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You are here: Home / Past Elections / Election 2016 / The Carson Show Rolls On

The Carson Show Rolls On

by Zandar|  October 8, 20159:53 am| 247 Comments

This post is in: Election 2016, Republican Stupidity, All we want is life beyond the thunderdome, Decline and Fall, Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week to Stop Sniffing Glue, The Math Demands It, Wingnut Event Horizon

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The petabytes of information that would compose the voluminous tomes of Things Ben Carson Doesn’t Know A Damn Thing About now includes an updated entry on the debt ceiling in this interview with Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal.

Ryssdal: All right, so let’s talk about debt then and the budget. As you know, Treasury Secretary Lew has come out in the last couple of days and said, “We’re gonna run out of money, we’re gonna run out of borrowing authority, on the fifth of November.” Should the Congress then and the president not raise the debt limit? Should we default on our debt?

Carson: Let me put it this way: if I were the president, I would not sign an increased budget. Absolutely would not do it. They would have to find a place to cut.

Ryssdal: To be clear, it’s increasing the debt limit, not the budget, but I want to make sure I understand you. You’d let the United States default rather than raise the debt limit.

Carson: No, I would provide the kind of leadership that says, “Get on the stick guys, and stop messing around, and cut where you need to cut, because we’re not raising any spending limits, period.”

Ryssdal: I’m gonna try one more time, sir. This is debt that’s already obligated. Would you not favor increasing the debt limit to pay the debts already incurred?

Carson: What I’m saying is what we have to do is restructure the way that we create debt. I mean if we continue along this, where does it stop? It never stops. You’re always gonna ask the same question every year. And we’re just gonna keep going down that pathway. That’s one of the things I think that the people are tired of.

Ryssdal: I’m really trying not to be circular here, Dr. Carson, but if you’re not gonna raise the debt limit and you’re not gonna give specifics on what you’re gonna cut, then how are we going to know what you are going to do as president of the United States?

Carson: OK, let me try to explain it in a different way. If, in fact, we have a number of different areas that are contributing to the increasing expenditures and the continued expenditures that are putting us further and further into the hole. You’re familiar I’m sure with the concept of the fiscal gap.

Ryssdal: Why don’t you explain that a little bit, though.

Carson: OK, well, the fiscal gap is all of the unfunded liabilities that the government owes. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, all the departmental programs, all the agency and sub-agency programs extending into the future, which is a lot of money, versus the amount of revenue that we expect to collect from taxes and other revenue sources. Now if we’re being fiscally responsible, those numbers should be fairly close together. If we’re not, a gap begins to occur. We bring that forward to modern day today’s dollars, and that’s the fiscal gap, which sits at over $200 trillion and is continuing to grow. Now the only reason that we can sustain that kind of debt is because of our artificial ability to print money, to create what we think is wealth, but it is not wealth, because it’s based upon our faith and credit. You know, we decoupled it from the domestic gold standard in 1933, and from the international gold standard in 1971, and since that time, it’s not based on anything. Why would we be continuing to do that?

Oh good, in addition to knowing jack squat about foreign policy, criminal justice issues, the workings of the US Constitution, and basic civics, ol Doc McNothins here has no idea how modern macroeconomics works either, because we owe a bajillion zillion trillion dollars in unfunded liabilities because America’s GDP is just going to go to zero tomorrow and how can we pay for Medicare in 2065 because argle bargle collapse of all fiat currency GOLD WEED END THE FED.

Meanwhile, Ben’s over here reading Louie Gohmert’s bookmarked posts on Zero Hedge and going “You know, we don’t really need to pay for budget debts we’ve incurred because I’ll just magically cut waste so we don’t need to ever raise the debt ceiling.”

That seems like it’ll work.  Can’t wait until he overtakes Trump on which cartoon idiot is winning the beauty contest.

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Reader Interactions

247Comments

  1. 1.

    gussie

    October 8, 2015 at 9:55 am

    “Now the only reason that we can sustain that kind of debt is because of our artificial ability to print money.”

    Sovereign nations, how do they work?

  2. 2.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 9:55 am

    We’re all Sarah Palin now.

  3. 3.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 9:56 am

    These people and their supporters are scary clowns. I don’t find them amusing at all.

  4. 4.

    SP

    October 8, 2015 at 9:57 am

    If they believe the quadrillion dollar number, how can they think anything they do do the budget matters? It’s only, what, 14 trillion?

  5. 5.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 9:57 am

    @gussie: So does drugged Ben want to go to barter system now?
    I also don’t understand this fixation with gold that all these crazy cranks seem to have.

  6. 6.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 9:57 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    The “Campaign to Make W. Look Like a Decent President” rolls on.

  7. 7.

    BGinCHI

    October 8, 2015 at 10:00 am

    You know what has “intrinsic value”?

    Nothing.

    Value is relative and created within a particular context.

    There is no economy, period, without this.

    But let’s be totally clear: who benefits if the POTUS is a fucking idiot? Easy answer: those who have power and money. Gosh, even the kind of money that is just “printed” gives you this kind of sway.

  8. 8.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:00 am

    to create what we think is wealth, but it is not wealth, because it’s based upon our faith and credit

    Which I plan to destroy by defaulting on our debts, thus proving that it’s not real wealth.

  9. 9.

    BGinCHI

    October 8, 2015 at 10:02 am

    @Baud: You mean when you are President?

  10. 10.

    Germy Shoemangler

    October 8, 2015 at 10:04 am

    @BGinCHI:

    But let’s be totally clear: who benefits if the POTUS is a fucking idiot? Easy answer: those who have power and money.

    They don’t care if he is a blithering ignorant fool as long as he cuts their taxes and “eases their regulatory burden” and beyond that if he accidentally kills mice he keeps as pets by squeezing them too hard, and then cries about it during the state of the union address… well, it just gives them another excuse to say Government Stupid, Business Smart.

  11. 11.

    MomSense

    October 8, 2015 at 10:04 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    These people and their supporters are scary clowns. I don’t find them amusing at all.

    I agree. This is not funny. They are fools.

  12. 12.

    Punchy

    October 8, 2015 at 10:04 am

    Oh good, in addition to knowing jack squat about foreign policy, criminal justice issues, the workings of the US Constitution, and basic civics, ol Doc McNothins here has no idea how modern macroeconomics works either

    Pretty sure that to ~96.2% of his supporters, this is a feature, not a bug.

  13. 13.

    magurakurin

    October 8, 2015 at 10:05 am

    @BGinCHI: wait? Baud wants to be president? I thought I was supporting his bid for Generalismo and I was eagerly awaiting for his first day in office when he dissolves the Congress. Just president? how droll. Think big.

  14. 14.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:05 am

    @BGinCHI:

    I was taking on Carson’s persona there.

    I will pay all of our debts with platinum coins. I’ll do this even if Congress raises the debt ceiling. Because trillion dollar coins would be pretty cool.

  15. 15.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 10:06 am

    Q: So, Doctor– where, exactly, is the brain located?
    A: The brain is located in the area of the head, which is inserted into an orifice above the legs.

  16. 16.

    Oatler.

    October 8, 2015 at 10:07 am

    Reminds me of the “30 Rock” episode where Jack Donaghy kept trying to promote a conservative candidate (John Slattery) despite the candidate’s looniness.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:07 am

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Even so-called populist Trump has a tax plan that slashes taxes for the rich.

    It’s who they are.

  18. 18.

    magurakurin

    October 8, 2015 at 10:08 am

    @MomSense: What really will cook your noodle is if you fully take in the fact that one of those jokers is most definitely going to get to be the nominee and be on the ballot next November. And they are going to get 48% of the vote. 10’s of millions of people are actually going to vote for one of these assholes. Now, that’s, frickin scary.

  19. 19.

    gussie

    October 8, 2015 at 10:08 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: I suspect that assigning value to printed currency which isn’t inherent in the actual paper offends them. Currency comes from gold like morals come from God.

    They’re essentialists, if that means what I think. Gold IS valuable, you see. Nothing arbitrary about it. Everyone know that. Jesus IS god. By definition. Fiat money is financial idolatry and Muslims can be president as long as they’re Christian.

  20. 20.

    Felonius Monk

    October 8, 2015 at 10:08 am

    @Baud: Would those platinum coins be known as “Megabauds”?

  21. 21.

    BGinCHI

    October 8, 2015 at 10:08 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: Exactly. But of course it’s worse than that. We need government to provide a barrier against the ravages of capitalism (so to speak). In the system we have, government’s role, among other things of course, is to ensure that there is a system that protects the things that the nation holds sacred.

    At least this is how we who are not crazy understand the world to work.

    The nutjobs see government as the enemy of unabashed freedom. But all that will get the less powerful is bashed.

  22. 22.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:09 am

    @magurakurin:

    No, what’s scary is the number of people who should know better but will find an excuse not to vote for the Democratic nominee.

  23. 23.

    BGinCHI

    October 8, 2015 at 10:09 am

    @Baud: This is why I’m wearing my Baud t-shirt and buying a megaphone.

