I suspect Ben Carson will ride the wave of the Evangelical Christians and get very, very close to the nomination and then something will happen that cannot be explained away.
And yet again, the Chamber of Commerce Republicans will do something to get their favored boy into the top spot.
We’ve seen this play out before in the Republican Party – several times.
Ronald Reagan was the doofus that invited Jerry Falwell and his Immorality Boys into the inner sanctum of the Republican Party.
Reagan needed their votes to kick out the one true Christian already in the White House – Jimmy Carter.
But I don’t think Reagan ever really liked these Evangelical Christians and certainly did not do anything for them – nor did Daddy or Baby Bush – during their time in the White House.
These social issues the Evangelicals thrive on are still with us – and George W. Bush had 6 years of total control. What did he ever do about any of those social issues?
These Evangelicals are in the unhappy position of needing the Republicans to throw their weight around – but knowing the Republican Party really doesn’t give a damn about them.
If Republicans lose again in 2016 – I look for a Civil War within the Grand Old Party – or perhaps before we vote in 2016, if these Evangelicals get any sniff of what the Chamber of Commerce Republicans really plan to do with them.
Indy, Reagan didn’t need Jerry Falwell, et al., to win the 1980 election. For better or worse, ABC (anyone but Carter) was going to win.
I believe he brought them in for the same reason Nixon bugged Watergate; he wanted no possibility of any surprises. Or, he wanted to win all 50 states. I don’t know which, it really doesn’t matter and it really didn’t matter for either then. Neither Senator McGovern, in 1972, nor President Carter, in 1980, had the proverbial snowball’s chance of winning. In both cases, forces were unleashed that neither were eventually control to the detriment of the Republic.
But Reagan knew if he had Jerry Falwell and his Evangelicals in his hip pocket – then there would be no chance of the true Christian in the White House being there for the next four years.
I agree Jimmy Carter was a weakened candidate – but I believe Carter was too damn honest for the job of President.
And – Carter was pushing us to get off the damn oil. I think that is basically what got Carter booted out – he dared to try to get this country to get off the addiction to oil and that made the Oil Gods very, very angry.
I was just on a national blog and Ben Carson was on the Christian Broadcasting Network – aka Televangelist Pat Robertson – when he said that this Politico attack on him is nothing more than persecution.
OH God – here we go again….
These Krazee Kristians are on the warpath because they’re being so persecuted when one of their own presidential candidates is questioned about his own statement that he was offered a full four-year scholarship to West Point and he did not even apply to go to West Point.
HOW DARE anybody question Ben Carson…
With that said – I can understand how this could happen. I’ve been in this Evangelical Christian Movement. I’ve listened to more than my share of these people who would come in and give their testimony. And the more things like this being offered a full four year scholarship the person can throw into their testimony – the more whipped up the crowd got.
And the more whipped up the crowd got – the bigger the collection plates.
And that – my friends – might just explain why Ben Carson is in the trouble he is in today?
Or he truly believes he was offered a full four-year scholarship to West Point?
Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t it take a Congressional elected official to recommend you before you get into West Point?
Who was that person that offered Ben all this glory?
An interesting addition to the discussion above. When one is at West Point, there is no scholarship as there is no tuition charged. The cadets are technically on active duty, and draw pay during their four years.
When I read the stuff about a scholarship, I knew it was bogus on the basis of the alleged “scholarship”. And you’re most correct, Indy, about the need for a Congressional appointment.
What gets me is the assumption that because someone is a Christian that means they are stupid and gullible. The amoral Politicians going for the RR vote by saying some of the most outlandish things. BTW I did mention I am not welcome back at Emanuel? I got the word through family. .
While I was in this Evangelical Christian Movement in the 1970’s, I saw this happen time and time again.
Hell – I even graduated from that Fundy Baptist College in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There were guest speakers like this all the time coming through our campus.
And each and every time – there would be groups of kids going forward after the sermon because God has spoke to them about this or that. And it was just a setting where that type of response is manipulated. It was also a good way to keep the sheeple under control.
I believe people can change their lives. I also believe there is a power source (call it God for a lack of better word?) that people can tap into to find the courage to change their lives.
But I no longer believe that God is some supreme being sitting on some golden throne and just waiting to throw down that fire and brimstone if we dare to step over some certain line God has drawn in the sand.
