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Sowell: The Ben Carson Flaps
Creators Syndicate ^ | November 10, 2015 | Thomas Sowell

Posted on 11/09/2015 9:59:52 AM PST by jazusamo

Dr. Ben Carson's whole life has been very unusual, so perhaps we should not be surprised to see the latest twist -- the media going ballistic over discrepancies in a few things he said.

Years ago, when I was writing some autobiographical sketches, I dug up old letters, to check out things that I remembered -- and was surprised more than once to discover that my memory was not always exactly the same as the way things had happened and were recorded at the time.

In the current flap over some things that Dr. Carson said, the biggest discrepancy has been between the furor in the media and the irrelevance of his statements to any political issue.

For example, in a video that someone dug up, Dr. Carson said to an audience that his "theory" about the Pyramids is that they were used as storage facilities. He was smiling as he said this, so it is not clear whether he was using this theory just to illustrate some point. But, in any case, he was not claiming this as a fact.

More important, the Pyramids are not an issue in today's American political campaign, except as a "gotcha" gimmick.

Yet the media have paid far more attention to Ben Carson's speculation about what the Pyramids were built for, thousands of years ago, than to outright lies that Hillary Clinton told about tragic American deaths in Benghazi, within days after she knew the truth, as her own e-mails now reveal.

Another media tempest in a teapot has developed because of the mild-mannered Dr. Carson's recollections about some childhood incidents in which he depicted himself as violent toward another child...

(Excerpt) Read more at creators.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: carson; cuckservatives; elections; hillary; mediabias; msm; nationalreview; obama; richlowry; sowell; thomassowell
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To: Awgie

I’m sorry, I disagree. He was doing his job, a job he trained for and was being paid for. That does not make for distinquished courage or ability, admired for brave deeds and noble qualities.

That’s like calling my husband’s heart surgeon a hero.

Nowdays, everyone is a hero. That word is thrown around indiscriminately.


41 posted on 11/09/2015 11:00:54 AM PST by Duchess47 ("One day I will leave this world and dream myself to Reality" Crazy Horse)
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To: jazusamo
The utter irrelevance of the issues raised by the media, at a time when the country faces monumental challenges at home and overseas, makes the media hype grotesque. It tells us more about the media than about Dr. Carson.

It also says a lot about FReepers who attack Dr. Carson for these same irrelevant issues.

42 posted on 11/09/2015 11:02:07 AM PST by FourPeas ("Maladjusted and wigging out is no way to go through life, son." -hg)
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To: celmak
Then if you don't believe the drive-bies lies about Trump, you must not believe their lies about Carson as well!

THANK YOU!

I'm all-in for Cruz, yet I can not understand why some Freepers accept MSM nonsense about Carson.

Maybe some here are not who they purport to be.

43 posted on 11/09/2015 11:03:43 AM PST by rdb3 (SOCIAL MEDIA IS A SEWER!)
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To: rdb3
Maybe some here are not who they purport to be.

They sure ain't thinkin' like conservative; that's for sure!

44 posted on 11/09/2015 11:16:14 AM PST by celmak (GO TED CRUZ !!!)
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To: Duchess47

Some career choices are “Heroic” by definition. I think it’s safe to throw around the term “Hero” when it comes to Heart and Brain surgeon’s.

Try watching a few Youtube video’s about pediatric brain surgery. Then imagine yourself showing up for work day after day with sick children and their parents looking for you to deliver a miracle to them. You might have a different opinion.

It is OK to not like and/or appreciate Dr Carson as a political personality who doesn’t meet your criteria. But it is not OK to lose perspective on who this man is and what he has accomplished.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Odi33rg0DuA


45 posted on 11/09/2015 11:16:46 AM PST by Awgie (truth is always stranger than fiction)
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To: Hostage

Oh I’m aware and am paying attention. There were a few reasons why Ronald Reagan coined the “11th Commandment” term about refraining from attacking his fellow Republicans. One was his ingrained optimistic outlook. He didn’t try to make others look small in order to make himself look big. And in general people are more motivated to go to the polls if they’re persuaded to vote for someone than if that someone is the only alternative left standing in an arena covered by the bloodied corpses of his opponents. But another was that after the primary season is over, the convention done, and the general campaign begun whoever is the nominee is going to need the support of those other candidates he just whipped. As a novice candidate his thin skin is probably Trump’s biggest weakness. That and the Eminent Domain story from Atlantic City the Democrats and the press are keeping on ice for use in October 2016.


