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what do you think of Rand Jon?

I agree with that

Saw this on the front of yahoo news this morning

Ben Carson, the popular conservative activist who rose to national prominence in 2013 when he delivered a speech at the National Prayer Breakfast that was widely hailed in conservative circles, is apparently running for president, and kicking off his campaign this weekend with an hour-long infomercial for himself.

Though Carson has not officially declared his run for the Republican 2016 presidential nomination, the infomercial entitled Ben Carson: A Breath of Fresh Air; A New Prescription for America is set to air in 22 states and Washington D.C. after Carson’s friend and reported business manager Armstrong Williams bought airtime on numerous local and network stations to broadcast what is being called the first campaign ad of the 2016 campaign.

Just a few weeks ago, Carson said that he was reluctant to run for president in part because he feared that the 2016 presidential election might be canceled due to “widespread anarchy.”

Since his 2013 Prayer Breakfast speech, Carson has been known mainly for his controversial and hyperbolic public statements, particularly with regard to the Affordable Care and Patient Protection Act, better known as “Obamacare.”

In a speech last year, the 63-year-old Carson, an African-American and a leading neurosurgeon formerly at Johns Hopkins University, called the healthcare reform law “the worst thing that has happened in this nation since slavery.”

Carson has also described the healthcare law, which according to the New York Times has allowed 10 million previously uninsured Americans to obtain health coverage, as worse than the 9/11 terrorist attacks “because 9/11 was an isolated incident.” He later walked back that statement.

Carson has been a paid commentator for the conservative news network Fox News, but on Saturday, he announced that he had quit his job with the network, a move generally seen as signaling his initial entry into electoral politics.

Among his numerous other contentious public pronouncements, Carson has said that the United States “is very much like Nazi Germany,” adding, ” I know you’re not supposed to say ‘Nazi Germany,’ but I don’t care about political correctness.”

As the basis for his comparison between the United States and the fascist state of Nazi Germany, in which Jews and other minority groups were persecuted, imprisoned and murdered by the millions, Carson cites his view that, “We now live in a society where people are afraid to say what they actually believe.”

Carson did not note, however, that he, himself, delivered his Prayer Breakfast speech harshly critical of President Barack Obama with the president sitting on the podium next to him.

And yet not only did Ben Carson escape arrest and incarceration for saying what he actually believed, he was rewarded with national recognition and a paid contributor’s position on a national television network.

Read more at http://www.inquisitr.....IAcMh8I.99

jonathco said

easytapper said
Anyone have any thoughts on Ben Carson running for President?  I'm biased with him being a prominent surgeon here in Maryland.  Just wondering what the rest of the world thinks.

Dr. Carson has gone back and forth on the 2nd amendment a few times (which makes me hesitant to jump for joy), but outside of that, he seems "okay". He's no Ron Paul though.  

His response to Brown and Wilson

In an interview with Hugh Hewitt on Tuesday Dr. Ben Carson took on the subject of Darren Wilson and Michael Brown, and promptly ticked off Second Amendment supporters for a third time (my bold below).

HH: Dr. Carson, was justice done to Michael Brown yesterday?

BC: Well, you know, there are a lot of different ways to look at it. The way I’d prefer to look at it is, is there anything good that can come out of such a tragic situation. And I think there is. First of all, I don’t think that the police officer did anything wrong. Nevertheless, there probably are additional techniques and knowledge that he could have been given. So all along, we probably need to beef up the instructions for police officers in general so that they don’t place themselves in such dangerous situations. And then as far as the community is concerned, I suspect a lot of people woke up today and said what did we just do? We burnt down establishment from people in our own community, people who have worked hard to do that, because we let a bunch of outside agitators come in here and get us riled up. And you know, I hope people will think back to the days of Dr. Martin Luther King, who was faced with a bunch of people who thought violence was the way, and somehow he convinced them that peaceful demonstrations and conversation and demonstrating to people what was going on would have a better effect. And in fact, it did. It had a profound effect on our nation. But violence is never going to help anything. And the people who came in and agitated are probably sitting up in their hotel rooms sipping wine and eating steak.

HH: Now you say I don’t think that the police officer did anything wrong. So you have reviewed and have come to the conclusion that the officer in fact should not have been charged with anything?

BC: Yeah, he had every right to protect his life. But I do think that there are probably other techniques that could have been used.

HH: All right, now if there were other techniques that could have been used, doesn’t that suggest he did something wrong?

BC: No, that suggests that he perhaps has not had the maximum training.

HH: Okay.

BC: You know, for instance, in a lot of places, police officers aren’t even allowed to go into the more dangerous areas by themselves. They’re always paired. Or you know, people use tasers, people learn how to shoot people in the legs to stop them from charging, things of that nature. And I seriously doubt that he’d been given that information.

Carson asserts that Wilson was not properly trained, and that there is some “secret knowledge” that Mr. Miyagi could have passed along to “Darren-san.” This is both arrogant, and ignorant.

The Karate Kid was a great movie. It wasn’t a police training film.

The evidence from the grand jury investigation shows that Darren Wilson was a fully-accredited officer who was up to date on his training. This includes training on what force you may legally use, and in which situations you may use force.

We covered in detail the tools that Officer Wilson had at his disposal as 6’3″, 292 lbs Michael Brown struck him in the head with full-power blows as Wilson was trapped in the driver’s seat of his police SUV.

Pepper spray is not viable inside a vehicle, as it would incapacitate the Wilson. He could not reach his ASP baton, and even if Wilson could reach it, it could not be deployed effectively in the close confines of the car. Wilson did not have a taser.

Michael Brown was attempting to beat him unconscious, or even kill him as he was trapped in his vehicle. Officer Wilson’s only viable tool for self defense was his firearm. He fired it twice, striking Brown with a contact wound to his hand. Brown then momentarily fled, before turning on Wilson, and then charging him, according to mutiple eyewitnesses.

Carson then absurdly suggests that Wilson should have attempted to shoot the charging Brown—who only seconds before had tried to shoot Officer Wilson with his own gun—in the legs. This goes against not only against a basic self-defense training, but is also potentially illegal, as “shooting to wound” suggests that an officer is using deadly force (a firearm) in a situation where life isn’t in imminent danger.

I think Dr. Carson is a wonderful human being. I think he might make a wonderful statesman.

But for all his conservative-populist appeal, Carson has now shown for the third time that he does not—on a very basic and foundational level—understand the principles of armed self-defense, nor apparently have any real appreciation for the Second Amendment.

Dr. Carson was a long-shot for the Republican nomination. I think that this latest error might have extinguished any hope he has of winning the support of a majority of American gun owners.

http://bearingarms.c.....f-defense/