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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Don’t know Korea but I know ko-razy

Don’t know Korea but I know ko-razy

by DougJ|  October 12, 20152:54 pm| 88 Comments

This post is in: Open Threads

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No one could have predicted:

For a long time, Ben Carson’s campaign team feared that his habit of inflammatory remarks would sink his presidential hopes. They sent him to media training in Texas. The candidate pledged to police his words.

But ever since Mr. Carson remarked on Sept. 20 that he did not think a Muslim should be president, then refused to retract the statement amid a furious blowback, his campaign has watched grass-roots support grow and donations pour in — and advisers have backtracked, deciding, in the words of one, to “let Carson be Carson.”

Carson should just let it rip, the crazier the better. He doesn’t need a tax plan with actual numbers and he’s sure as shit doesn’t need to do know the names of any foreign leaders.

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Reader Interactions

88Comments

  1. 1.

    Germy Shoemangler

    October 12, 2015 at 2:57 pm

    Doug! have you seen this?
    https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/presidential-candidate-ben-carson-shilling-for-mannatech-with-his-own-alternative-cancer-cure-testimonial/

  2. 2.

    JPL

    October 12, 2015 at 3:00 pm

    Carson’s campaign is built on internet rumors. Maybe someone should inform him about sites that check that bull.

  3. 3.

    dr. bloor

    October 12, 2015 at 3:01 pm

    “Media training in Texas” tells you pretty much all you need to know about the campaign and the candidate.

  4. 4.

    ThresherK

    October 12, 2015 at 3:03 pm

    For the last three weeks we’ve been getting the Ben Carson who’s already been to finishing school?

  5. 5.

    WereBear

    October 12, 2015 at 3:06 pm

    Give the people what they want.

  6. 6.

    Roger Moore

    October 12, 2015 at 3:07 pm

    So their basic plan is to follow the Trump model of letting the candidate say anything that pops into his head rather than following a carefully written script. I guess they aren’t thinking ahead to what would happen if he were actually nominated.

  7. 7.

    trollhattan

    October 12, 2015 at 3:08 pm

    Based on observations from last weekend while in California’s Sierra foothills, I think the Venn diagram of Carson supporters and State of Jefferson supporters seems to have a lot of overlap. He’d be their honorary black friend, I guess.

  8. 8.

    Goblue72

    October 12, 2015 at 3:12 pm

    All nuts will have their moment in the spotlight. T-Rump, Uncle Ben, iCarly… Till the Xmas Special GOP Extravaganza Variety Hour. Then it’ll be Bush, Rubio or Kasich.

  9. 9.

    NonyNony

    October 12, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    I guess they aren’t thinking ahead to what would happen if he were actually nominated.

    Why should they care?

    But ever since Mr. Carson remarked on Sept. 20 that he did not think a Muslim should be president, then refused to retract the statement amid a furious blowback, his campaign has watched grass-roots support grow and donations pour in

    Money pours in when he says hateful bs. Money that pays the bills – including their paychecks. Likely that money would not stop if he were to become the nominee – if anything the donations would likely increase as the so-called moderate Republicans backing Jeb! and Rubio are forced to support the nominee and throw him some money.

    I mean sure – he likely couldn’t WIN the election by acting this way. But we’re talking about Ben Carson here – his campaign staff is not full of hardnose GOP campaign staff who know what it takes to win elections. Those guys are working for “real” candidates. Carson likely either has true believers or grifters on his campaign staff. The true believers always think that if the right messenger comes along America will finally see “reality” and vote the way they think America should vote. So they’re going to be happy to let him let it all hang out because they’re convinced it will win general elections. The grifters are in it for the dollar and don’t care if he wins or not so long as they get paid.

  10. 10.

    sharl

    October 12, 2015 at 3:13 pm

    DougJ, since you’re on Twitter I suspect you already know this…if you post that kind of specific criticism of Carson, even with a link or two to back it up, and someone from the #TCOT crowd sees it, their likely response will be along the lines of ‘So, you libs don’t want a Black man in the White House who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you. Got it.’

    Gosh golly, it’s like they already have their narrative in place, and it really doesn’t matter what you say! Whocoodanode!!

  11. 11.

    Ben Cisco

    October 12, 2015 at 3:14 pm

    Saw another Carson 2016 sticker. Glad that the nutters are making themselves so prominently visible.

  12. 12.

    David Koch

    October 12, 2015 at 3:15 pm

    We can only hope that Carson Goldwater is the nominee.

  13. 13.

    Shakezula

    October 12, 2015 at 3:19 pm

    I’m shocked that the GOP believes in anything as restrictive and hateful as media training school.

