Ben Carson Suffering from Mental Illness?

originally posted by: Metallicus
He must really scare you. You have been fixated on Dr. Carson for several days now. Maybe you need the help and not Dr. Carson.

The prevailing view here in the UK is that Carson is loony tunes and this whole thing is yet further proof that the GOP has got batpoop crazy. I mean come on, when your leading candidates are a bloviating twit who boasts about wanting to deport millions of people, a man who claims that Satan thought up evolution and who doesn't understand astronomy or archaeology and a collection of dingbats, some of whom (I'm looking at Santorum and Huckabee now) are frankly religious lunatics of the first order, then you are in real trouble.

I haven't engaged on these Ben Carson threads all that much because there seems to be a bit of truth to both sides of the debate. On one hand, it appears that some of what Carson has said is being taken out of context, and on the other it seems that Carson may have tried to inflate himself through his book and other means but failed to provide the proper context for those certain situations/comments.

What really sticks-out to me in this discussion is the apparent disgust from people on the Right about the lack of a racial element. Since race is not an issue and the topic is actually what Carson did/said, they inject the race issue themselves.

"Well, we were called racist when we questioned Obama. Why isn't race an issue when it's Carson"?

That's because race has nothing to do with the topic and people are addressing the issues at hand. Conversely, race was an issue for many on the Right and still is today. The color of his skin played a big role in how Obama was/is treated by people on the Right. Of course, I need to be very careful and say that not all people on the Right take issue with race, but it's still there.

Then when I read posts, such as ManBehindtheMask's, I become confused because if we read it for what it says, he's actually pissed that the Left is not being racist with Carson. Let's take a look at a couple of his comments.

You know I remember when Obama was running and anyone that questioned him was a racist.......

That's absurd hyperbole. Not all of the people that questioned Obama were called racist. Only the racists were called racist. We cannot deny that there is a huge racial element that drives the ideas and ideology of some on the Right. The Tea Party rallies were proof of that.

Why is it now , that the left engages in such trivial things with this candidate, being black and yet the stigma isnt the same for them?

Perhaps it's because race is not an issue. This is a great example of why I said some are pissed that race isn't an issue.

trying to destroy his character and him personally rather than his actual policies

I thought character was important. Anyone that remembers the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal will also remember the countless times the GOP harped about character being important in our elected representatives....and proceeded to rip Clinton's character to shreds. It's par for the course to vet someone's character, right along with their policies.

The left is dirty

It's politics. Of course it's dirty. Are the Republicans innocent little angels that are so virtuous as to never get in the mud themselves? I'm sure our current president, whom was claimed to be a Kenyan-born Muslim Marxist, wouldn't call them innocent whatsoever.

and they are angry

As they should be. Some of us on the Left want to actually work to get our country back on track, but we spend more of our time combating ignorance and cartoon-style theatrics that it can be infuriating we have to have our intelligence insulted day after day, issue after issue.

So let me just end this by saying I find the recent topics on Carson to not be that important, but it has been the reaction from the Right that we should pay attention to.

This may not be a popular thing to say, but I think it has become quite apparent that we are dealing with entirely different levels of intellect here and that says quite a bit.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
Finally, in the wake of yesterday's media probe and resulting conflicts with his own narrative, he has become less than cordial, respectful, and polite. They've started yanking his chain, which - if it existed when he was a kid, as he claims - has been suppressed for decades. Now, all of a sudden, he's getting uber-defensive, pissed off, and lashing back out.

Maybe he's been nothing but cordial for fifty years until now and maybe not.

You can be sure that if he hasn't been it's going to come out.

An orderly or nurse harboring a grudge about being reamed out in 1985 now has a national platform.

a reply to: DelMarvel

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm thinking. Now would be the time for anyone to come forward - whether his prior victims, or his prior colleagues, or his prior enemies (even if they were out of his radar).

They can do it with the blacked-out-figure and fake voice, and the person's identity will still be protected.

Weird to think about.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Kinda like how bama shut his own family up from telling the truth. poor grama

or how Clinton has ways of silencing people.

you should fear the candidate that has no dissenters...

a reply to: deadeyedick

I don't know. I'm just relaxing on a Sunday afternoon. And I'm truly blessed by lady fortune or God or the Goddess or whatever "happiness gods" are out there to be able to do that, without fear of being drone-struck (stricken?) or turned into a pillar of salt at the moment.

I don't really fear any of the "candidates," because I'm aware that no matter how they would LIKE to force things on us, there are checks and balances. I do have confidence in that system.

But also (and more importantly) I do know that it's important to me, for me and my family, to do as much background research as I can and to make the best choice I can. Will it make a difference? Maybe. I have two adult children, and so far no grandchildren. I have them to think about, not just my own little world.

I will make my voting decision based on the candidate's character, past behaviors, covered-up or published events, etc. And having learned my lesson with Politico this week, I will be doubly cautious as to which sites I take at face value. I've learned a lot about which outlets are sensationalist and biased to an extreme over the years, and which aren't; even so, there are still ones I haven't dug into yet or seen before.

Back to Topic:

There's something about Dr Carson that makes me nervous, though, and that is based on my own personal and professional experiences, knowledge, and radar (if you will).

originally posted by: Metallicus
He must really scare you. You have been fixated on Dr. Carson for several days now. Maybe you need the help and not Dr. Carson.

