Charles P. Pierce pegs him as a budding John R. Brinkley:
That Dr. Ben Carson, an accomplished man of science, and a gifted physician, and one of the most ridiculous men ever to walk into American public life, has found himself tangled up as a candidate in his earlier career as a pitchman for what the 21st century has for patent medicine, is a development so rich with irony that I have to sit down for a brief nap after having attempted to take the business in whole. Carson has gone from denying any involvement at all, to acknowledging that, yes, he did make some videos in which he seemed to be extolling the virtues of some nostrums brewed up by something called the Mannatech Corporation, to blaming the media for confronting him with the details of his own biography. It's remarkable to me that Carson is audible at all, given the number of cocks that must be crowing in the background when he speaks.We can safely say he "don't know much about history:"
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson once vocalized an odd theory about Egyptian history.
According to a video unearthed by BuzzFeed on Wednesday, Carson posited in a 1998 commencement address at Andrews University that the pyramids in Egypt were used for grain storage rather than as tombs for ancient kings and queens.
"My own personal theory is that Joseph built the pyramids to store grain," Carson said, referring to the Old Testament. "Now all the archeologists think that they were made for the pharaohs’ graves. But, you know, [something to store that grain] would have to be something awfully big, if you stop and think about it."
Carson appeared to be referencing the biblical figure of Joseph, who was sold into slavery in Egypt and later went on to advise the Egyptian pharaoh to store grain due to a coming famine. (our emphasis)But he has a reality- based answer for those who might be concerned about his lack of qualifications:
The problem – one of them, anyway – is that Carson also seems manifestly unqualified to be president of the United States. He’s never sought or held elected office; he has no working understanding of government; and he’s never led anything larger than a medical department.
From someone who believes Darwin's theory of evolution was the Debbil's work, that's at least consistent.The retired right-wing neurosurgeon is aware of these concerns and, late last week, offered a striking response: “It is important to remember that amateurs built the Ark and it was the professionals that built the Titanic.” (our emphasis)
And Charles Pierce ties success of the rube- fleecing back to the most successful right wing huckster of all, St. Ronnie of Hollywood, who sold them on "supply side economics" and more:
O.K., it's a year away from the election and Gentle Ben will have a lot of knives coming at him, just from fellow Republicans. But, beating Hillary Clinton by 10 points?! Rubes rule! Sic transit gloria, America.The process began with Ronald Reagan, the greatest patent-medicine salesman of them all. It was he who marketed the economic snake-oil with a wink and a smile. It was he who taught them how to flex and pose – fiercely denouncing terrorism while selling missiles to the mullahs. It was he who gulled the country with tales of Sandinistas driving jeeps across the Rio Grande, and dangerous Cuban adventurism in Grenada, while Marines were being slaughtered in their barracks. He was the best show in town. The starstruck rubes flocked to see him. The country swallowed the swamproot whole.
Now, because it sold so well, and because the audiences were so easily gulled, that's all there is—a decent vagabonding entertainment, rolling from town to town, pitching signs and wonders and miracle cures and can-I-get-an-Amen? So Doctor Ben Carson once was a front for some magic cancer elixir? What was that, if not the best training you can have to be a Republican candidate for president in the biggest medicine show of them all? (our emphasis)