    @Ben Cisco: So you can take evasive measures?

  14. 14.

    JPL

    October 12, 2015 at 3:20 pm

    A friend sent me a link to a Mother Jones article titled Confessions of a Tea Party Casualty..
    Carson appeals to this group.

  15. 15.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 3:23 pm

    The Republicans are absolutely destroying their party and it is hard to see how this ends well for them. Carson may have supporters and attract some money with his wild talk, but there is a ceiling to how successful this will be. In the meantime, the he, Trump, and the others will leave the party further in shambles (along with the House). Cra-zee. The party that does not believe in government has taken that to its logical conclusion to be completely incompetent. How do we make the best of this to not only further the Democrats, but sane government?

  16. 16.

    Mudge

    October 12, 2015 at 3:23 pm

    Just got a Carson robocall. I only listened to his introduction, which was: “Hello. This is Dr. Ben Carson.” Calling yourself Doctor in a political contest is mighty pretentious. Bet the rubes will love it. I’m Chevy Chase Dr. Ben Carson and you’re not!.

  17. 17.

    Nutella

    October 12, 2015 at 3:24 pm

    @sharl:

    So, you libs don’t want a Black man in the White House who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you. Got it.

    True. We don’t want anyone in the White House who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with us.

    Obviously.

  18. 18.

    Capri

    October 12, 2015 at 3:27 pm

    @sharl: That response says so much about the poster. OF COURSE you don’t want a black man in the white house whose ideas don’t agree with yours. You also don’t want a white man, a black or white woman, an atheist, a muslim….. All that should matter is their ideas and what they plan to do as president. Identity politics should have no role. It goes back to the right’s belief that the only reason Obama was elected was that folks were looking for a token.

  19. 19.

    rikyrah

    October 12, 2015 at 3:29 pm

    LOL at the title of this post!

    BWA HA HA AH AH HA HA HA

  20. 20.

    rikyrah

    October 12, 2015 at 3:31 pm

    UH HUH
    UH HUH

    Mayor’s office withholds records on school contract scandal

    Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s office was more involved in a $20.5 million school contract with a now-indicted consultant than previously disclosed, public records indicate, but his administration has refused to release hundreds of emails that could provide a deeper understanding of how the deal came to be.

    Emanuel and his aides have maintained that the mayor’s office had nothing to do with the contract to provide leadership training for principals that is at the center of a federal bribery indictment against ex-schools CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett and the consulting firm where she once worked.

    When asked in April if his administration had any role at all in the SUPES contract, Emanuel told reporters, “No, you obviously know that by all the information available. And so the answer to that is no.”

    Yet the mayor’s office and schools officials have been in an ongoing struggle with the Tribune over reporters’ public records requests that could bear directly on the controversy, withholding many emails for months before releasing them, several so heavily redacted that little more than the subject line and addresses remain.

    The Emanuel administration has declined to provide about half of the roughly 1,000 emails requested. As part of that fight, the Tribune in June sued the city under the state Freedom of Information Act after the mayor’s office redacted or withheld about two dozen emails emanating from Emanuel’s office.

    While much of the picture remains missing, the email logs and documents the administration did release show frequent communication among key Emanuel aides, Chicago school leaders and the heads of the SUPES Academy consulting firm in the months, weeks and days leading up to Emanuel’s hand-picked school board awarding the contract in June 2013.
    .

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-rahm-emanuel-cps-emails-met-20151011-story.html

  21. 21.

    rikyrah

    October 12, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    Relatives of Black Man Shot by Off-Duty Officer in Texas Question Police Actions
    OCT. 11, 2015

    HOUSTON — For 15 minutes, a man shot by an off-duty officer here lay bleeding from two gunshots in his abdomen as the responding officers stood by without providing first aid. At one point, as the victim, a 53-year-old black man, raised his head, an officer used his foot to keep the man’s face on the pavement, according to a dashboard camera video supplied to The New York Times recently by the man’s relatives.

    From the time the episode was first reported, at 2:17 a.m. on July 9, 2014, and including the time the man, Charles K. Goodridge, lay unaided on the ground, it took more than an hour for him to arrive at an emergency room. An hour after his arrival at the hospital in an ambulance, he was dead.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/12/us/charles-goodridge-police-shooting-houston-texas.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0

  22. 22.

    Zinsky

    October 12, 2015 at 3:33 pm

    Walter Mondale once said that each successive presidential candidate is seen as the antidote for the one who won the previous election. So apparently some people see Ben Carson as the antidote for an intelligent, articulate black man with generally good policy ideas. Hmmm…..

