Dr. Ben Carson preparing to announce his candidacy for POTUS

[Jack Davenport]

http://dailycaller.com/2013/03/19/ben-carsons-most-surprising-policy-positions/

Dr. Ben Carson is a conservative star on the rise, but at least one of his policy ideas might cause the Republican leadership to do a double-take. In an interview with The Daily Caller, Carson said he opposed the invasions of both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The famed neurosurgeon and rising conservative voice said he sent a letter to President George W. Bush sometime after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 and before the U.S. invaded Iraq in March 2003.

“I actually wrote President Bush a letter before the war started and I said, you know, what I would do is I would use the bully pulpit at this moment of great national unity and, very much in a Kennedy-esque type fashion, say within 10 years we’re going to become petroleum independent,” Carson told TheDC.

“And that would’ve been much more effective than going to war because, first of all, the moderate Arab states would’ve been terrified. And they would’ve handed over Osama Bin Laden and anybody else we wanted on a silver platter to keep us from doing that.”

“Most importantly,” he added, “the terrorists will be defunded, and that’s the way you get to them.”

Interesting perspective. I was not aware of this letter that he sent to GWB until recently.

I believe he was right.




I am not one of those ready to anoint him as nominee as some conservatives are but I will certainly be paying close attention to him if these reports are true.

 

[Mayhem]

President Warren should definitely look at this guy as a potential Surgeon General. It's a good, opposition Party posting.

See what I did there?

 

[pool_hustler]

I think it would have been incumbent upon Dr. Carson to outline exactly how we'd have achieved that, or his bully pulpit would have been seen as merely bull.
Now, if there are other "letters" or documents detailing his plan to accomplish that goal, THOSE I'd like to see.
Otherwise it's just so much puffery.

Furthermore, as I recall we only import about 12% of our oil from the Persian Gulf, and roughly 8% of that from Saudi Arabia. The Asian market for middle eastern oil totally dwarfs ours. North and South America together only import 20 percent of Saudi crude oil exports, and only 5 percent of Saudi refined exports.
The European market is about the same size as ours (when combining crude and refined products). In other words, the moderate Arab states aren't nearly as dependent on us as Dr. Carson seemed/seems to think.

From his first emergence as a possible presidential candidate conservatives excoriated Obama as not being qualified for the job. How many thousands of times have we heard him referred to as nothing more than "a community organizer", when in fact his resume included being president of the Harvard Law Review, a lengthy stint as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, two terms as a state senator, and one as a U.S. senator?

Apart from being a pediatric neurosurgeon, what exactly are Doctor Carson's qualifications?

I know he's also a very devout 7th Day Adventist, but I wouldn't consider that a positive thing. In fact, it concerns me.
In 2013, Carson told Fox's Sean Hannity that "If the Lord grabbed me by the collar and made me do it (run for president)," he would do it.
If he's ready to announce his candidacy, apparently Dr. Carson believes he's felt that grab.
This sounds dangerously similar to GW Bush's assertion that God wanted him to run for President (and later also to invade Iraq). And how did all that turn out?
I'm very uncomfortable with presidents who believe they take their marching orders directly from God. That's borderline fanaticism. What we need are men of more mainstream faith, like Lincoln as one for instance, who are humble before God, pray for his favor, but admit they can't possibly know His mind.

 

[Mayhem]

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to pool_hustler again.

Creationists scare the hell out of me. The Theory of Evolution is not a theory. And those who deny the simplist of facts are not people I want to see in power.
^^^ This isn't just a talking point with me. I've worked with religeous fanatics. They are scary people. As God is my witness (ironically) one guy I knew didn't think he needed to perform routine maintenence on his Army vehicle because God would keep it running for him.

Michelle Bachmann claimed that God told her to run for President. Considering how things worked out, what are we to make of this?

From his first emergence as a possible presidential candidate conservatives excoriated Obama as not being qualified for the job. How many thousands of times have we heard him referred to as nothing more than "a community organizer", when in fact his resume included being president of the Harvard Law Review, a lengthy stint as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, two terms as a state senator, and one as a U.S. senator?