    You are full of ideas of quality.

  24. 24.

    Jack the Second

    October 8, 2015 at 10:11 am

    @gussie: I think KrugMan would tentatively agree with that statement. It’s what separates the UK, US, Japan, etc from Spain and Greece.

    The scariest word in that sentence is “now”. It’s like people saying, “But the only reason people don’t die from splinters is antibiotics”, as if that was a problem.

  25. 25.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:11 am

    @Felonius Monk:

    Would those platinum coins be known as “Megabauds”?

    I already use that term to describe … um… something else.

  26. 26.

    magurakurin

    October 8, 2015 at 10:12 am

    @Baud: that’s just plain sad. I’m pretty sure though that Sanders will tell everyone to support Clinton in the end. Only the ones who were never actually going to vote anyway will stay home or vote third party. It’ll probably be a wash….I hope.

  27. 27.

    David Koch

    October 8, 2015 at 10:14 am

    Remember the wingnut who want to repeal ACA and instead make it possible to pay doctor bills with chickens.

  28. 28.

    Patrick

    October 8, 2015 at 10:14 am

    Now the only reason that we can sustain that kind of debt is because of our artificial ability to print money, to create what we think is wealth, but it is not wealth, because it’s based upon our faith and credit

    Carson is against the Iran deal. So he is in favor either of an expensive war or at the very least increased military expenses to deal with a Iran in a possible military conflict.

    He is so typical of the hypocritical right-winger. They are “against” government debt, but in favor of expensive military spending which would dwarf any savings they claim they are in favor of.

  29. 29.

    David Koch

    October 8, 2015 at 10:15 am

    Sean Sullivan @WaPoSean

    Jeb on whether we should go to gold standard: “I don’t know. I don’t think so. I don’t know for sure.”

    Retweets
    16
    Favorites
    6

    11:10 AM – 7 Oct 2015

    ¿Jeb? isn’t good at this

  30. 30.

    Germy Shoemangler

    October 8, 2015 at 10:15 am

    @BGinCHI:

    The nutjobs see government as the enemy of unabashed freedom.

    I had a lady co-worker who hated Obama from day one. She always repeated stuff she heard from Rush Limbaugh. Her husband was a big influence on her thinking as well. He HATED paying New York taxes. One day she announced they were moving to South Carolina. She said her husband told her taxes were cheaper, and there were less pesky regulations to interfere with his job as a contractor.

    We didn’t stay in touch, so I find myself wondering how they’re doing down there right now. CBS news this morning said something about S. Carolina spending as little as possible on their dams, much less than N. Carolina.

    I also had a neighbor who hated New York. Complained about taxes and regulations. He also moved down south a few years ago. I assume he’s happier.

  31. 31.

    debbie

    October 8, 2015 at 10:16 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    Because the Founders say so, that’s why!

  32. 32.

    BobS

    October 8, 2015 at 10:17 am

    Every time I read or hear Carson’s most recent statement (like this one, apparently from his rigorous study of the Tea Party Economics Primer), my doubts about his purported neurosurgical skill ratchet up just a little bit more. On the other hand, he seems perfectly qualified to play Chance if and when Being There is redone.

  33. 33.

    Ryan

    October 8, 2015 at 10:17 am

    Just… wow. And to think that there are perhaps 80 million people in the US with a similar view and understanding.

  34. 34.

    Patrick

    October 8, 2015 at 10:18 am

    @David Koch:

    A friend recently had surgery where they removed an appendix. The bill came in at $44,000. Most of it of course will be written off with the arrangement with the insurance company. But still; in a world without any regulation or insurance, ie where we pay our hospitals with chickens, $44,000 would amount to a hell of a lot of chickens. Do these idiots ever connect with the REAL world?

  35. 35.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 10:18 am

    @gussie: Winguut fascination with gold rivals that of Indian mamis (aunts) who always want to know how much the piece of jewelry you are wearing weighs. They also want to know your caste.

    My answer to the gold question: its fake
    My answer to the caste question: Bhangi (untouchable sweeper caste)

    They never believe me but that stops their interrogation cold.

  36. 36.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:19 am

    @magurakurin:

    We obviously do better in presidential years. But I’m not happy with all the disillusionment talk among Democrats after 7 years of the best President of our lifetimes. We should be angry at the GOP, but I don’t see it yet.

  37. 37.

    Redshift

    October 8, 2015 at 10:20 am

    A friend of mine who knew someone who had Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (aka mad cow) seriously wonders if Carson has it. She says that his apparent inability to understand how inappropriate the things he’s saying are, and his lack of affect, are very similar to what she observed when the person she knew was in the intermediate stage. And since Carson was doing brain surgery before they knew how to protect against it, it’s plausible he could have been infected.

  38. 38.

    Lihtox

    October 8, 2015 at 10:22 am

    Kudos to Ryssdal for pressing him on the issue.

  39. 39.

    BobS

    October 8, 2015 at 10:24 am

    @magurakurin: Yes and no. Many in that 48% vote Republican simply because it’s their ‘team’, the same way people root for the Tigers, the Yankees, etc. They self-identify as Republicans (or conservatives) even though their views on many social and economic issues would put them on the other side of the political divide.

  40. 40.

    Mark B.

    October 8, 2015 at 10:25 am

    It’s kind of funny that all of the people who are near the top in the Republican primaries have absolutely no experience in governing. But then again, the Republicans have shown time and again that they have no interest in governing, so it’s probably appropriate.

  41. 41.

    WereBear

    October 8, 2015 at 10:26 am

    @magurakurin: 10’s of millions of people are actually going to vote for one of these assholes. Now, that’s, frickin scary.

    And to think we once mocked countries with “decidedly eccentric” leaders. Nixon was a brazen paranoid with all kinds of issues, but he kept it under wraps, dammit!

    —

    And on a side note, you Juicers have been marvy donators to my Way of Cats blog. Thanks to all of you. For the kitties.

  42. 42.

    Punchy

    October 8, 2015 at 10:27 am

    @Patrick: What’s really absurd is that a few drug cocktails, some simple incisions, an extremely routine and rote process to remove a simple-to-find organ, and some sutures could possibly cost the same as a brand new luxury car.

    I’d love to see the line item breakdown of how they justify $44K for something as routine as removing a bum appendix. I’m sure it includes triple-digit fees for each Tylenol and quadruple-digit fees per staple.

  43. 43.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 10:27 am

    @BobS: Social cohesion certainly plays a big role. Also, loyalty may not be specifically to the Republican party– it may be to a Church or to an individual (e.g., Limbaugh or Beck).

  44. 44.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 8, 2015 at 10:27 am

    @Patrick: My son, an athletic person under the age of 30, personally knows two people, also athletic men under the age of 30, who had significant athletic injuries and as a result ended up declaring personal bankruptcy (pre-ACA.) That’s a significant burden on your life for a long time afterward.

  45. 45.

    MomSense

    October 8, 2015 at 10:28 am

    @magurakurin:

    It is frickin scary! I really try not to talk about it on this blog, any blogs for that matter, because I am still pretty burned by my 2014 elections calls. I do not have happy feelings about 2016 but am more than willing to admit it may be because of my experience in 2014.

  46. 46.

    shell

    October 8, 2015 at 10:30 am

    Ryssdal: I’m gonna try one more time, sir.

    Love that. What a nice way of saying ‘Am I talking to a brick wall?’

    And sweet Jesus.. Not the Gold Standard again.

  47. 47.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 10:34 am

    @shell: I suppose I’m missing something, but what value is shiny-yellow-metal going to have if civilization goes away?

  48. 48.

    Mike J

    October 8, 2015 at 10:35 am

    You know, we decoupled it from the domestic gold standard in 1933, and from the international gold standard in 1971, and since that time, it’s not based on anything. Why would we be continuing to do that?

    Why would you base the growth rate of the American economy on the productivity of South African gold miners?

  49. 49.

    shell

    October 8, 2015 at 10:35 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: Maybe they watched Goldfinger one too many times.

  50. 50.

    Brendanyc

    October 8, 2015 at 10:35 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: yes, i have to stop laughing at this stuff–these people are a stone’s throw away from running the largest economy on earth. oh, and it’s my country, too.
    really not so funny if it doesn’t stop soon.

  51. 51.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2015 at 10:37 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I also don’t understand this fixation with gold that all these crazy cranks seem to have.

    If you ask them they just tell you to read the complete works of Murray Rothbard and it will all become clear.

    They tend to be super-paranoid about inflation; they describe it as the destruction of wealth and say no economy can run on wealth destruction, only on production. They insist that fiat currency is an invitation to a hyperinflation catastrophe (Zimbabwe often gets a mention), and seem to like gold in part because they think the labor involved in mining it somehow makes it real; it’s a kind of production process. Or, at least, that’s the most I can make of it.

  52. 52.

    Felonius Monk

    October 8, 2015 at 10:37 am

    @BobS:

    my doubts about his purported neurosurgical skill ratchet up just a little bit more.