  23. 23.

    Comrade Dread

    October 12, 2015 at 3:34 pm

    Republicans want an unapologetic asshole to lead them. They really do. They are sick of what they see as wimpy leaders always compromising and apologizing. They want the raging Id stomping its feet, screaming, demanding satisfaction.

    The more of a dick a candidate can be, the more money and approval they will earn.

  24. 24.

    Roger Moore

    October 12, 2015 at 3:35 pm

    @sharl:

    ‘So, you libs don’t want a Black man in the White House who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you. Got it.’

    The thing is, that’s absolutely correct. I don’t want a white guy in the White House if he doesn’t see eye-to-eye with me either. I care a lot more about electing somebody who agrees with me politically than I do about their race/gender/age/etc. I don’t see why it’s supposed to be a big gotcha that Democrats would rather have a white Democrat for President than a black Republican. The main colors I see when it comes to election time are blue and red, not white, black, brown, and yellow (so to speak).

  25. 25.

    catclub

    October 12, 2015 at 3:36 pm

    @JPL: You mean Carson appeals to the people who threw out Inglis?

    ‘Bob, what don’t you get? Barack Obama is a socialist, communist Marxist who wants to destroy the American economy so he can take over as dictator. Health care is part of that. And he wants to open up the Mexican border and turn [the US] into a Muslim nation.'” Inglis didn’t know how to respond.

    As he tells this story, the veteran lawmaker is sitting in his congressional office, which he will have to vacate in a few months. On June 22, he was defeated in the primary runoff by Spartanburg County 7th Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy

  26. 26.

    JCJ

    October 12, 2015 at 3:37 pm

    @Germy Shoemangler:

    Wow. That is pretty awful. As the author says, physicians usually don’t know much outside of their (usually) narrow area of expertise. Unfortunately many do not recognize this. If a patient ever asks me cardiac questions I generally reply that to me the heart is a big gray thing on a CT scan that I do my best to avoid.

  27. 27.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 3:38 pm

    The fundamental problem is that these folks do not actually want a democracy. This makes it very difficult to make arguments with them about fairness, equity, rationality, taking care of all of us or best for everyone or the majority, issues. They want it THEIR way. Period. All you can do is outnumber them and over time, minimize their influence through greater numbers. They will always challenge and use the freedoms inherent in our system to wreak havoc and disrupt to their advantage. That is what they want and it is pointless to argue with it. The problem is that the impulse is to try to suppress them or do other un-democratic things because they will do everything they can to disrupt and interfere. They MUST be called out about it directly and with energy by all people who encounter their views. That also gets tricky because they are many times quite confrontational if not violent. Does anyone know anything about history and how these sorts of times in democracies are dealt with?

  28. 28.

    Linda Featheringill

    October 12, 2015 at 3:41 pm

    @Shakezula:

    “So you can take evasive measures?”

    Right.

    Like I used to do when I saw a “Shit Happens” bumper sticker, a sure sign of a driver who drinks too much.

    Also, “God is my Copilot” is a sure sign of a bad driver.

    I don’t see those particular stickers much any more.

  29. 29.

    beltane

    October 12, 2015 at 3:43 pm

    @catclub: I love how opening the border to Roman Catholics will turn the US into a Muslim country, one with healthcare for all no less. It’s always amazing how people who are this stupid are capable of using the toilet and dressing themselves.

  30. 30.

    Darkrose

    October 12, 2015 at 3:44 pm

    @Roger Moore: But what about the purple and the red?

  31. 31.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    @JCJ:

    Physicians are trained with authoritarian methodology and exist in top down authoritarian organizations where power is wielded by physicians with unquestioned power. They fight with each other commonly and don’t necessarily obey those of their profession who are in charge. If they are successful they are even harder to work with and rarely change their opinions on things they want to control.

    I was a nurse manager in an outpatient gyn clinic that saw both infertility and gyn cancer patients. The two docs that I worked with had to share a clinic space twice a week when their patients would come in for various treatments from bloodwork, minor surgery to blood and other product transfusions. Nurses would care for all of the patients but of course, there would be timing conflicts from time to time. It took enormous effort to keep these two docs, both successful and powerful, from constantly fighting and trying to pit the nurses against each other. As the nurse manager, my job was to keep the patients safe and cared for but also keep my nurses neutral but positive to both docs. This wasn’t ever fixed but was just an ongoing battle that we managed best we could.

    Carson is crazy and a narcissist. He aint changing ever and he represents people who want to call the shots just like him — top down, do what I say.