I no longer believe that this supreme being takes delight in sending folks to Hell for eternity if the person does not say certain words and reads a certain Bible or prays a certain prayer to avoid their eternity in Hell.
I have come to believe I am more of Deist than a Christian. Come to think about it – the Founding Fathers used the term – Creator – a lot in their writings.
Perhaps there were more Deists in that group than these Far Right Winger Kristians want to admit?
I’ve known a lot of people of different religions. The only thing that mattered to me was how they treated me and others. There are bad apples in every bunch – even these Krazee Kristians have their own bad apples.
PS – and in order to change one’s life – one has to have the education and skills to know what to change and how to maintain that change. I also believe that it takes a person willing to look ‘outside the box’ and to ask a lot of hard questions.
Basically, I think we are pre-wired to be the person we are – but I do believe it is possible for people to change bad behaviors.
But it takes more than just reading a certain Bible or praying a certain prayer to get to that better place.
Oh – I just heard Ben Carson himself on morning news t.v. show stating that his staff has found proof of that picture in the Yale News of him being the most honest person and that entire story is true.
Okay – then let’s see the proof…. Show us the long form, Ben.
As for the four year scholarship – Ben is sticking to his guns about that story. He says that he was offered that scholarship.
Perhaps the problem is in how people ‘hear’ this story? When I hear the words ‘four year scholarship’ being used – I assume the person had applied to the school and then was given the scholarship.
Maybe Ben just believes he can take a short cut around the semantics of those words?
To him – some guy telling him that due to his ROTC experience in high school that he would have no problem getting into West Point on a four year scholarship is the same as being offered the scholarship.
But – like the article fnord posted about Ben Carson’s stories – these Evangelicals don’t care about the facts – especially when the ‘liberal media’ can be called out for being evil, sinful and downright mean.
Hell – if Ben Carson cannot stand up to the scrutiny of media at this point in his campaign – then God help us all if he gets elected to be President.
I’ve got a question for Ben Carson that I have not heard or seen has been uttered yet.
Did Ben Carson get any benefit(s) from Affirmative Action to get into Yale or that alleged four year scholarship to West Point?
How much did Ben Carson’s race of being black play into his past experiences?
Of course, asking that could be seen as a two-edged sword. Progressive Democrats are seen as the ones that love the Affirmative Action. But then Conservative Republicans claim to hate it – but yet they don’t see anything wrong with one of their own flavor-of-the-month boys using that evil government program?
Ah, what am I saying? Republicans also claim to hate the welfare leeches but yet applaud when their favorite corporations get their welfare checks in the form of subsidies/special tax breaks.’
Yes, as to the AA inquiry. Many, if not most, African-Americans being admitted to Ivy League and then professional schools benefited from such policies when Dr. Carson was coming up (he’s a year younger than I); proportionately fewer, but still a substantial number, when Pres. Obama was being educated.
I suspected Ben Carson is nothing more than the 2016 version of Sarah Palin in 2008.
Remember that woman?
She would also say the same type of nonsensical statements and then when questioned about it from the media (which is their job, BTW) – then somehow it was the media’s fault for daring to question her. But what really got me about SP was this Word Salad talk would spew from her mouth and every Krazee Kristian Konservative ate it up like it was cotton candy.
I still remember Sarah Palin’s version of Paul Revere’s infamous ride. And when questioned about that – what did the Krazee Kristians do? They tried to rewrite history.
And then – for good measure – SP would throw in the red herring that the liberal media and evil Democrats were out to persecute her because she is a Christian.
DAMN – can’t win with these folks. Using logic and reason does not work with these folks either.
These are the folks that are now what I call the group that is Proud to be Stupid. These folks demonize science and history – if it doers not suit their agenda.
PrairiePopulistsAndProgressives.net 
While eating a hot dog on a roll made from the grains Joseph stored in the pyramids!
Thanks for the good laugh.
This past week has been a hard one for me…….
Carson’s candidacy was troubling to begin with, then it got worse; now it is a disaster. Based on all that, he’ll probably be the Republican nominee.
I suspect Ben Carson will ride the wave of the Evangelical Christians and get very, very close to the nomination and then something will happen that cannot be explained away.
And yet again, the Chamber of Commerce Republicans will do something to get their favored boy into the top spot.
