Sunday, September 20, 2015
Ben Carson excuses himself from consideration for the presidency
Yes, I know we've sailed off the ends of the earth.
Yes, we've found ourselves in some political wonderland where the old values not only no longer apply, but are inverted.
Yes, Donald Trump's xenophobia, bigotry and idiocy has projected him to the top of the field of Republican boobs vying for the presidency.
And maybe Ben Carson, jealous of that, thought he'd get in the game.
But no matter how low our expectations, no matter how up has become down and black is sold as white, there is some point where the joke is no longer funny, and we have to get serious, and say: Not in my country, asshole.
That point came Sunday.
Carson, leading several polls, was asked by Chuck Todd on NBC's Meet the Press if a president's religion should matter.
"I guess it depends on what that faith is," Carson replied, without hesitation. "If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter. If it fits and is consistent with the Constitution, no problem."
"So do you believe Islam is consistent with the Constitution?" Todd asked.
"No, I do not," said Carson. "I would not advocate that we would put a Muslim in charge of this nation. I absolutely would not agree with that. "
Todd then asked if he would support a Muslim for Congress, and Carson backpedaled a little, allowing that perhaps, if he were a good person despite being a Muslim, that would be okay, apparently too stupid to understand that he had also undercut his initial reaction to the question.
No matter.
Any American, particularly any person from a group that has experienced prejudice, any Jew, any black, any woman, has the moral obligation to howl in protest at that. We have become so used to haters, to clowns, that we have been nudged by inches to accept the unacceptable.
Yes, Carson is only stating plainly what Trump, with the cowardice of bigots, implies. But it is such a clear, unambiguous statement that it cannot be allowed to stand. Islam is as consistent with democracy as Christianity or Judaism or any other religion, put to all sorts of uses by all sorts of people. To say otherwise is to single Islam out unfairly and hypocritically. It is hatred, pure and simple. For Carson to remain a serious candidate is to pull down the American flag and shit on it.
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Oh well, I liked believing Dr. Carson was a nice guy. Perhaps he was sick the day they taught the First Amendment in high school. That's not an excuse for not doing the makeup work! He should have been careful with his personal opinions, and cognizant of the fate of Juan Williams. The politicians I despise the most excel at hiding their racism. So we end up with laws that push to the edge and beyond, violating our constitutional rights. In the guise of supporting law and order, ad nauseam. Always having a disparate impact on minority communities.
ReplyDeletePreamble to the U.S. Declaration of Independence, 1776. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
ReplyDeleteIncluding the right to achieve high office in this country. If Carson can't acknowledge this basic right, he should be banned from running for any office. What an asshole.
No, that's just not so.
ReplyDeleteIf both were equally vile, you could name a Democratic representative that yelled "You lie" to a sitting President during a joint session of Congress, a sitting governor that wagged her finger in a sitting President's face, etc. They are not the same.
ReplyDeleteSo far none of the Democratic candidates have advocated positions that are clearly unconstitutional.
ReplyDeleteSeveral GOP candidates have. It's extremely disturbing.
We have to pass through this twilight zone in our nation's history to emerge at last on the other side. The demographics will change in this country and we will be great again. It just won't happen soon enough.
ReplyDeleteCarson stormed onto the national stage with a great shtick: He was an accomplished black man willing to insult the first black President of the United States in the bitterest possible terms, to his face the first time. Carson's problem is that he has no second act.
ReplyDelete"If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter." The core values and principles of America are deeply entwined with the ethic of capitalism. Individuals making money and accumulating wealth to enable the pursuit of the above-mentioned L, L and the P of H. One of the core values of the Christianity laid forth in the Bible is a veritable aversion to the accumulation of wealth. Well expressed in Mark 10:21, "...go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." and Mark 10:25, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." If Dr. Carson is seeking to shun religions that are inconsistent with the values of America, he might well start with Christianity. Of course that might require him to heed a different verse, Luke 6:42, "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye."
ReplyDeleteThank you Jakash! Where are the true Christians these days? The teachings of the great religions have been lost in the babble! Some of the best people I know have given up on organized religion, including myself.
DeleteI think the question for any candidate who takes his/her religion seriously is whether he/she will do the dictates of the leaders of his/her group. Kennedy had to say that he would not do the Pope's bidding and any Muslim wanting to be taken seriously would have to say that he/she would not be guided in office by the fatwas released by Muslim clerics. I don't want religious leaders to be able to tell the President what to do and he/she will do it. However, being a Muslim should not in itself be a bar to office. Several centuries, Martin Luther said that he preferred a wise "infidel" (Muslim) to a foolish Christian.
ReplyDelete