46 posted on 11/09/2015 11:23:12 AM PST by katana (Just my opinions)
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To: katana

Reagan’s 11th Commandment sounds fine and noble, but it didn’t win him the nomination in 1976 nor 1980. What won RR the nomination and his first term was Carter’s catastrophic failure and RR’s hardline kickass carcature.

But RR won his 2nd term all on his own because the American people loved him, but it took awhile.

Lindsey Graham called Trump a “Jackass”, McCain called 15,000 Trump supporters “crazies”.

Why should Trump honor RR’s ‘commandment’ when faced by such scum in the party establishment?

I will target the real culprits, and leave Trump to be Trump.


47 posted on 11/09/2015 11:32:28 AM PST by Hostage (ARTICLE V)
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To: Hostage

Actually, the Politico piece was a total lie of several layers and the media is still lending credulity to the lies.


48 posted on 11/09/2015 11:41:53 AM PST by MHGinTN (Is it really all relative, Mister Einstein?)
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To: Awgie

Dittos


49 posted on 11/09/2015 11:42:54 AM PST by MHGinTN (Is it really all relative, Mister Einstein?)
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To: Hostage
BTW: "For example, in a video that someone dug up, Dr. Carson said to an audience that his "theory" about the Pyramids is that they were used as storage facilities."

There are clear indications that the Pyramid called that of Cheops (he probably did not build it, BTW) was used as a giant capacitor, storing electrical charge for measured discharges. But if you are not knowledgeable in the Physics of c urrent, flowing underground water, the casing stones which once covered the exteriror of the great pyramid and the caps which adorned the edifices in ancient days, then you will fall for any lie told about the Pyramids, like they were burial chambers!

50 posted on 11/09/2015 11:47:04 AM PST by MHGinTN (Is it really all relative, Mister Einstein?)
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To: Hostage
LOL, if the sole alternatives to Trump were Graham and McCain (or Huckabee, Kasich, Bush III, Christie, Romney, etc.) I'd be more inclined to be on his bandwagon.

And as far as Reagan and the 11th Commandment are concerned, I'm at an age where I recall the 1980 election very clearly. When Bush I attacked Reagan's Supply Side ideas as "Voodoo Economics" RR explained the economic principles on which they were based and promised voters they would work. He didn't call Bush any names, disparage his patrician birth, modest success in the oil industry, or attack him personally. And he would have been justified in doing so.

If you think the GOP establishment hates Trump then multiply that for what they thought of Reagan. That was a blood feud dating back to the 1952 convention on through 1964 and Nelson Rockefeller being nearly booded off the stage of the Chicago Cow Palace. Reagan was blessed with running against the second worst president in our history but he also won at the head of a united party. Whoever runs against Clinton and the Democrat/Media corruption combine won't stand a chance unless they can do the same.

51 posted on 11/09/2015 11:58:32 AM PST by katana (Just my opinions)
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To: cripplecreek
She says that my sisters and I wouldn't remember our great grandmother but I was 35 years old when she died and I had lived within a few blocks of her for most of my life.

Life never ceases to amaze me. My Great Grandmother on my Dad's side of the family died in 1881.

52 posted on 11/09/2015 12:00:59 PM PST by higgmeister ( In the Shadow of The Big Chicken!)
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To: catnipman

You are worst than Politico, as it was Politico that was making stuff up, and not Carson. The Politico story did not disprove one thing in the Carson book. And I’m a Cruz voter!!!


53 posted on 11/09/2015 2:32:20 PM PST by winner3000
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To: catnipman
Which is exactly what Carson SHOULD have done when he writing HIS autobiographical books instead of just making stuff up, that is, unless he WAS just making stuff up.

I disagree. Carson was telling a story that is clearly essentially true, and he was telling the story for the purpose of inspiring young urban kids who had the potential to do more with their lives. For him to have avoided any story for which he lacked detailed documentation and verification of the details would have been silly. For him to have fussed over details (such as whether he was told he would certainly be accepted on a full scholarship at West Point, or he applied and was offered admission with what West Point itself refers to as a full scholarship) would have harmed his biography.

54 posted on 11/09/2015 2:39:15 PM PST by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: grania
Besides that, the "autobiography" was written in 1990, 25 years ago. If he was having memory lapses about important events in his life way back then, how could he have done brain surgery?

People remember things differently. I remember exactly who was with me for almost all major events, but I often could not tell you what year those events occurred in. Other people have memories like calendars. A friend recently related an event to me, and I listened politely and with interest. His version of events was more detailed than mine would have been, and as far as I can tell entirely accurate, except that he didn't remember I had driven him to the event and been next to him for the entire span of time that he described.