We’ve seen this play out before in the Republican Party – several times.
Ronald Reagan was the doofus that invited Jerry Falwell and his Immorality Boys into the inner sanctum of the Republican Party.
Reagan needed their votes to kick out the one true Christian already in the White House – Jimmy Carter.
But I don’t think Reagan ever really liked these Evangelical Christians and certainly did not do anything for them – nor did Daddy or Baby Bush – during their time in the White House.
These social issues the Evangelicals thrive on are still with us – and George W. Bush had 6 years of total control. What did he ever do about any of those social issues?
These Evangelicals are in the unhappy position of needing the Republicans to throw their weight around – but knowing the Republican Party really doesn’t give a damn about them.
If Republicans lose again in 2016 – I look for a Civil War within the Grand Old Party – or perhaps before we vote in 2016, if these Evangelicals get any sniff of what the Chamber of Commerce Republicans really plan to do with them.
Evangelical Christians are like the crazy girlfriend the football player cannot get rid – after he has used her.
Indy, Reagan didn’t need Jerry Falwell, et al., to win the 1980 election. For better or worse, ABC (anyone but Carter) was going to win.
I believe he brought them in for the same reason Nixon bugged Watergate; he wanted no possibility of any surprises. Or, he wanted to win all 50 states. I don’t know which, it really doesn’t matter and it really didn’t matter for either then. Neither Senator McGovern, in 1972, nor President Carter, in 1980, had the proverbial snowball’s chance of winning. In both cases, forces were unleashed that neither were eventually control to the detriment of the Republic.
But Reagan knew if he had Jerry Falwell and his Evangelicals in his hip pocket – then there would be no chance of the true Christian in the White House being there for the next four years.
I agree Jimmy Carter was a weakened candidate – but I believe Carter was too damn honest for the job of President.
And – Carter was pushing us to get off the damn oil. I think that is basically what got Carter booted out – he dared to try to get this country to get off the addiction to oil and that made the Oil Gods very, very angry.
I was just on a national blog and Ben Carson was on the Christian Broadcasting Network – aka Televangelist Pat Robertson – when he said that this Politico attack on him is nothing more than persecution.
OH God – here we go again….
These Krazee Kristians are on the warpath because they’re being so persecuted when one of their own presidential candidates is questioned about his own statement that he was offered a full four-year scholarship to West Point and he did not even apply to go to West Point.
HOW DARE anybody question Ben Carson…
With that said – I can understand how this could happen. I’ve been in this Evangelical Christian Movement. I’ve listened to more than my share of these people who would come in and give their testimony. And the more things like this being offered a full four year scholarship the person can throw into their testimony – the more whipped up the crowd got.
And the more whipped up the crowd got – the bigger the collection plates.
And that – my friends – might just explain why Ben Carson is in the trouble he is in today?
Or he truly believes he was offered a full four-year scholarship to West Point?
Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t it take a Congressional elected official to recommend you before you get into West Point?
Who was that person that offered Ben all this glory?
An interesting addition to the discussion above. When one is at West Point, there is no scholarship as there is no tuition charged. The cadets are technically on active duty, and draw pay during their four years.
When I read the stuff about a scholarship, I knew it was bogus on the basis of the alleged “scholarship”. And you’re most correct, Indy, about the need for a Congressional appointment.
What gets me is the assumption that because someone is a Christian that means they are stupid and gullible. The amoral Politicians going for the RR vote by saying some of the most outlandish things. BTW I did mention I am not welcome back at Emanuel? I got the word through family. .
R.D. – would Jesus send word through a person’s family that he/she was not welcome to sit and listen to his Sermon on the Mount?
Just asking… LOL
Seriously – I have come to the conclusion there are Christians and then there is a new group which I call the Krazee Kristian Konservatives.
The Krazee Kristian Konservatives is what seems to be the ones with the loudest voice currently in the Grand Old Party.
What gets me is the assumption that one HAS to be a Christian – and no other religion need apply.
Which is contrary to what the Founding Fathers included in our rights as Americans – the Freedom of Religion.
This is short and to the point of why Ben Carson makes up stories and they are believed.
Ben Carson and the Tale of Redemption
http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2015/11/ben-carson-and-tale-redemption
While I was in this Evangelical Christian Movement in the 1970’s, I saw this happen time and time again.