Apart from being a pediatric neurosurgeon, what exactly are Doctor Carson's qualifications?

Exactly!!! :thumbsup: :clap:

 

[Jack Davenport]

I think it would have been incumbent upon Dr. Carson to outline exactly how we'd have achieved that, or his bully pulpit would have been seen as merely bull.
Now, if there are other "letters" or documents detailing his plan to accomplish that goal, THOSE I'd like to see.
Otherwise it's just so much puffery.

Furthermore, as I recall we only import about 12% of our oil from the Persian Gulf, and roughly 8% of that from Saudi Arabia. The Asian market for middle eastern oil totally dwarfs ours. North and South America together only import 20 percent of Saudi crude oil exports, and only 5 percent of Saudi refined exports.
The European market is about the same size as ours (when combining crude and refined products). In other words, the moderate Arab states aren't nearly as dependent on us as Dr. Carson seemed/seems to think.

From his first emergence as a possible presidential candidate conservatives excoriated Obama as not being qualified for the job. How many thousands of times have we heard him referred to as nothing more than "a community organizer", when in fact his resume included being president of the Harvard Law Review, a lengthy stint as a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago, two terms as a state senator, and one as a U.S. senator?

Apart from being a pediatric neurosurgeon, what exactly are Doctor Carson's qualifications?

I know he's also a very devout 7th Day Adventist, but I wouldn't consider that a positive thing. In fact, it concerns me.
In 2013, Carson told Fox's Sean Hannity that "If the Lord grabbed me by the collar and made me do it (run for president)," he would do it.
If he's ready to announce his candidacy, apparently Dr. Carson believes he's felt that grab.
This sounds dangerously similar to GW Bush's assertion that God wanted him to run for President (and later also to invade Iraq). And how did all that turn out?
I'm very uncomfortable with presidents who believe they take their marching orders directly from God. That's borderline fanaticism. What we need are men of more mainstream faith, like Lincoln as one for instance, who are humble before God, pray for his favor, but admit they can't possibly know His mind.

He was a professor not only a practicing physician. He also is a business owner. Being that you have a problem with candidates of profound religious faith, I'll pencil you in as a no vote for any candidate in the future that professes their belief in the Qu'ran or is a follower of Islam.

 

[mikexmoran]

President Warren should definitely look at this guy as a potential Surgeon General. It's a good, opposition Party posting.

See what I did there?

Mayhem, as I look at those being talked about from both major parties, I would be very ok with this suggestion or something similar to it.

I'd also be very ok with it being vice versa. Right now, as unrealisticl as it may or may not be, I'm hoping that I have to choose between these two.

 

[xfire]

I live in a small rural town in Deep East Texas. We've got two flavors of Baptist, American Baptist Association and Southern Baptist Convention, United Methodists, several independent Pentecostal congregations, and a recent flock of weirdos that are more of cult in the vein of the Westboro Baptist Church than anything else. Where each person attends Sunday service, or if they don't at all is pretty much common knowledge, not only here, but pretty much uniform in the region. Point being that no one really cares where you go to church, or if you go at all. Why is it that the GOP makes religion such a prominent theme in it's party line? I don't get it, don't want to get it, and don't understand why people that otherwise don't care what religion other people are all of a sudden make it an issue in politics. I guarandamntee you that they don't live a "godly" life 24/7, regardless of how "devout" they claim to be, and I don't give a shit if they do or don't, but come on, if you make that a party priority you better live it as well as preach it or shut the fuck about it.

 

[Jack Davenport]

The question should be posed to all of you that don't want a deeply religious candidate...

Then why in the hell did you vote for this guy?

 

[xfire]

The question should be posed to all of you that don't want a deeply religious candidate...

Then why in the hell did you vote for this guy?

Apparently you didn't watch the video, nothing there for the anti-religious to get worked up about. Funny, you're characterizing Obama as "deeply religious", many on your side disagree, at least with which religion he's deeply devoted to. I don't care about a candidates religion, nor their depth of devotion to it, as long as they don't make an issue of it I won't.

 

[pool_hustler]

why in the hell did you vote for this guy?

