Carson has gotten into a lot of trouble for his gaffes, but I'm not sure enough notice has been taken of the less controversial fluff that makes up his let's-call-it political stances. He is a very good speaker who spends his time saying things no less nonsensical than the very bad speakers who appear before and after him at the same venues. He's a man who combines the policy chops of Sarah Palin with the self-assurance of Newt Gingrich, and I'm not sure that would wear very well on the campaign trail:
For Carson, the canary in the American coalmine is political correctness. It’s a theme that’s woven into his stump speech, one that he’s now delivering four or five times a week, in states in every corner of the country — he has only 13 free days on his calendar between now and the end of the year.
I ask Carson why he believes this minor moral failing is so crucial. “The reason that is very troubling to me is that it's the very same thing that happened to the Roman Empire,” he says, growing serious. “They were extremely powerful. There was no way anybody could overcome them. But these philosophers, with the long flowing white robes and the long white beards, they could wax eloquently on every subject, but nothing was right and nothing was wrong. They soon completely lost sight of who they were.”
The Roman Empire fell because of political correctness and because of the failings of the Roman philosopher class? That's certainly a curious spin on history. And it's strange, slightly conspiratorial notions like this that dominate Carson's rhetoric.
Where do the TeaBrains dig these clowns up?