot by everyone else is an act only a scant few can manage. I wish Carson the best of luck, but I don't know that he's going to be able to pull that off any better than any of the other "saviors" who've come calling, only to be dragged down again when the same rhetoric that made them appealing to the hardcore base comes back to haunt them when exposed to a wider, less vitriol-obsessed audience.