What Carson believes doesn't scare me.

What does scare me is that someone has to believe what Carson does to become a top candidate in America.

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: DelMarvel

Yeah, that's kinda what I'm thinking. Now would be the time for anyone to come forward - whether his prior victims, or his prior colleagues, or his prior enemies (even if they were out of his radar).

They can do it with the blacked-out-figure and fake voice, and the person's identity will still be protected.

They won't even need to do that. I predict that there eventually will be people speaking on the record.

This guy is weird and hasn't really been vetted much at all. The chances that everything damaging is out there already are zero.

originally posted by: 200Plus
a reply to: reldra

The statement that I found most true was ,"Would any of you feel safe getting into a car that was being driven by Ben Carson? That’s what I thought."

That pretty much says it all doesn't it.

Probably wouldn't want him in your house either......

It's all good. Racism is OK when it comes from the right angle these days.

I am not racist. I think that would be apparent.

originally posted by: butcherguy
Interesting.
If I were to tell you that most of his papers in college pushed the fact that he was a Muslim student from Indonesia, you would probably think that it wasn't true.
I am not sure how we could find the answer.

I'm not sure why it would matter. Seriously, he claims to be a Christian now. Maybe he converted, maybe he's just acting because being a Christian is very nearly a necessity in American politics. Does it make any difference? Last time I checked we have this tiny little law in some random document that says no religious test is to be necessary to be President.

originally posted by: Aazadan

originally posted by: butcherguy
Interesting.
If I were to tell you that most of his papers in college pushed the fact that he was a Muslim student from Indonesia, you would probably think that it wasn't true.
I am not sure how we could find the answer.

I'm not sure why it would matter. Seriously, he claims to be a Christian now. Maybe he converted, maybe he's just acting because being a Christian is very nearly a necessity in American politics. Does it make any difference? Last time I checked we have this tiny little law in some random document that says no religious test is to be necessary to be President.

The religious part doesn't matter, I would vote for a Muslim if I knew that he wasn't a handpicked and groomed choice of TPTB.
I was wondering what might be in his college writings, since his life has been investigated so thoroughly.

a reply to: Aazadan

I think that a president that lies is something to worry about.

I am not quite sure how it would be ok to lie about your faith.

Just saying that I would love to hear him tow the line between the faithful and the faithless as regards to creation.

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: reldra

Every inch of his life was looked at.

Interesting.
If I were to tell you that most of his papers in college pushed the fact that he was a Muslim student from Indonesia, you would probably think that it wasn't true.
I am not sure how we could find the answer.

And I would ask how you knew. Because his college records are sealed - as are the records of every other former student. He attended a state school in Indonesia by the way.

originally posted by: AngryCymraeg

originally posted by: butcherguy
a reply to: reldra

Every inch of his life was looked at.

Interesting.
If I were to tell you that most of his papers in college pushed the fact that he was a Muslim student from Indonesia, you would probably think that it wasn't true.
I am not sure how we could find the answer.

And I would ask how you knew. Because his college records are sealed - as are the records of every other former student. He attended a state school in Indonesia by the way.

Yes, that was my point.
His papers could say anything.... and we wouldn't know. But, if you look, you can find college papers written by Michelle Obama, and the quality of her work is less than stellar.
My post was in response to those that say Obama was thoroughly vetted, his life completely checked out.

Carson is clearly disturbed unlike Obama who hid his demons well.


Cason suffers minimally from delusions of grandeur.

A hero complex…i.e. tales about saving white people form a black riot and being a survivor from the evil ghetto


....Taking a gun to his hip at Popeye’s and most of all a delusion he's qualified to be president.

His mother said it was the other way around, she was the one that tried to hit him with the hammer.

Not sure about mental illness, but it always appears to me that he's medicated.

a reply to: ~Lucidity

He's been doing a little better keeping his eyes open and focused, I noticed during the debate last night.

But still, he lapses into the "eyes closed" mode when he's stressing out. No big deal, except that a seasoned public speaker should be able to avoid that sort of distracting facial expression. When I start watching his eyes while he's talking, I get totally derailed by his eyes being shut every few seconds, and miss what he's actually saying entirely.

Joe Rogan cracks me up, and I have to agree with him on Ben Carson...(profanity FYI)

This is an actual real painting on the wall of Presidential Candidate Ben Carson's home. It's supposed to be him and Jesus, but it looks more like what would happen if @chrisdelia [had a baby with] Prince.

I'm willing to tolerate some wacky [stuff] from people that are campaigning to become the commander in chief of the greatest army the world has ever known, but this is where I draw the line.

You can believe the pyramids were built by the biblical Joseph to store pancake batter, or that Adam and Eve rode a dinosaur through the Garden of Eden, or whatever crazy [stuff] he made up about getting a scholarship to West Point - but any man that could look at this; arguably the [crappiest] painting of Jesus in the history of [crappy] Jesus paintings, and say, "Oh, [fudge] yeah, I'm gonna hang this right above the couch" is off the list of guys I trust with nuclear weapons.

originally posted by: deadeyedick
a reply to: Aazadan

I think that a president that lies is something to worry about.

I am not quite sure how it would be ok to lie about your faith.

Just saying that I would love to hear him tow the line between the faithful and the faithless as regards to creation.

Every President lies, being a liar and being a politician go hand in hand. It's a necessity of the job.