  32. 32.

    beltane

    October 12, 2015 at 3:48 pm

    @Linda Featheringill: Where I live, NASCAR stickers are always on vehicles travelling under the speed limit.

  33. 33.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 12, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    @catclub:

    Link? Or context? I assume this was in 2011, but who is the speaker of the quote? Carson? Gowdy?

  34. 34.

    Origuy

    October 12, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    Remember the assholes in Georgia who crashed a black child’s birthday party with trucks draped with the Dixie Swastika? They’ve been charged with terrorism

    On Friday, the Grand Jury indicted 15 members of “Respect the Flag” on charges they violated Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and Terrorist threats.

    The indictment also charged two members of the group with battery for an incident that occurred that same day at a gas station in the area of Douglas County known as the Corn Crib.

  35. 35.

    Mike E

    October 12, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    He’s just trying to follow in the footsteps of Uz-beki beki beki stan-stan.

  36. 36.

    Not That Guy

    October 12, 2015 at 3:49 pm

    Health care is part of that.

    It’s impossible to be sarcastic about something that bone-crushingly insane.

  37. 37.

    RSA

    October 12, 2015 at 3:51 pm

    @JCJ:

    As the author says, physicians usually don’t know much outside of their (usually) narrow area of expertise. Unfortunately many do not recognize this.

    The last time I saw one of my doctors, I mentioned that physicians are some of the most arrogant people I’ve ever met, next to college professors.

  38. 38.

    Mike E

    October 12, 2015 at 3:57 pm

    @beltane: Heh, in NC we’re lucky to have The King to tap their bumpers when they sit in the left lane!

  39. 39.

    MattF

    October 12, 2015 at 3:58 pm

    @Elie: And not just that– Johns Hopkins physicians are notorious among physicians for their arrogance– and neurosurgeons are notorious at Johns Hopkins for their arrogance. So, yeah, Carson is arrogant.

  40. 40.

    scav

    October 12, 2015 at 4:00 pm

    Continuous Electioneering has become a perpetual money-spinning project, going after donors suckers large and small. Thoughts of mere governance are irrelevant. It’s all about the Brinks trucks or the chump’s change backing up to the loading docks.

  41. 41.

    Punchy

    October 12, 2015 at 4:03 pm

    The GOP base just chooses the guy who appears to be the dumbest. Fo shiz. It’s a race to pretend to be the most world-ignorant, scientifically illiterate, wantonly indifferent to historical facts as possible.

    If this were a GOP spelling bee, the loser would the first to spell “cat” correctly.

  42. 42.

    RK

    October 12, 2015 at 4:06 pm

    The difference between a doctor and God is that God knows he isn’t a doctor. Most candidates are driven by ego though which is one of the reasons why Sanders and Warren are so attractive to many.

  43. 43.

    Face

    October 12, 2015 at 4:08 pm

    they violated Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and Terrorist threats

    UNPOSSIBLE. They’re white with names that rhyme with “bith” and “owns”.

    “Street Gang Terrorism” is really the name of the statute? Can they shoehorn the word “terrorism” into everything? Is there a Pay Your Taxes or You’re a Taxorist bill on the docket? The Dont Shed a Tearorist Anti-Bullying law in committee?

  44. 44.

    rikyrah

    October 12, 2015 at 4:09 pm

    This Court Case Could Unshackle Americans From Student Debt
    A win could be dangerous for the government

    Natalie Kitroeff

    October 8, 2015 — 6:00 AM CDT

    When Robert Murphy said he wanted to try to get his student loan debt erased, the person overseeing his bankruptcy case told him he had a better shot of getting hit by a bus. Now he’s closer than ever to victory.
    The unemployed 65-year-old, acting as his own attorney, spent three years appealing his way to the Boston federal court that is now considering his case. A win for Murphy would relieve him of hundreds of thousands of dollars in student debt—and could fundamentally change the way U.S. bankruptcy courts handle borrowers who can’t repay college loans.

    At the center of Murphy’s battle are federal rules that make it nearly impossible for borrowers to get rid of student loans. Most consumer debt goes away in bankruptcy, which was designed to give Americans and companies a fresh start. But in the 1970s, Congress added new rules to the law that excluded most student debt from that relief. Anyone aiming to discharge student debt in bankruptcy must prove that repaying it would constitute an “undue hardship.” Lawmakers never defined an undue hardship, though, so it has been left to the courts to decide just how destitute someone needs to be in order to qualify for relief.

    “The opportunity here is significant,” said John Rao, a lawyer with the National Consumer Law Center who submitted an outside brief (PDF) supporting Murphy in the case. A judgment in favor of debtors, he said, “could have a really significant impact on other courts, which have not looked at this issue in a long time.”