    Others have their doubts also:

    2016 contender Ben Carson sued for malpractice at least 6 times, report alleges, including time former surgeon allegedly left sponge inside patient’s brain

  53. 53.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:38 am

    @MattF:

    The lords of the fiefdoms will continue to value it as a symbol of their divine right.

  54. 54.

    Roger Moore

    October 8, 2015 at 10:38 am

    @MattF:

    what value is shiny-yellow-metal going to have if civilization goes away?

    It will make a nice decoration on your skull for whomever is using it as a drinking vessel.

  55. 55.

    C.V. Danes

    October 8, 2015 at 10:39 am

    Perhaps someone should explain to this nimrod in simple terms how debt leverage decreases in a growing economy.

  56. 56.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 10:39 am

    @Matt McIrvin: I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but why base the definition of value in an economic system on the value of a specific commodity? I just don’t get that.

  57. 57.

    RK

    October 8, 2015 at 10:40 am

    Remember that with a strong Christian faith comes humility.

  58. 58.

    Bobby Thomson

    October 8, 2015 at 10:40 am

    In fairness, more than half of elected Republicans and more than 75% of political reporters don’t understand it, either. Probably fewer than 10% of the general population. Most people know fuck all about this sort of thing and Carson is no exception.

  59. 59.

    Jeffro

    October 8, 2015 at 10:40 am

    @Baud: people at my meeting are wondering why I snorted just now…

  60. 60.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 10:41 am

    There will be a House hearing on the VW diesel scandal. I wonder if they will ask the VW President his salary?

  61. 61.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 10:41 am

    @MomSense:

    It is difficult not to despair.

  62. 62.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 10:42 am

    @BGinCHI:

    But let’s be totally clear: who benefits if the POTUS is a fucking idiot?

    We’ve run that experiment, at least twice in recent years. We know the answer.

  63. 63.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 10:43 am

    @Matt McIrvin: So its just another shibboleth that defines the Republican cult.

  64. 64.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:43 am

    @Bobby Thomson:

    Most people know fuck all about this sort of thing and Carson is no exception.

    Carson is an exception because he’s a top contender for a presidential nomination. He needs to know things most of the public does not.

  65. 65.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 10:44 am

    @Brendanyc:

    yes, i have to stop laughing at this stuff–these people are a stone’s throw away from running the largest economy on earth.

    Not to worry. With them in charge, we’ll be #2 in no time at all. (Not that we’re not already getting there, of course.)

  66. 66.

    Patrick

    October 8, 2015 at 10:44 am

    @catclub:

    And come up with a chart that a six-year old could figure out is bogus.

  67. 67.

    Just One More Canuck

    October 8, 2015 at 10:45 am

    @Felonius Monk: bitbauds

  68. 68.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 10:46 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    They tend to be super-paranoid about inflation;

    The Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 failed, and Germany recovered pretty well over the next few years. In 1933, unemployment in Germany was about 47% – and bad things happened. Nonetheless, they worry about inflation.

    Note that in Spain and Greece, unemployment has been around 25% and so far no revolution. The effect of a welfare state.

  69. 69.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:47 am

    @Just One More Canuck:

    I like that. Alternatively, baudcoins.

  70. 70.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2015 at 10:47 am

    @MattF: The dude I knew who went on about this also had that fatalistic cyclic conception of society you sometimes hear from libertarians, in which tyrannies evolve into democracies which inevitably collapse when “the people discover they can vote themselves the treasury”, resulting in anarchy which becomes tyranny again. He seemed to think that not using gold as currency was part of the inevitable collapse mechanism.

    Part of it, I think, is some idea that using a commodity as the basis of a currency untethers it from government control, and they don’t like there to be government control. Though they also tend to think that fractional-reserve banking is evil, and forcing all banks to have gold bullion on hand to cover all deposits would involve much more government control.

    I don’t know, I’ve never been able to make sense of it myself.

  71. 71.

    Mark B.

    October 8, 2015 at 10:47 am

    @Matt McIrvin: Having currency based on a more or less limited commodity is a theoretical hedge against hyperinflation, since the government or banks can’t arbitrarily flood the market with currency. But that argument works as well with digital currency like Bitcoin which has a limited supply as it does with gold. It’s no accident that they call creating new Bitcoins to be mining. And I’m not a fan of crypto currency, I’m just pointing out the similarity.

  72. 72.

    Bobby Thomson

    October 8, 2015 at 10:48 am

    @Baud: you know the difference between a positive/descriptive statement and a normative/prescriptive one, right? As a voter, that’s important to me.

  73. 73.

    cmorenc

    October 8, 2015 at 10:48 am

    For all his advanced degrees in becoming a neurosurgeon, Dr. Carson’s channeling Sarah Palin in giving word-salad answers that, to the extent they are intelligible, express world-class stupidity and ignorance.

    At least Jeb! is merely corrupt and of mediocre mind, and would at least bring competent crooks aboard his government who understand that keeping the money skim off of society going for rich folks depends on not actually breaking government, merely co-opting it and shucking off the parts they can’t profitably skim off of.

  74. 74.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 10:48 am

    @Patrick:

    But still; in a world without any regulation or insurance, ie where we pay our hospitals with chickens, $44,000 would amount to a hell of a lot of chickens.

    Or one very big one.

    What?

  75. 75.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 10:48 am

    @catclub:

    There will be a House hearing on the VW diesel scandal. I wonder if they will ask the VW President his salary?

    Doubtful. But they WILL determine that there were e-mails, relating to the whole plan, on Hillary’s e-mail server.

    And, in a rational world, the previous sentence would be considered a little nutso. But with Gowdy, Issa, Chaffetz, and the rest of the RWTMs running the show, not any more.

  76. 76.

    Skippy-san

    October 8, 2015 at 10:48 am

    I listened to that interview. It would have made a hell of a drinking game. Carson answered no questions and in fact contradicted himself twice. ( PS Lean Six Sigma is used by the government and he should know this). Basically it was buzzword bingo. Every time Carson says a wingnut platitude, take a drink. By the end of the interview you will be naked, face down on the floor.

  77. 77.

    benw

    October 8, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @Cervantes:

    We’ve run that experiment, at least twice in recent years. We know the answer.

    Almost every American – on each side of the political divide – believes this to be true.

  78. 78.

    Mike J

    October 8, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @catclub: If I could question him, I would bring up the $120,000 fine VW paid in the 70s for installing testing defeat devices on cars. $120,000 was obviously far, far, far too low to make an impact on them. How many tens of billions should the fine be to make them think we’re actually serious?

  79. 79.

    CONGRATULATIONS!

    October 8, 2015 at 10:49 am

    Disasterpiece Theater.

  80. 80.

    Poopyman

    October 8, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @Jeffro:

    people at my meeting are wondering why I snorted just now…

    Give ’em a dirty look and say it’s because they woke you out of a sound sleep. That always works for me.

    I’m getting tired of reminding people (irl) that half the population is of below average intelligence. And that usually comes up when they’re wondering why someone would vote for Candidate X. Why is it that the mouth-breathers are always so motivated to vote, and thoughtful people less so? I know, it’s a question as old as the Republic, but there’s gotta be a way.

  81. 81.

    Matt McIrvin

    October 8, 2015 at 10:49 am

    @Mark B.: Bitcoin was definitely the creation of people with similar sympathies. The way they made sure the total store is finite and the bitcoins get harder and harder to “mine” was, I think, a very deliberate attempt to make it something like gold.

  82. 82.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 10:50 am

    @Baud:

    But I’m not happy with all the disillusionment talk among Democrats after 7 years of the best President of our lifetimes.

    Would you say you are disillusioned by it?

  83. 83.

    Just One More Canuck

    October 8, 2015 at 10:50 am

    @Baud: I’ll be your Treasury Secretary, or your ambassador to Monaco

  84. 84.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 10:51 am

    OK, well, the fiscal gap is all of the unfunded liabilities that the government owes. … We bring that forward to modern day today’s dollars, and that’s the fiscal gap, which sits at over $200 trillion and is continuing to grow.

    Gibberish on top of gibberish. No idea that the economy can grow. And grow faster than the liabilities.

  85. 85.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:52 am

    @Cervantes:

    Yes!

  86. 86.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:53 am

    @Just One More Canuck:

    How about both? My economic plan involves roulette and craps.

  87. 87.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 10:53 am

    @Cervantes: Some chicken, … some neck.

  88. 88.

    Belafon

    October 8, 2015 at 10:54 am

    @Baud: And when the stock market finds out just how much of its wealth is based on the “full faith and credit” Carson will be in a world of trouble.

  89. 89.

    Mark B.

    October 8, 2015 at 10:55 am

    @catclub: Here’s the story (1978 TV miniseries penned by Alex Haley)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmx1lGLKNFA

  90. 90.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 10:55 am

    @Felonius Monk: That’s not a problem. The repubs want to rid us of the availability to sue doctors.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    October 8, 2015 at 10:55 am

    @SFAW:

    Plus I feel responsible for the human beings I have brought into the world and their generation who are looking to adults to do the right thing.

