Tuesday, September 1, 2015

We're Talkin' Candidates - Part 2 of Not Really Sure Just Yet



In part two of this series I’m going to discuss current Republican second placer, Dr. Ben Carson.





Understandably Dr. Carson has some folks excited.  For one thing, he’s a doctor.  That tells us something about his intelligence and commitment to completing tasks.  Becoming a doctor isn’t easy, especially when you're starting off as a poor kid from Detroit.  And Dr. Ben isn’t just any old doctor.  He’s a neurosurgeon!  And he’s not just any neurosurgeon; he’s a Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon!!!  He’s not just a Johns Hopkins pediatric neurosurgeon; he’s the first neurosurgeon to separate conjoined twins attached at the head!!!!!!!!!!  Sadly he’s retired, but I believe he’s earned that.  Even more sadly he has proven well that intelligence and wisdom can be mutually exclusive and that a great doctor does not a great scientist make.  We’ll come back to that.  Let us get to the issues.


We will start with that old chestnut, abortion.  Dr. Carson used to be pro-choice.  Like many pro-choicers he felt that abortion was awful, and yet was unwilling to legally force that opinion on the women of the country.  He has since tidied up that stance to become pro-life.  He feels that abortion for convenience is repugnant and that no abortions should be performed after 20 weeks post fertilization for any reason.  Up until that point he does allow for abortion where the mother’s health is in jeopardy.  I will not reiterate my thoughts on pro-lifers who have no adopted children.  If you search for his thoughts on abortion over the last 20 years you see a bit of fluctuation.  I cannot fault that.  It is not a simple issue.  For me, being pro-life does not preclude my possibility of voting for you…but it is a step in the wrong direction.

Dr. Carson believes in the free market system while I am for limited but specific regulation.  As we have seen time and time again in this country, corporations refuse to do right by the environment, the consumer, the government, etc…  He also wants to cut spending in every government agency by 10%.  We know there is an indescribable amount of waste in the government, but across the board cuts don’t make sense to me without some serious research.  Let’s combine his economic strategies into strike one.


The good doctor has some thoughts on civil rights.  He believes homosexuality is a choice.  He accepts that gay marriage is the law, but does not support it.  He does feel that minus marriage, gays should have the same rights as straight folk.  He equated homosexuality to pedophilia, though he later apologized for that one.  He feels that because he pulled himself out of a bad situation in his youth that we should eliminate race based entitlements like affirmative action.  I don’t think we’re quite ready for that…yet.  His beliefs that gays should not be able to legally marry and that minorities should all be able to rise above their upbringings (a beautiful concept, but I feel not accurate) I shall combine into strike two.


Dr. Carson is for medical marijuana.  That is a plus.  We are seeing more and more cases where marijuana treatment is helping patients of all ages.  He is against the recreational use.  This clown quite honestly loves the ganj.  Strike three.


Big Ben has spoken widely on education.  In 2015 he likened public education to a propaganda system.  He and I both agree that proper education equals liberation.  He feels that classes like math should take more priority over athletics.  That is hard to argue against, methinks.    He likes some God in his public schools.  I don’t much care for that.  He wants the “ethics” of creationists to enter the classroom.  I’ve seen those so-called ethics.  We don’t need them.  He is a huge fan of education in general and feels that this is the key to helping minorities, keeping youth on track and fighting oppression.  These are all true.  I’m not sure how he can do this by cutting 10% of federal school funding.  Lastly he is a creationist.  Did you know that there are folks who believe in creationism and evolution?  I like that.  Those ideals are not in opposition provided you can be a little flexible with your interpretations.  Unfortunately, Ben is not one of those people.  He has infamously asked, “…how does something come out of nothing?”  He and I have different definitions for “nothing”.  Clearly he is not a scientist.  Straight up Jesus riding on dinosaurs creationism I cannot tolerate, eliciting a fourth strike for Herr doctor.


To wrap this up let me speed through the rest of these.  I am way past TLDR status.  Dr. Ben Carson has not been very vocal on the environment other than to say that both socialists and capitalists should be protective of the planet.  Kind of vague if you ask me…though I do agree.  He hasn't publicly reconciled this generic environmentalism with his free market economic beliefs.  He feels that we need fossil fuel independence and that the climate debate is not relevant.  He is a “drill, baby drill” candidate.  Um…no.  He has equated the decline of the US to the decline of Rome and based these declines are caused by immorality.  Nope.  He feels that the government is bloated.  I’m with him on this one, but he wants a 5 year hiring freeze for government jobs.  To me this seems like a great way to stymie the intellectual growth of the government.  This is not the way to keep government small.  He is against the Affordable Care Act, and has called Obamacare the worst thing since slavery.  Seems overstated to me.  He is pro-torture.  Seems Christian to me!  He believes a pathway to citizenship for illegals is unfair to people who have done it the right way.  This is true, but doesn’t make a pathway a bad idea.  He is partially anti-union.


There are some more strikes in there.  I lost count.  Dr. Carson found God as a child after wanting to stab a classmate over an argument.  Finding God is not a bad thing.  Giving credit to said God for passing freshman chemistry is a bad thing.  Dr. Ben Carson is not a candidate for the poor and working classes.  Dr. Ben Carson is not a candidate for union clowns.  Dr. Ben Carson is not a candidate for single women and couples who make mistakes during intimacy.  Dr. Ben Carson is not a candidate for democratic socialists who believe in a hand up.  Dr. Ben Carson is not a candidate for me.

Caustic the Clown

 If you would like to personally verify the veracity of my summation of Ben's platform, then please visit these sites:


 

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