55 posted on 11/09/2015 2:43:32 PM PST by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: Pollster1

Obama “essentially true” = “If you LIKE your insurance, you can KEEP your insurance. If you LIKE your doctors, you can KEEP your doctors.”

NO MORE LIARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


56 posted on 11/09/2015 3:19:24 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: winner3000

“You are worst than Politico”

Oooooh. Worst than Politico. That sounds really BAD! I’m definitely shaking in my boots now!


57 posted on 11/09/2015 3:22:28 PM PST by catnipman (Cat Nipman: Vote Republican in 2012 and only be called racist one more time!)
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To: catnipman

Essentially true is very different from a lie.

If a dealer advertises that he has a thousand cars and only has 980, that is essentially true. The difference between the literal truth and 1,000 does not matter to the vast majority of customers. If he has 200 cars, that is pretty much a Bill Clinton lie with only the vaguest connection to the truth. If he has no cars at all, just rust stains, that is an Obama lie. Carson’s comments were, so far as I have seen, close enough to true for the purpose for which he wrote his biography.

If a woman on a dating site describes herself as 5’2 and 130 pounds, and she is actually 5’ 1.5” and 134 pounds, that is essentially true and she will look like she is expected to look. The height rounds to her claim, and the weight would be accurate at the end of a long workout without any water. If she is actually 170 pounds, that is a Clinton lie, and the interaction will be significantly different than expected. If she is a 350 pound man, that is an Obama lie. There is a huge difference between close enough to true that it doesn’t matter and so far from true that it sounds like Hillary landing in Bosnia and dodging sniper fire.

The last couple years that I consulted, I charged liberals 2-3 times what I charged conservative candidates. If they objected, I told them that was my rate and they were welcome to go elsewhere if they thought my services were not worth the price. My claim was essentially true, Those were not my rates for decent people, but they were my rates for people I despised.


58 posted on 11/09/2015 5:08:34 PM PST by Pollster1 ("Shall not be infringed" is unambiguous.)
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To: jazusamo
For example, in a video that someone dug up, Dr. Carson said to an audience that his "theory" about the Pyramids is that they were used as storage facilities. He was smiling as he said this, so it is not clear whether he was using this theory just to illustrate some point. But, in any case, he was not claiming this as a fact.

After all, we all know EVERYTHING about the pyramids, so Carson must be an idiot... /Trumpster

OOPS! This just in... :

Egypt Detects 'Impressive' Anomaly in Giza Pyramids By MARAM MAZEN

Two weeks of new thermal scanning in Egypt's Giza pyramids have identified anomalies in the 4,500 year-old burial structures, including a major one in the largest pyramid, the Antiquities Ministry announced Monday.

Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty and technical experts working on the project showed the higher temperature being detected in three specific adjacent stones at the bottom of the pyramid in a live thermal camera presentation to journalists.

The scanning showed "a particularly impressive one (anomaly) located on the Eastern side of the Khufu pyramid at ground level," the ministry said in a statement. The largest of the three Giza pyramids is known locally as Khufu and internationally as Cheops.

The thermal scanning was carried out at all times of the day, including during sunrise, as the sun heats the structures from the outside, and then during sunset as the pyramids are cooling down. The speed of the heating and cooling phases is being used to uncover "hypotheses" such as empty areas in the pyramids, internal air currents, or different building materials used.

"The first row of the pyramid's stones are all uniform, then we come here and find that there's a difference in the formation," said el-Damaty, pointing at the three stones showing higher temperatures.

While inspecting the area, el-Damaty said they found "that there is something like a small passage in the ground that you can see, leading up to the pyramids ground, reaching an area with a different temperature. What will be behind it?"

Other heat anomalies were detected in the upper half of the pyramid that the experts said need to be investigated further.

El-Damaty invited all Egyptologists, especially those interested in ancient Egyptian architecture, to join in the research and help come up with ideas on what could be behind the anomalies.

The pyramids, located on the outskirts of Cairo, are one of the major tourist attractions in the country. The pyramids, which were used as sacred burial structures, were built in the fourth Pharaonic dynasty. The great pyramid is the oldest and only surviving monument of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

Some FReepers need to get a life. There is a lot that science does not know.
59 posted on 11/09/2015 6:45:44 PM PST by Carry_Okie (The tree of liberty needs a rope.)
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To: Carry_Okie

Amen...Good post.


60 posted on 11/09/2015 7:19:00 PM PST by jazusamo (0bama to go 'full-Mussolini' after elections: Mark Levin....and the turkey has.)
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