Obama is a sincere man of faith, but he's not a fundamentalist/evangelical Christian; he doesn't claim to have a direct pipeline to God.

In the video he definitively states that whatever his personal beliefs, as president he would never impinge on the civil rights of others based on those beliefs. He was always opposed to various defense of marriage amendments.
Clearly he's a proponent of the separation of church and state, which of course democrats/liberals see as a critical core issue.

Carson is a concern in that respect. While he claims to support that principle, his rhetoric is so heavily laced with religiosity that one wonders just how supportive he might in fact be.

There is another element of 7th Day Adventism that really concerns me when it comes to having one as president. Will save that for a later post.

 

[sean miguel]

Again, I like Ben Carson alot but he'd win South Carolina in the primaries at the most before he'd have to bow out.

This is between Jeb Bush and Mitt Romney.

Sometimes the candidate you like the most is unelectable (Sanders, Warren, Dean, etc.)

 

[bobjustbob]

JFK was the first Catholic elected as President. Was it a big deal? Only to Catholics. Did JFK look to shape the nation to his religious convictions? No. And you really can't do that because we have checks and balances. Those checks and balances want to get re-elected so they will stay pretty much not shifting their religious convictions. This fear of Obama being a Muslim hasn't handed this country over to terrorists. So let's toss this whole thing about Huckabee and other vocally religious candidates out the window. Give me an executive that can manage and make decisions.

 

[sean miguel]

JFK was the first Catholic elected as President. Was it a big deal? Only to Catholics. Did JFK look to shape the nation to his religious convictions? No. And you really can't do that because we have checks and balances. Those checks and balances want to get re-elected so they will stay pretty much not shifting their religious convictions. This fear of Obama being a Muslim hasn't handed this country over to terrorists. So let's toss this whole thing about Huckabee and other vocally religious candidates out the window. Give me an executive that can manage and make decisions.

W. was an evangelical christian, his attorney general Ashcroft moreso. Did that usher in a puritanical age in this country? Not that I remember. The far left wants to interfere more with your personal life than the far right does. Was invading Iraq a strategic blunder? It appears so, but were Bush's religious convictions to blame? I think it was more his Wilsonianism.

 

[Mayhem]

JFK was the first Catholic elected as President. Was it a big deal? Only to Catholics. Did JFK look to shape the nation to his religious convictions? No. And you really can't do that because we have checks and balances. Those checks and balances want to get re-elected so they will stay pretty much not shifting their religious convictions. This fear of Obama being a Muslim hasn't handed this country over to terrorists. So let's toss this whole thing about Huckabee and other vocally religious candidates out the window. Give me an executive that can manage and make decisions.

W. was an evangelical christian, his attorney general Ashcroft moreso. Did that usher in a puritanical age in this country? Not that I remember. The far left wants to interfere more with your personal life than the far right does. Was invading Iraq a strategic blunder? It appears so, but were Bush's religious convictions to blame? I think it was more his Wilsonianism.

Both these commentaries fall well short of the style of religiosity that Santorum and Bachmann displayed. The Presidents we have hired so far have had an understanding that the will of the people takes precedence over what they feel the will of God is. This is an exercise that requires eternal vigilance.

And Animus, you're full of shit when you say that the Left wants to interfere with personal lives. We're the ones who stand against DOMA, we stand up for minorities, we stand up for gay rights, and we stand up for the people getting hosed by Wall Street. We're the ones who try to insure that all people can have a personal life without the bullshit judgement calls that have rained down from the Right.

And Dubya invading Iraq was nothing more than him throwing American lives into a pointless meat-grinder to make up for Daddy's mishandling of D esert Storm.

 

[sean miguel]

And Animus, you're full of shit when you say that the Left wants to interfere with personal lives.

Really? Are the terms "nanny state" and "cradle to grave" foreign to you? The attempt to ban 32 oz drinks in NYC because your fat ass doesn't know any better?

This is your FDA compliant school lunch:

Then there's the ACA that requires a single male or a woman past child-bearing age to have prenatal coverage.


"If you like your doctor, you can keep your doctor."


But liberals know what's best for us. It's all about that collective.