Hell – I even graduated from that Fundy Baptist College in Chattanooga, Tennessee. There were guest speakers like this all the time coming through our campus.
And each and every time – there would be groups of kids going forward after the sermon because God has spoke to them about this or that. And it was just a setting where that type of response is manipulated. It was also a good way to keep the sheeple under control.
I believe people can change their lives. I also believe there is a power source (call it God for a lack of better word?) that people can tap into to find the courage to change their lives.
But I no longer believe that God is some supreme being sitting on some golden throne and just waiting to throw down that fire and brimstone if we dare to step over some certain line God has drawn in the sand.
I no longer believe that this supreme being takes delight in sending folks to Hell for eternity if the person does not say certain words and reads a certain Bible or prays a certain prayer to avoid their eternity in Hell.
I have come to believe I am more of Deist than a Christian. Come to think about it – the Founding Fathers used the term – Creator – a lot in their writings.
Perhaps there were more Deists in that group than these Far Right Winger Kristians want to admit?
I’ve known a lot of people of different religions. The only thing that mattered to me was how they treated me and others. There are bad apples in every bunch – even these Krazee Kristians have their own bad apples.
PS – and in order to change one’s life – one has to have the education and skills to know what to change and how to maintain that change. I also believe that it takes a person willing to look ‘outside the box’ and to ask a lot of hard questions.
Basically, I think we are pre-wired to be the person we are – but I do believe it is possible for people to change bad behaviors.
But it takes more than just reading a certain Bible or praying a certain prayer to get to that better place.
Oh – I just heard Ben Carson himself on morning news t.v. show stating that his staff has found proof of that picture in the Yale News of him being the most honest person and that entire story is true.
Okay – then let’s see the proof…. Show us the long form, Ben.
As for the four year scholarship – Ben is sticking to his guns about that story. He says that he was offered that scholarship.
Perhaps the problem is in how people ‘hear’ this story? When I hear the words ‘four year scholarship’ being used – I assume the person had applied to the school and then was given the scholarship.
Maybe Ben just believes he can take a short cut around the semantics of those words?
To him – some guy telling him that due to his ROTC experience in high school that he would have no problem getting into West Point on a four year scholarship is the same as being offered the scholarship.
But – like the article fnord posted about Ben Carson’s stories – these Evangelicals don’t care about the facts – especially when the ‘liberal media’ can be called out for being evil, sinful and downright mean.
Hell – if Ben Carson cannot stand up to the scrutiny of media at this point in his campaign – then God help us all if he gets elected to be President.
I’ve got a question for Ben Carson that I have not heard or seen has been uttered yet.
Did Ben Carson get any benefit(s) from Affirmative Action to get into Yale or that alleged four year scholarship to West Point?
How much did Ben Carson’s race of being black play into his past experiences?
Of course, asking that could be seen as a two-edged sword. Progressive Democrats are seen as the ones that love the Affirmative Action. But then Conservative Republicans claim to hate it – but yet they don’t see anything wrong with one of their own flavor-of-the-month boys using that evil government program?
Ah, what am I saying? Republicans also claim to hate the welfare leeches but yet applaud when their favorite corporations get their welfare checks in the form of subsidies/special tax breaks.’
Yes, as to the AA inquiry. Many, if not most, African-Americans being admitted to Ivy League and then professional schools benefited from such policies when Dr. Carson was coming up (he’s a year younger than I); proportionately fewer, but still a substantial number, when Pres. Obama was being educated.
I suspected Ben Carson is nothing more than the 2016 version of Sarah Palin in 2008.
Remember that woman?
She would also say the same type of nonsensical statements and then when questioned about it from the media (which is their job, BTW) – then somehow it was the media’s fault for daring to question her. But what really got me about SP was this Word Salad talk would spew from her mouth and every Krazee Kristian Konservative ate it up like it was cotton candy.
I still remember Sarah Palin’s version of Paul Revere’s infamous ride. And when questioned about that – what did the Krazee Kristians do? They tried to rewrite history.
And then – for good measure – SP would throw in the red herring that the liberal media and evil Democrats were out to persecute her because she is a Christian.
DAMN – can’t win with these folks. Using logic and reason does not work with these folks either.
These are the folks that are now what I call the group that is Proud to be Stupid. These folks demonize science and history – if it doers not suit their agenda.