  92. 92.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 10:56 am

    @Matt McIrvin: It’s one of those long lines of reasoning in which each individual statement is nonsense, but people believe that the argument makes sense ‘as a whole’.

  93. 93.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:57 am

    @MomSense:

    That’s just momsense.

  94. 94.

    MomSense

    October 8, 2015 at 10:58 am

    @Baud:

    Carson is an exception because he’s a top contender for a presidential nomination. He needs to know things most of the public does not.

    And how much self delusion and nerve do you need to think you can run a country like the USA when you don’t know how basic things work?

  95. 95.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2015 at 10:58 am

    Despite being ignorant, Carson is not going to be president. He’s not even going to be the R nominee. At the moment, they are just playing games.

  96. 96.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 10:59 am

    @MomSense:

    Take it from me, quite a lot.

  97. 97.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 10:59 am

    @Just One More Canuck:

    I’ll be your long-haired lover from Liverpool, you’ll be my sunshine lady from LA.

  98. 98.

    Belafon

    October 8, 2015 at 11:00 am

    @Baud:

    We should be angry at the GOP, but I don’t see it yet.

    As if being angry at the GOP is reason for Democrats to vote.

    I’m being sarcastic, but a lot of Democrats say that with a straight face.

  99. 99.

    GregB

    October 8, 2015 at 11:00 am

    Carson is a neo-wingnut convert just like Glenn Beck. The only difference is Glenn Beck was a coke snorting disc jockey most of his life who never followed politics and Carson was a surgeon who likely spent most of his time studying medicine.

    Carson’s latest foot in mouth is stating that he was held up but convinced the gunman to point his weapon at someone else.

    Thus betraying his previously most stupid comment of the day when he said people being held by a gunman should rush the shooter.

  100. 100.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:01 am

    @Poopyman:

    Why is it that the mouth-breathers are always so motivated to vote, and thoughtful people less so? I know, it’s a question as old as the Republic, but there’s gotta be a way.

    And yet they’re the ones that the Rethugs DON’T try to prevent from voting.

    I always find it ironic, in a sick sort of way, that the wingnut pundits talk how about certain peoples should not be allowed to vote, because they’re part of Group X, and therefore cannot make intelligent choices when it comes to voting. The irony, of course, is that there have been a few studies showing that the red states wind up near the bottom of the education continuum. And, although being better-educated is not a guarantee of being able to think critically, I would think there’s a relatively high positive correlation.

    I’m sure the Rethugs will work on disenfranchising them any day now.

  101. 101.

    Belafon

    October 8, 2015 at 11:02 am

    Ben Carson: I got held up once at Popeye’s — but I told the gunman to rob an employee, instead

    “Guy comes in, put the gun in my ribs,” Carson said.

    …

    “I just said, ‘I believe that you want the guy behind the counter,’” Carson said.

    The retired brain surgeon did not explain what happened next.

  102. 102.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 11:03 am

    @GregB: It’s like, “I used to be a liberal, but then I had a head injury.”

  103. 103.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:03 am

    @GregB:
    @Belafon:

    Wonderful. Just wonderful.

  104. 104.

    Felonius Monk

    October 8, 2015 at 11:04 am

    @Baud:

    That’s just momsense.

    That does it. You’ve got my vote, no matter what.

  105. 105.

    mak

    October 8, 2015 at 11:04 am

    @Redshift: I’ve been trying to figure out who Carson’s affect reminds me of, and I think this is it: Damon Wayans as Anton the Homeless Person from Living Color.

  106. 106.

    Felonius Monk

    October 8, 2015 at 11:05 am

    @MattF: It makes one wonder if he practiced brain surgery on himself.

  107. 107.

    MomSense

    October 8, 2015 at 11:07 am

    @Felonius Monk:

    My vote, too!

    Disclaimer: Baud did promise me I could chair National Endowment for the Arts. Don’t tell anyone but I plan to bring the sexy back.

  108. 108.

    Felonius Monk

    October 8, 2015 at 11:09 am

    @MomSense: Sounds good to me. I guess I’ll vote twice then.

  109. 109.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:09 am

    @Belafon:

    I’m being sarcastic, but a lot of Democrats say that with a straight face.

    Who the fuck are you to trash me if I think a Dem candidate does not support – nay PUSH for – every single policy point I want, and therefore doesn’t deserve my vote?

    I’ll show you! Where’s my Mumia sweatshirt?

  110. 110.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 11:11 am

    This was the last question…
    Ryssdal: Not that I’m implying that you necessarily need it, but who do you get your economic advice from? Who are your advisers on your campaign staff?

    Carson: Well, I have a number of economic advisers. Tom Rustici is the primary one but we have a number of very, very excellent people.

  111. 111.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:13 am

    @MomSense:

    Baud did promise me I could chair National Endowment for the Arts.

    Actually, m’dear, I think what he probably said was something along the lines of his own “National Endowment.” Sorry to burst your bubble.

  112. 112.

    Amir Khalid

    October 8, 2015 at 11:13 am

    @JPL:

    Ryssdal: Not that I’m implying that you necessarily need it,

    Do I detect a whiff of sarcasm?

  113. 113.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:15 am

    @JPL:

    Carson neglected to mention Milo Minderbinder as his Chief Economist.

  114. 114.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:15 am

    Via @SFAW:

    stopping only to cast their votes by throwing Magic Wishing Rocks into the Well of Laughter, Comity, and Good Intentions.

    We don’t live there?

  115. 115.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:15 am

    @Amir Khalid:

    Wow, you can smell it all the way over there? Damn, you’re good.

  116. 116.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:16 am

    @Cervantes:

    We don’t live there?

    Too many people think we do.

  117. 117.

    benw

    October 8, 2015 at 11:16 am

    @Baud:

    That’s just momsense.

    Dude, save a zinger like that for the debates!

    @JPL:

    Well, I have a number of economic advisers.

    Carson’s got advisors like Trump’s got black friends!

  118. 118.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 11:17 am

    Carson wants to go back to the time when all those nice people built our country. Next time maybe he’ll explain why the Triangle shirtwaist factory fire was a good thing. Child labor kept the urchins off the street, too.

    Ryssdal: Last thing, sir, and then I’ll let you go. I appreciate your time. A lot of what we have talked about today is very large in scope. But the economy, as it works in reality, is person-by-person, as I’m sure you can appreciate. So my question to you is, what do you think the economy feels like today, to the average participant in it, making $53,000 — the median salary — trying to get by, car payments, home payments, the whole deal. What does it feel like to that person out there?

    Carson: I think it feels very, very frightening. And you know, that’s what I was talking about when I’m talking about the regulations and how they hit that person. And talking about the fact that they cannot seem to grow their money, and they see this income gap widening, and they’re feeling that they’re being left behind. And I think we need to readjust our policies and aim them, once again at the middle class. Recognizing that that’s how this nation quickly reached the pinnacle in the beginning. We emphasized education. And we had people who, quite frankly, were very wealthy. You know, the Europeans, they looked over here and they saw the Rockefellers, and the Vanderbilts, and the Fords, and the Kelloggs, and the Carnegies, and the Mellons, and they said you can’t run a country like that. You’ve gotta have an overarching government that receives all the funding and equity that redistributes it, so we actually inspired socialism. But all of those people that I just mentioned, they didn’t just hoard money and pass it down from generation to generation, they built the infrastructure of our country. They build the transcontinental railroads and seaports and textile mills and factories that enabled the development of the most powerful and dynamic middle class the world has ever seen, which rapidly propelled us to the pinnacle. That’s what we have to start thinking about once again.

  119. 119.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 11:20 am

    @Skippy-san: I just read the interview and I’m sickened that the media is promoting him as a serious candidate.

  120. 120.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:21 am

    Via @JPL:

    Well, I have a number of economic advisers. Tom Rustici is the primary one but we have a number of very, very excellent people.

    Tom Rustici? Crikey.

    I adore these “taxation is slavery” people. With a straight face they will tell you that our Founders considered all forms of taxation to be slavery, and how much they hated it therefore.

  121. 121.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:22 am

    @JPL:

    Wow. What a fucking moron. Or a fucking loon. Or both.

  122. 122.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:23 am

    Via @JPL:

    Ryssdal: So my question to you is, what do you think the economy feels like today, to the average participant in it, making $53,000 — the median salary — trying to get by, car payments, home payments, the whole deal. What does it feel like to that person out there?

    That’s the median household income. It’s not “the median salary.”

  123. 123.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 11:23 am

    @Cervantes:

    Hatred of taxation is obviously why they replaced the Articles of Confederation with the Constitution.

  124. 124.

    Peale

    October 8, 2015 at 11:24 am

    @Cervantes: Well to be fair, if they knew one thing well, it was coming up for justifications for slavery in a supposedly democratic republic.

  125. 125.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:25 am

    @SFAW:

    And you’re pretty sure we don’t, I take it.

  126. 126.