And political correctness and all of it's effects is a purview of the left.

 

[Jack Davenport]

Apparently you didn't watch the video, nothing there for the anti-religious to get worked up about. Funny, you're characterizing Obama as "deeply religious", many on your side disagree, at least with which religion he's deeply devoted to. I don't care about a candidates religion, nor their depth of devotion to it, as long as they don't make an issue of it I won't.

Oh I watched and I watched the original event too. It doesn't take a courageous person to say all of the things that will get you elected and then revert to what you really believe once you have taken the reigns of power.

Obama is a sincere man of faith, but he's not a fundamentalist/evangelical Christian; he doesn't claim to have a direct pipeline to God.

In the video he definitively states that whatever his personal beliefs, as president he would never impinge on the civil rights of others based on those beliefs. He was always opposed to various defense of marriage amendments.
Clearly he's a proponent of the separation of church and state, which of course democrats/liberals see as a critical core issue.

Carson is a concern in that respect. While he claims to support that principle, his rhetoric is so heavily laced with religiosity that one wonders just how supportive he might in fact be.

There is another element of 7th Day Adventism that really concerns me when it comes to having one as president. Will save that for a later post.

lmao Yeah we were all really concerned about his Black Liberation theology when it comes to having one as president. It wasn't until his reverend feeling drunk on power or the possibility of it, that Obama had to distance himself from him and the church. Will save that for a later post.

The fuck out of here with that yit!

 

[xfire]

Oh I watched and I watched the original event too. It doesn't take a courageous person to say all of the things that will get you elected and then revert to what you really believe once you have taken the reigns of power.

Thanks for describing every politician since forever. Who cares, Obama didn't run on religion, and none of them should.

 

[Jack Davenport]

Thanks for describing every politician since forever. Who cares, Obama didn't run on religion, and none of them should.

I'll give a politician one or two mulligans. Any politician actually. But when one totally deviates from just about everything that they campaigned on that supposedly brought them to the center, I will call them out. I honestly tried to give this guy a chance. When others were bitching when he first assumed office, I told them to give him a chance. It wasn't until about late 2011 that I started complaining.

As for his pipeline to God....

Obama wrote, "I felt God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth."

Let a republican say this exact thing and the left will vapor lock.

 

[pool_hustler]

As for his pipeline to God....

"I felt God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth."

Let a republican say this exact thing and the left will vapor lock.

Not at all. He's talking about a part of his personal path to Christianity. He certainly wasn't born into it, as we all know. He followed that up by saying his decision to be baptized "came about as a choice and not an epiphany; the questions I had did not magically disappear." That's quite a humble departure from those who claim God is telling them to run for president, or invade sovereign nations.

Yeah we were all really concerned about his Black Liberation theology when it comes to having one as president.

What was it about black liberation theology that really concerned you?

And fwiw, I'm not just looking to beat up on Republicans here. It didn't bother me one whit that Romney is a Mormon. As a matter of fact, if it comes down to a choice between him and Hilary in 2016 there's a very good chance I'll be voting Republican.

 

[Mayhem]

I'll give a politician one or two mulligans. Any politician actually. But when one totally deviates from just about everything that they campaigned on that supposedly brought them to the center, I will call them out. I honestly tried to give this guy a chance. When others were bitching when he first assumed office, I told them to give him a chance. It wasn't until about late 2011 that I started complaining.

As for his pipeline to God....

Obama wrote, "I felt God's spirit beckoning me. I submitted myself to His will, and dedicated myself to discovering His truth."

Let a republican say this exact thing and the left will vapor lock.

Jeez, between you, Ace and Sabrina; Selective Quote Patrol is a 24 hour a day job. First of all, the quote had absolutely nothing with running for office. Second, "God's spirit" is a far cry from, "God walked into my house, grabbed a Perrier from the fridge and told me to run for President because, after millions of years, he's highly invested in the next 4. ....And he left the toilet seat up..." And third, no the Left will not vapor lock if a candidate talks about his/her religeous faith. We vapor lock when a candidate makes it clear that strict adherence to the Bible is how he/she is going to be President.