Ben Carson: Unfit and Unqualified

Before I get into the Chauncey Gardiner of the 2016 Republican presidential campaign — Remember the movie “Being There”? — allow me to make some brief remarks concerning some of the other candidates.

I understand that repetition is required in politics, but can we please have a moratorium on the following:

“From secretary to CEO.” (Carly Fiorina)

“Make America great again.” (Donald Trump)

“My father was a bartender, my mother a maid.” (Marco Rubio)

“My father was a mailman.” (John Kasich)

One other random observation. I salute and commend the only candidate who does not feel it necessary to wear his patriotism on his lapel: Mike Huckabee. The other nine GOP candidates wear the obligatory American flag pin. This all started with our disgraced President Richard Nixon. Dwight D. Eisenhower and John McCain didn’t feel the need to wear this pin as a badge to show their love of country.

Now to Dr. Ben Carson. Halloween is over, but this guy is downright scary. He calls Obamacare, “the worst thing to happen to America since slavery.” Giving health insurance to 30 million people who didn’t have it before — that’s “slavery”? If that’s not enough, how about this one: The United States is “very much like Nazi Germany.” And on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” he reiterated that abortion should not be allowed even in cases of rape or incest. He said the following: “I would not be in favor of killing a baby because the baby came out in that way.”

All these outrageous and un-presidential statements are always delivered in that calm, reserved, reassuring manner. That, I presume, is to make you believe that this is someone of sound judgment. When Carson isn’t making ridiculous and loony utterances, he is reciting platitudes. One of his favorites is, “We the people.” It’s as if he woke up one day and discovered the U.S. Constitution. He uses this phrase in the most inappropriate of places, making no sense at all.

Back to my opening line referring to movie character Chauncey Gardiner. When Carson is standing on that debate stage, his countenance and appearance register that far-off look of nothingness. He proudly proclaims that he “is not a politician.” Well, I want a politician to be president: somebody who likes and wants to talk and deal with other politicians.

Carson is an outstanding surgeon, exceptional and renowned. That does not qualify him to be president. He’s in the wrong field. GOP voters should get smart and stop being enamored of this highly unqualified individual.