    SatanicPanic

    October 8, 2015 at 11:25 am

    @Belafon: “When confronted with a gun I threw a minimum wage worker under the bus. Nevertheless, if I am not in the room, I will call you a chump for not banding together and rushing a gunman. I am Ben Carson and I approve this message.”

  127. 127.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:27 am

    @Cervantes:

    Correct.

  128. 128.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 11:28 am

    @Cervantes: Thanks, I didn’t catch that point.

  129. 129.

    MomSense

    October 8, 2015 at 11:29 am

    @SFAW:

    Behave!

  130. 130.

    pseudonymous in nc

    October 8, 2015 at 11:29 am

    Carson is a good reminder that brain surgeons are basically major-league car mechanics and you wouldn’t want the person who fixes your Subaru to be president.

    Btw, is anyone going to show up to Carson’s events with a paintball rifle (or a dozen eggs and a catapult) to test Mr Surgery’s hypothesis?

  131. 131.

    Mike in NC

    October 8, 2015 at 11:30 am

    @JPL: Sleepy Ben has binders full of advisors.

  132. 132.

    Felonius Monk

    October 8, 2015 at 11:31 am

    @Baud: Are you by any chance running on a “No Tacks” platform?

    /Vote for Baud. Vote Early – Vote Often – Vote Everywhere.

  133. 133.

    Sherparick

    October 8, 2015 at 11:32 am

    Unfortunately, this makes him no different than a majority of House Republicans, Republican Senators, the majority of Republican Senators, and, unfortunately a significant number of Democratic congress creatures and policy makers, as well as significant number of economic and business elite who put all these people in office with their contributions.

  134. 134.

    gelfling545

    October 8, 2015 at 11:33 am

    @Germy Shoemangler: Who said it when Romney was running? That they don’t need a genius, just someone who can hold a pen?

  135. 135.

    Grumpy Code Monkey

    October 8, 2015 at 11:34 am

    @BobS:

    Every time I read or hear Carson’s most recent statement (like this one, apparently from his rigorous study of the Tea Party Economics Primer), my doubts about his purported neurosurgical skill ratchet up just a little bit more.

    By the accounts I’ve heard, he is truly gifted in his particular field. If we had the need and the means, I would not object to him working on me or anyone in my family, religion and politics be damned.

    But being a gifted neurosurgeon means dick-all when it comes to governing a large, diverse, and increasingly insane nation. It’s an entirely different skill set which he simply doesn’t appear to possess.

    Shit, Carly and Trump at least have management experience.

  136. 136.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:37 am

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    Btw, is anyone going to show up to Carson’s events with a paintball rifle

    Hope not.

  137. 137.

    gelfling545

    October 8, 2015 at 11:37 am

    So my question to you is, what do you think the economy feels like today, to the average participant in it, making $53,000 — the median salary

    When did the median become the same as the mean?

  138. 138.

    Mandalay

    October 8, 2015 at 11:37 am

    @Patrick:

    A friend recently had surgery where they removed an appendix. The bill came in at $44,000.

    And it costs $44,000 because that is what the market will bear – the “free market” at work.

    Carson says that he would like to run government like a business, but there is no justification for that. Unlike corporations, governments are inherently about the self-interest of others, not themselves.Concepts like maximizing profits, shareholder return, speculative ventures, profits and bonuses just don’t make any sense when it comes to running government, but the silly notion persists.

    Running government like a business is as absurd and meaningless as a pilot flying a plane like a neurosurgeon.

  139. 139.

    Tommy

    October 8, 2015 at 11:37 am

    @MomSense: My dad likes guns. It would never go his mind to think it stop to shorter. Dad is a badass mother fucker. He jokes at us. I dso not know a single person that doesn’t like guns and where we can’t get all of then via the State.

  140. 140.

    nominus

    October 8, 2015 at 11:37 am

    Carson just exhibits a peculiar kind of arrogance often found in intelligent people; he has knowledge and skills for something in particular that few people have. After years of practicing said skill, he makes the false logical conclusion that he must be uniquely skilled/intelligent in everything: why else is he so successful? Clearly he must know a lot about everything. People come to this false conclusion all the time, which explains why so many people fall for his stupidity and continue to think that he’s an intelligent man.

    He’s not especially brilliant, he’s just very skilled at one thing in particular that he doesn’t even practice any longer.

  141. 141.

    amk

    October 8, 2015 at 11:37 am

    @JPL:

    Not that I’m implying that you necessarily need it,

    LOL. Nicely done, reporter.

  142. 142.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2015 at 11:41 am

    @gelfling545: You would not believe how many English graduate students I’ve tried to explain that to. I usually make the point by saying that if Bill Gates was in the room, the mean income would get a lot higher, but they still would be broke.

  143. 143.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 11:41 am

    @Mandalay: Maybe he means he is going to run the government like Enron.

  144. 144.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:43 am

    @gelfling545:

    So my question to you is, what do you think the economy feels like today, to the average participant in it, making $53,000 — the median salary

    When did the median become the same as the mean?

    That number is the median household income.

    Mean (or average) household income is in the vicinity of $70K, skewed upwards by off-the-chart numbers at the high end of the distribution.

  145. 145.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 11:43 am

    @gelfling545: I think it was Grover Norquist. It might have been somebody in the Viguerie mold. (Is Viguerie still alive?)

  146. 146.

    ThresherK (GPad)

    October 8, 2015 at 11:43 am

    @Lihtox: Especially from Risdall. I would like more of that from him.

    I mean, is Marketplace ever confused with left-wing economists, or “shaking things up (in a different way than CNBC/FBN)”?

  147. 147.

    Elie

    October 8, 2015 at 11:49 am

    @Baud:

    Who knew that Sarah Palin would become the model for ALL Republican candidates? I never would have thought that, but there it is. Listening to and watching Carson is to know that there is quantum stupidity. That your brain can simultaneously have an IQ of 10 and 160. How do the neurons do that? Are there specific sectors for the stupid? He would be an interesting science experiment. They should set him up for a Pet scan to see what regions of his brain get more active when he talks about how rushing a gunman is wise or when he is talking about the debt ceiling. Does it all come from one single area?

    As I have said many times, this guy is a megalomaniac sociopath. He scares me more than Trump.

  148. 148.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 11:50 am

    @Cervantes: Google says that the median wage per person is $26,695.

  149. 149.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:51 am

    @MomSense:

    Yes, mom.

  150. 150.

    SFAW

    October 8, 2015 at 11:53 am

    @Elie:

    set him up for a Pet scan to see what regions of his brain

    Will the Pet scan show us that he raises weevils or earwigs in his braims?

  151. 151.

    Bill Arnold

    October 8, 2015 at 11:53 am

    @ThresherK (GPad):

    I mean, is Marketplace ever confused with left-wing economists,

    I listen to it many days on my commute, and seriously, Kai Ryssdal often appears to allow a closeted populist, left of center viewpoint to influence his questions. Also, he did (maybe is still doing) a road-trip-by-plane with James Fallows.

  152. 152.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 11:54 am

    @Elie: I have to agree. The man is totally unhinged and cray cray.
    Trump seems to be governed mainly by self interest. Hence Carson is more scary.

  153. 153.

    Josie

    October 8, 2015 at 11:55 am

    The little bit of Morning Joe I saw today showed a focus group in either Iowa or New Hampshire in which all eleven participants would vote for Carson because he is a soft spoken “nice Christian gentleman.” They also agreed with his stance on Muslims. I wanted to throw up. Even Joe was a little taken aback by their attitude.

  154. 154.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    October 8, 2015 at 11:55 am

    @Redshift: That’s a good point; he really does seem to demonstrate some cognitive, er, issues. The argument against her idea is that CJD is so rare. Although I did work with a man whose ex had it, and he spent a lot of time with her in her final months.

  155. 155.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 11:56 am

    @MattF:

    Google says that the median wage per person is $26,695.

    There are still a lot of complicated things to work out from this.
    1. Does it assume everyone works? What fraction are in the wage-earning category? Children? Seniors?
    2. What about non-wage income?

    I was pretty sure that median household income is $53k, and I had assumed that was about 2 people per household.

    Is that what this $26.6k comes from?

  156. 156.

    Belafon

    October 8, 2015 at 11:56 am

    @Elie: I think there’s a competition between what Ben knows and what he thinks he knows. On the one hand, he’s where he is in part because of welfare. On the other hand, as @nominus notes, he’s got the failing that because he’s good as a neurosurgeon, he thinks he can be good at anything. There are some places where that’s true – being smart ought to make you a good problem solver – but at the same time the knowledge required to be president is easily on the scale of a doctor if not a neurosurgeon, and you have to be willing to learn it, which Carson obviously doesn’t want to.

  157. 157.

    trollhattan

    October 8, 2015 at 11:56 am

    @Skippy-san:

    By the end of the interview you will be naked, face down on the floor.

    And dead. Carson will thence harvest your beautiful pickled brain to admire it as something he’ll never have, himself.

  158. 158.

    Belafon

    October 8, 2015 at 11:57 am

    @Belafon: To expand the first point: He can’t say out loud that he got there because of welfare, so he has to say a bunch of stupid shit to distract his audience.

  159. 159.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 11:58 am

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    The argument against her idea is that CJD is so rare.

    Dying from a failed parachute is rare, but much more common among parachutists.

    I would bet that brain surgeons are MUCH more likely than most to touch brain matter of other people.

  160. 160.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 11:59 am

    @MattF:

    Google says that the median wage per person is $26,695.

    That sounds about right. (My previous comments were about household earnings.)

  161. 161.

    Corner Stone

    October 8, 2015 at 11:59 am

    @Tommy:

    @MomSense: My dad likes guns. It would never go his mind to think it stop to shorter. Dad is a badass mother fucker. He jokes at us. I dso not know a single person that doesn’t like guns and where we can’t get all of then via the State.

    It looks like Dr. Carson may be needed after all.

  162. 162.

    jibeaux

    October 8, 2015 at 12:00 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler: they’re bloody all here. Whoever keeps taking out ads in the Jersey Daily saying that the Carolinas are the promised land, I wish they’d fuckin stop.

  163. 163.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    @ThresherK (GPad):

    Marketplace ever confused with left-wing economists

    Yes.

    There are people who think Fox news is too much of a liberal media outlet. They only trust the Blaze and Newsmax.

  164. 164.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    October 8, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    @Skippy-san:

    It would have made a hell of a probably lethal drinking game.

  165. 165.

    MattF

    October 8, 2015 at 12:02 pm

    @catclub: The two figures are consistent, but I would hope that the per-person number and the per-household number are computed independently. Or show me a proof that you can compute it either way.

  166. 166.

    Brachiator

    October 8, 2015 at 12:03 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    But let’s be totally clear: who benefits if the POTUS is a fucking idiot? Easy answer: those who have power and money. Gosh, even the kind of money that is just “printed” gives you this kind of sway.

    Trump, Carson and Fiorina represent an attempt by conservative true believers to push the GOP further to the right, but the prospect of a Carson presidency has got to scare the money men. They may pander to religious fundamentalism, but they would be devastated by a return to the gold standard, or by a federal government whose funding was dependent on tithing.

  167. 167.

    Paul in KY

    October 8, 2015 at 12:04 pm

    @BGinCHI: Agree. If you are on an island made of gold & you have no food to eat & no way to make/grow it, how much worth does gold have?

  168. 168.

    Villago Delenda Est

    October 8, 2015 at 12:05 pm

    Ben Carson is an idiot outside his very narrow specialized field.

  169. 169.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2015 at 12:07 pm

    While we’re talking about R politicians, Matt Bevin apparently called for drug testing both Medicaid and Medicare recipients. Did it at an AARP event.

    http://www.kentucky.com/2015/10/07/4076169_matt-bevins-proposal-to-drug-test.html?rh=1

  170. 170.

    Elie

    October 8, 2015 at 12:09 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    The media are just getting around to interviewing and engaging him in more detailed conversations. You aint seen nothing yet. Like most super narcissistic sociopaths, he has “mind blindness”. He really can’t see how others see and hear him and he has very little empathy, so I predict he has some real doozies coming up soon. As for his being a successful neurosurgeon while being at the same time profoundly stupid, there are what they call “savants” — people who are extraordinarily gifted in one area but may actually be quite impaired in other areas of functioning. Yep, get ready for some breath taking statements from this one.

  171. 171.

    jibeaux

    October 8, 2015 at 12:09 pm

    Changing the subject a bit, it seems like the anti-Muslim stuff is on an upswing lately, with the ammosexual types staking out mosques, under some sort of misapprehension that they pose more danger than one of these misogynist MRA types. This is a serious question : do you think W should be encouraged to speak on this? I have about 2 things to say about W, but he really was not bad on American Muslims at all. Sure, he diverted it to a whole nother country, but he really was pretty good at telling people not to generalize about Islam. I dunno, just a thought I’ve had lately. I like him quiet, don’t get me wrong.

  172. 172.

    Brachiator

    October 8, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    The petabytes of information that would compose the voluminous tomes of Things Ben Carson Doesn’t Know A Damn Thing About now includes an updated entry on the debt ceiling in this interview with Marketplace’s Kai Ryssdal

    Oh,well. At least Rupert Murdoch loves Carson, thinks he would be a peachy “real black” president.

  173. 173.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    @MattF:

    No, the number you mentioned is not exactly a “per person number” (or a per capita number); it’s a per wage-earner number generated by the Social Security Administration.

    To be specific, the number you mentioned is from 2011, when about 151 million of us earned something, the median value of “something” being your aforementioned $26,695.

    @catclub:

    1. Does it assume everyone works?
    2. What about non-wage income?

    (1) No; and (2) Counted as best as SSA can do it.

    Is that what this $26.6k comes from?

    No.

  174. 174.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 12:10 pm

    @Villago Delenda Est: Does he still work as neurosurgeon though, since he started moonlighting as the craziest GOP candidate? Skills left unused get rusty.

  175. 175.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 12:13 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady: What particular drugs are going to be tested? The current crop of Republicans appear to be made up of the I got mine, fu crowd.

  176. 176.

    Iowa Old Lady

    October 8, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    You start testing Grammy and Gramps, and the list of drugs will be longer than your arm.

  177. 177.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 8, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    @gelfling545:
    @catclub:

    Yeah, that was Grover. Here’s the relevant clip.

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6wYYX0mZsQA

  178. 178.

    Corner Stone

    October 8, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    @Iowa Old Lady:

    Matt Bevin apparently called for drug testing both Medicaid and Medicare recipients. Did it at an AARP event.

    That’s, uh…interesting?
    With the variety of Rx meds most medicare recipients take I wonder how you’d screen out positives?

  179. 179.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    @Corner Stone: Can you translate the comment, I did not understand a word of that block quote.

  180. 180.

    Archon

    October 8, 2015 at 12:14 pm

    Don’t get me wrong, nowadays I have as much in common with conservatives as I do with some sentient beings on the other side of the milky way but I genuinely don’t understand how anyone could listen to Ben Carson and think he can and should be President of the United States. The only thing I could think of is he’s simply a black man bashing the President and liberals and that has a particular appeal to Republicans. But if that’s the case can’t they find a blackman a little less, you know, crazy?

  181. 181.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 8, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    @BGinCHI:

    But let’s be totally clear: who benefits if the POTUS is a fucking idiot? Easy answer: those who have power and money.

    Absolutely not. The rich do not benefit from a debt default. They lose horribly, just like everyone else. The Chamber of Commerce had a fit at the big default showdown.

    Anyone, rich or poor, who supports a debt default can be motivated by only one of two things: They are so head-up-their-ass ignorant of economics that they can see through their own mouth, or they are so consumed with hate that they will shoot themselves in the head if they’re pretty sure it will kill the guy behind them. Any rich person who supports a default puts hate and crazy way ahead of greed.

  182. 182.

    Amir Khalid

    October 8, 2015 at 12:15 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:
    He is typically described as a retired paediatric* neurosurgeon. I suppose that means he no longer keeps his medical licence current.

    *British spelling forever!

  183. 183.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    @Cervantes: Thanks!

  184. 184.

    Elie

    October 8, 2015 at 12:16 pm

    @Brachiator:

    What I think is most scary to the money men is that there was always a tacit agreement that when it came to certain things like finance, the Repub crazies would know when to say the right things. Unfortunately for them and us, however, they are in a new era and these folks have big egos along with their tiny brains. They are not that easily controlled anymore. Obama derangement syndrome has eaten away what brains existed in the Republican Party. Whatever Obama represented to them is existential and has triggered a mass Republican immune response (like an auto-immune disease) and that is destroying them. There truly is no easy way for them to fix themselves without a replacement transfusion of normal brains, and that won’t happen before the election.

  185. 185.

    Mandalay

    October 8, 2015 at 12:17 pm

    @nominus:

    he makes the false logical conclusion that he must be uniquely skilled/intelligent in everything: why else is he so successful?

    This. Similarly, I’m sure Trump, Bush and Fiorina all sincerely believe that the families they were born into have had nothing to do with their success, and they made it solely on merit. But that doesn’t mean that they have a clue about being president, no matter how successful and intelligent they may appear.

    We need more interviewers asking presidential candidates questions that are not hard, but will reveal those who are unacceptably ignorant, as Ryssdal did to Carson on the debt limit. Ask the presidential candidates to briefly talk about the Occupied Territories, the Fed, solar power, Jim Crow, bonds or cloture.

    No opinions, just a few facts.

    Wait for the deafening silences, and subsequent outrage over “gotcha” questions which revealed those who don’t have a clue.

  186. 186.

    Paul in KY

    October 8, 2015 at 12:18 pm

    @catclub: An emergency recall needs to be ordered ASAP. I would like Pres. Obama to issue an order forcing VW to get those cars in pronto & get them fixed. Pegged to massive fines everyday they are not fixed.

    Those fucking cheater cars are all out there polluting right now!

  187. 187.

    Corner Stone

    October 8, 2015 at 12:18 pm

    @Belafon:

    but at the same time the knowledge required to be president is easily on the scale of a doctor

    I’m not sure the word “required” is entirely accurate there.

  188. 188.

    Paul in KY

    October 8, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    @Mike J: 100 billion should convince them.

  189. 189.

    Josie

    October 8, 2015 at 12:20 pm

    @Archon: See my comment at #152. It would seem, unfortunately, that there are voters who are as stupid and uninformed as he is.

  190. 190.

    Belafon

    October 8, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    @Corner Stone: I meant to imply “required to be a good president.”

  191. 191.

    skerry

    October 8, 2015 at 12:23 pm

    @Corner Stone: Word salad for lunch today?

  192. 192.

    Felonius Monk

    October 8, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    @catclub:

    (Is Viguerie still alive?)

    Was he ever alive? He always looked like a walking cadaver to me.

  193. 193.

    Mike J

    October 8, 2015 at 12:26 pm

    @Amir Khalid:

    *British spelling forever!

    Where’s your ligature? Pædiatric.

  194. 194.

    sacrablue

    October 8, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    OT: NBC is reporting that McCarthy is dropping out of race for speaker.

  195. 195.

    Trentrunner

    October 8, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    Wait: McCarthy has taken himself out of Speaker’s race.

    And Boehner has postponed the Speaker’s election.

    Dems in disarray!

  196. 196.

    Punchy

    October 8, 2015 at 12:29 pm

    If being a doctor is adequate prep to be Prez, maybe we should nomimate Dre? Instead of a debate, we could have an M.C. competition. He’d wax them. He’d Beats off the GOP nommy easily.

  197. 197.

    Face

    October 8, 2015 at 12:30 pm

    @sacrablue: this is great news for John McCain.

  198. 198.

    Baud

    October 8, 2015 at 12:31 pm

    @sacrablue:
    @Trentrunner:

    Uh oh.

  199. 199.

    sacrablue

    October 8, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    @Face: They could elect him as speaker!

  200. 200.

    PsiFighter37

    October 8, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    McCarthy out.

    Why not just elect Pelosi as speaker with a plurality? At least she got shit done.

  201. 201.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2015 at 12:33 pm

    @sacrablue: Lord of the Flies, here we come.

  202. 202.

    Mandalay

    October 8, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    Mr. Dumbass has reconsidered his position….

    House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy has abruptly pulled out of the race for Speaker of the House on the same day that he was widely expected to be nominated for the position.

  203. 203.

    Corner Stone

    October 8, 2015 at 12:34 pm

    @Trentrunner:

    Wait: McCarthy has taken himself out of Speaker’s race.

    And Boehner has postponed the Speaker’s election.

    “Facing the relentless intransigence of Pelosi and the House Dems, Speaker Boehner has no choice but delay the vote.”
    /anypundit

  204. 204.

    JPL

    October 8, 2015 at 12:35 pm

    @Trentrunner: Sen. Cruz could be the new nominee.

    I blame Obama

  205. 205.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2015 at 12:35 pm

    @PsiFighter37: That’d be hilarious. Rules are, though, that the Speaker needs to get 218 votes on the floor. So, you do need an absolute majority.

    If things get sufficiently cluster-fucked, I could imagine a “unity” candidate of someone like Steny Hoyer getting all of the D votes plus a couple dozen Rs. Of course, those couple dozen Rs would immediately draw about 50 primary challengers _each_, so maybe not.

    Maybe we’re stuck with Weeping John.

  206. 206.

    D58826

    October 8, 2015 at 12:37 pm

    @Mandalay: Beat me to it. This isn’t going to end well. I do have a simple solution. Since the GOP is convinced that Obama is a tyrant who wants to declare martial law and rule as the first Kenyan Muslim Caliph, well he should do so. At least the GOP can say they were right about one thing in the past 30 years. (snark)

  207. 207.

    Gin & Tonic

    October 8, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    @dmsilev: But didn’t John of Orange announce that he was resigning from Congress, not just the speakership? Doesn’t that trigger some procedure for a special election? Is he on a path where he can’t back up?

  208. 208.

    Paul in KY

    October 8, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    @nominus: Probably on to something there..

  209. 209.

    Corner Stone

    October 8, 2015 at 12:38 pm

    I can only hope this leads to umpteen more profile buffing pieces by Politico et al on exactly how awesome and powerful and proud of themselves all the members of the Freedom Caucus really, really are.

  210. 210.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2015 at 12:41 pm

    OK, so with McCarthy deciding that he’s not competent to lead Clown Central, what are the options? The other two candidates were Crazy and Crazier (or possibly Crazier and Crazierier); do we get a new candidate from the “Sufficiently Repressed Crazy that the Media Can Portray Them As Moderate” caucus (e.g. Paul Ryan or someone like that)? Does Weeping John decide to stay on?

  211. 211.

    bystander

    October 8, 2015 at 12:41 pm

    McCarthy must be p/o’d. This is great. Issa was just on and even has to understand what a mess the repubs are.

  212. 212.

    dmsilev

    October 8, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    @Gin & Tonic: He hasn’t resigned _yet_, just said that he was planning to at the end of the month. He can always take a good stiff drink and announce that given the cluster-fuck, staying on is the best thing for the GOP and for the House. The hell of it is, he’d probably be correct.

  213. 213.

    benw

    October 8, 2015 at 12:42 pm

    @Punchy:

    maybe we should nomimate Dre?

    Ice Cube for head speechwriter, ’cause he wrote most of Dre’s N.W.A. lyrics. Also, N.W.A. getting the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nom!

  214. 214.

    D58826

    October 8, 2015 at 12:43 pm

    Just got back from the supermarket. Not a box of popcorn left in the store. Folks must be planning ahead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  215. 215.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 12:45 pm

    @Paul in KY:

    Those fucking cheater cars are all out there polluting right now!

    In the US alone (with 500K affected cars out of 11M globally), VW’s cunning plan has “secretly” added about 46,000 tons of (relevant) emissions into the atmosphere since late 2008. The resulting death toll from these hitherto unknown emissions has been estimated, very roughly, to be something in the range of 40 (MIT estimate) to 100 (NYT calculation). Divide these numbers by 7 (years) to see that the annual toll is in the range of 5-15 deaths, approximately.

    To put this in perspective, consider that California, which has the worst air quality in the US, sees about 7200 deaths annually caused by air pollution (CARB calculation).

    None of which is to say that VW — and whoever made these decisions — should go unpunished.

  216. 216.

    D58826

    October 8, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    This really really is not good. Darth Vadar endorsed McCarthy this morning as a strong leader. If Chaney can’t rally the crazies then we are in the place on the medieval maps that said ‘beyond here be dragons’.

  217. 217.

    bemused

    October 8, 2015 at 12:48 pm

    @Mandalay:

    Can we be sure McCarthy actually said he was dropping out of the race? From listening to the clips of his mangled and incomprehensible speaking style on Rachel Maddow, trying to figure out what the guy is trying to communicate is like listening to a toddler just learning how to put a sentence together.

  218. 218.

    Brachiator

    October 8, 2015 at 12:49 pm

    Speaking of Echo and the Moneymen, here is where they Kochs are currently throwing their money. Surprise! Fiorina is now in the ring.

    Carly Fiorina has officially made it onto the short list of candidates being considered by the Koch Brothers’ network of donors — potentially opening the door to a deep pool of money.

    Freedom Partners Chamber of Commerce, the Koch brothers’ umbrella group, which includes a sprawling network of conservative donors, confirmed to ABC News that Fiorina is one of the five candidates on the donor network’s watch list.

    “Governor Jeb Bush, Carly Fiorina and Senators Ted Cruz, Rand Paul and Marco Rubio are leading a thoughtful and substantive discussion on the issues and we look forward to hearing more about their vision for the country,” Freedom Partners spokesman James Davis told ABC News.

    Somebody better provide Right to Rise with a fainting couch, cause the Koch boys are clearly hedging their bets. Jeb! ain’t Mr Inevitable anymore.

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/carly-fiorina-added-koch-brothers-short-list/story?id=34321962

    Carson is loved by a lot of religious fundamentalists, but this does not translate into financial support from the heavy hitters. However, he is getting a fair amount of grass roots support from the conservative masses.

  219. 219.

    Corner Stone

    October 8, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    @Punchy:

    If being a doctor is adequate prep to be Prez, maybe we should nomimate Dre?

    And motherfuckers act like they forgot about Dre.

  220. 220.

    Brachiator

    October 8, 2015 at 12:50 pm

    @bemused:

    Can we be sure McCarthy actually said he was dropping out of the race?

    He is out!

    House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy took his name out of the running for House Speaker today in a stunning move that came as a surprise to many in the GOP.

    The decision came as House Republicans had gathered to vote on the next speaker, members told ABC News.

    McCarthy told members he is not the one to unify the party, said Rep. Peter King, R-New York.

    Clearly not crazy enough.

    http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/rep-kevin-mccarthy-drops-house-speaker-race/story?id=34344098

  221. 221.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 12:51 pm

    @dmsilev:

    The hell of it is, he’d probably be correct.

    No question about it.

  222. 222.

    Tripod

    October 8, 2015 at 12:54 pm

    @Archon:

    Junior O’Daniel: We could hire our own midget, even shorter than his.

    Pappy O’Daniel: Wouldn’t we look like a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies, bragging on our own midget, doesn’t matter how stumpy.

  223. 223.

    Elie

    October 8, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    Just to jump back onto Carson for a minute: to prove my point that he will continue to say ever more outlandish things because he doesn’t have empathy, Carson just related that he had a gun stuck in his ribs at a Popeye in Baltimore and told the guy calmly (ha ha), that he had the wrong guy — that he needed the guy behind the counter! So now, instead of charging the gun man, he siks him onto the poor schlub behind the counter! LOL! Just keep him talking, folks, keep him talking…

  224. 224.

    NorthLeft12

    October 8, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    I find it interesting and telling that Mr. Carson places so little value on faith.

  225. 225.

    Downpuppy

    October 8, 2015 at 12:59 pm

    @Cervantes: To take it a little farther, the median income of 1 person employed full time is just under $40,000. The $27,000 is median earnings for an employed person, which includes part timers and part year workers.

    If Ryssdal can’t keep this straight, well, at least he’s better than Carson.

  226. 226.

    bemused

    October 8, 2015 at 1:04 pm

    @Brachiator:

    Well, I am thankful I won’t have to listen to a guy that makes my head hurt worse than Sarah Palin’s gibberish did but the alternatives are also terrible, horrible, no good.

  227. 227.

    Jay C

    October 8, 2015 at 1:05 pm

    @gussie:

    Sovereign nations, how do they work?

    Do you, or anyone here, think that the average “Ben Carson voter” either knows or cares about the principles of sovereign-nation macroeconomics?
    We might ( rightly) mock the notion that the financial management of the largest national economy on the planet can (or should be) reduced to the simplicities of kitchen-table family budgeting; but the big problem with simple explanations for complex issues is that being simple, just about anyone can understand them. Wrongly in many/most cases: especially where economics is concerned – but that’s another issue…

  228. 228.

    Amir Khalid

    October 8, 2015 at 1:06 pm

    It might be relevant that Böhner was planning to endorse Kevin McCarthy. Perhaps McCarthy feared what Böhner’s endorsement might do to his chances.

    Perhaps with this Republican House caucus, the Speaker’s chair has become a poisoned chalice.

  229. 229.

    D58826

    October 8, 2015 at 1:11 pm

    huffington

    Rep. Charlie Dent (R-Penn) said he wasn’t sure whether McCarthy could muster enough votes to become speaker.
    “I suspect had this gone to the House floor, it might have been uncertain as to whether Kevin could get 218 Republican votes,” he said.

    Unless he crazy caucus get’s their choice or a veto over anything that a new speaker proposes, this is going to be a long and bloody process. Unless Boehner cuts a deal with Nancy and the D’s plus enough senior/safe seat/retiring GOP members provide the needed 218. Of course the crazies will immediately start to plot a coup against the new speaker. For the same reason it makes no sense for Boehner to stay. He has cut his own balls off (insert joke here) as far as any power that he would have

  230. 230.

    Keith G

    October 8, 2015 at 1:14 pm

    While I would totally bliss out if Carson were the nominee, in point of fact he will not be. Thus, I really don’t care what he knows or what he doesn’t know.

    I believe that the voters, or maybe I should say the possible voters, who support him like him because of the very broken down, simplistic views of the world that he comforts them with.

  231. 231.

    Mike in NC

    October 8, 2015 at 1:22 pm

    @jibeaux: Majority of our neighbors fled NY and NJ due to taxes (especially property taxes) and harsh weather. The southern racism is just the cherry on top.

  232. 232.

    catclub

    October 8, 2015 at 1:25 pm

    Tom Delay for Speaker. You heard it here first.

  233. 233.

    ruemara

    October 8, 2015 at 1:25 pm

    @Baud:
    Actually, it’s another regressive tax plan. The media has been spinning it as progressive. That being said, Carson is an idiot.

  234. 234.

    Paul in KY

    October 8, 2015 at 1:31 pm

    @Cervantes: What an evil and stupid decision they made. How would they think that not one of these cars would ever be tested for emissions while being driven?! It’s not rocket science to fix up a rig that can do that.

  235. 235.

    Paul in KY

    October 8, 2015 at 1:34 pm

    @Keith G: I work with one of them. Nice guy, but a religious whacko (IMO) and his wife appears to be even wackier (from a religious perspective, she has that hair).

  236. 236.

    Peale

    October 8, 2015 at 1:51 pm

    @Brachiator: The Koch’s have never backed Bush. This is not news. Their entire rise to make a serious attempt to take ownership and control of the party in the past 8 years has come because the Bush clan lost control. I don’t see them wanted to have to deal with Bushes.

  237. 237.

    Brachiator

    October 8, 2015 at 2:02 pm

    @Peale:

    The Koch’s have never backed Bush. This is not news. Their entire rise to make a serious attempt to take ownership and control of the party in the past 8 years has come because the Bush clan lost control. I don’t see them wanted to have to deal with Bushes.

    The news story said that Jeb! was among the candidates on the group’s watch list to potentially receive donations. Technically, this does not say that the group is currently funneling money to him.

    And some candidates have been summoned to make an appearance before Koch controlled groups, and other candidates have not been given the nod of approval.

    And in August, Fiorina was invited to address a Freedom Partners gathering. Bush, Walker, Rubio, and Cruz also addressed the gathering. But there were some notable absences. Paul, who was invited to address the gathering, did not attend. And the party’s frontrunner, Donald Trump, did not receive an invitation. Another surging candidate in the race who has yet to receive a nod from the Koch brothers is retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson.

    Walker had earlier been given a pat on the head, before he dropped out.

  238. 238.

    SiubhanDuinne

    October 8, 2015 at 2:10 pm

    @a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q):

    I had a colleague about 27 years ago who had Creutzfeldt-Jakob. I didn’t see her after she was diagnosed, but others who did reported big, and fast-onset, changes in affect, communications, personality, etc.

  239. 239.

    schrodinger's cat

    October 8, 2015 at 2:25 pm

    Deleted wrong thread!

  240. 240.

    Uncle Cosmo

    October 8, 2015 at 2:33 pm

    @Baud: Baudies. And you keep them in a baudyhouse. Or a baudybag. A bank robbery would be an Invasion of the Baudy Snatchers. I could go on…

  241. 241.

    Just One More Canuck

    October 8, 2015 at 2:38 pm

    @Cervantes: i’m not sure that would work for either of us

  242. 242.

    Uncle Cosmo

    October 8, 2015 at 2:47 pm

    @pseudonymous in nc:

    Carson is a good reminder that brain surgeons are basically major-league car mechanics and you wouldn’t want the person who fixes your Subaru to be president.

    Bangalore! I would have gone for gourmet butcher–good at figuring out how to get that bit of gristle out of the meat without turning it into hackfleisch but not competent at cooking–but our judges will accept that. (They roll ’em big too.)

  243. 243.

    Hob

    October 8, 2015 at 2:51 pm

    @Redshift: Even in the ’70s and ’80s, brain surgeons knew better than to operate with bare hands, or to touch the instruments with their bare hands, or to eat scraps from their work. The risk of CJD infection in surgery is for the patient (due to inadequately sterilized tools), not the doctor.

    Also, having worked with a lot of surgeons (both neuro and other kinds), I can safely say that Carson’s flat affect and verbal inappropriateness are well within the normal range.

  244. 244.

    Uncle Cosmo

    October 8, 2015 at 2:59 pm

    @nominus:

    Carson just exhibits a peculiar kind of arrogance often found in intelligent people; he has knowledge and skills for something in particular that few people have. After years of practicing said skill, he makes the false logical conclusion that he must be uniquely skilled/intelligent in everything: why else is he so successful? Clearly he must know a lot about everything. People come to this false conclusion all the time, which explains why so many people fall for his stupidity and continue to think that he’s an intelligent man.

    Actually there are three groups in which this attitude is concentrated: clinical MDs, engineers, and plutocrats. Of the three, only the engineers ever do any thinking that is at all creative, or even synthetic. The MDs got through med school on uppers & rote memorization, & intern year on uppers alone.

  245. 245.

    mclaren

    October 8, 2015 at 5:02 pm

    Let me put it this way: if I were the president, I would not sign an increased budget. Absolutely would not do it. They would have to find a place to cut.

    Marvelous! Let’s start with the U.S. military budget.

  246. 246.

    Cervantes

    October 8, 2015 at 6:04 pm

    @Just One More Canuck:

    Pessimist!

  247. 247.

    Lurking Canadian

    October 8, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    @JPL: probably nobody’s reading anymore, but holy shit that is some weapons grade ignorance right there. He’s like one of those “stupid things found in high school essays” jokes, where “Martin Luther King nailed 99 bulls to the door of the church”.

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