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-08/this-court-case-could-unshackle-americans-from-student-debt

  45. 45.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 4:10 pm

    @Punchy:

    No, the stupid just are more prevalent in that ideology anyway and their basic confrontational model which rewards the most aggressive and combative members means that its pretty hard to restrict those who are the craziest from rising to the top of their chain. Of course, as we see, its pretty hard for them to reach any kind of consensus when everyone is equally dominant so they must fight to sort it out. That leads of course to winners and losers and then to more fights. Again, the ideology is stupid and so stupid wins no matter what.

  46. 46.

    pseudonymous in nc

    October 12, 2015 at 4:11 pm

    @catclub:

    On June 22, he was defeated in the primary runoff by Spartanburg County 7th Circuit Solicitor Trey Gowdy

    Draco Malfoy BENGOWDY was the one who knocked off Inglis? Well I never.

  47. 47.

    Brachiator

    October 12, 2015 at 4:12 pm

    @NonyNony:

    I mean sure – he likely couldn’t WIN the election by acting this way. But we’re talking about Ben Carson here – his campaign staff is not full of hardnose GOP campaign staff who know what it takes to win elections.

    Who are these people, and when is the last time that they won a presidential election?

    An article about Carson’s biggest contributors makes the following point:

    Carson’s donor list is considerably different from those of most major candidates, who typically claim Wall Street billionaires, big-name CEOs, law-firm partners and other wealthy insiders as their top sources of money. … Since Carson has never been in government, he’s never developed the sort of relationships with moneyed interests that senators, governors, secretaries of state and first ladies do. The vast majority of his funding comes not from wealthy activists but from political unknowns contributing less than $1,000.

    It makes sense that Carson staffers would not be political insiders; these are the very people who have “betrayed” the Republican Party.

    @Elie:

    In the meantime, the he, Trump, and the others will leave the party further in shambles (along with the House). Cra-zee.

    Trump and company came to a party that was already in shambles and just added some lighter fluid to the already combustible mass.

    The mainstream Republicans thought that they could contain the Tea Party and the evangelicals. But these groups, and others, don’t just look at Washington and see gridlock. They see elites and their hirelings talking about what they will do, without actually doing anything.

    The party that does not believe in government has taken that to its logical conclusion to be completely incompetent.

    I keep hearing libertarian types insist that big government is by definition bad, so if government can be prevented from operating or cannot do anything because it is incompetent, then we are all one step closer to the libertarian paradise in which individuals can operate in a cloud of perfect liberty.

  48. 48.

    Geeno

    October 12, 2015 at 4:15 pm

    @sharl: Um, yeah – I tend to vote against the “guy I don’t see eye-to-eye with”.

  49. 49.

    scav

    October 12, 2015 at 4:16 pm

    @sharl: ‘So, you libs don’t want a Black man in the White House who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you. Got it.’

    Well, neither do you — and your nightmare has been in office for years now.

  50. 50.

    Mike in NC

    October 12, 2015 at 4:17 pm

    There is an excellent reason why Carson is running just behind Trump. Republican primary voters are deranged FOX News fanatics. He tells them what they want to hear, unfiltered. If I had a crazy uncle, he’d be emailing me the latest words of wisdom from Sleepy Ben.

    Eventually he’ll drop out and make a bundle as a motivational speaker at Tea Party rallies.

  51. 51.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 4:19 pm

    Interesting show on NPR radio where they interviewed an evolutionary geneticist about the brain. He believed that the genetics that drive brain development are constantly “trying” (mutating) new combinations. He said that autism might be one sort of failed recombination of genes but that there are and would be others, significantly, some failing and others, possibly helping man’s brain to evolve to produce a more successful version of homo sapiens sapiens — he called it the homo evolvus – presumably an improvement. Maybe in the GOP we are watching a failed mass spontaneous brain design mutation?

  52. 52.

    Calouste

    October 12, 2015 at 4:29 pm

    @Mike in NC: In one of the earlier threads today, someone posted a quote that included the phrase “Ben Carson, a moron”. I really like the way “Ben Carson, a moron” describes Ben Carson, a moron, quite a bit better than Sleepy Ben describes Ben Carson, a moron. “Sleepy Ben” is quite an accurate way to describe Ben Carson, a moron, it doesn’t completely describe Ben Carson, a moron, in the way “Ben Carson, a moron” describes Ben Carson, a moron.

    And I think we should ask the nephews and nieces of Ben Carson, a moron, if Ben Carson, a moron, forwards them crazy emails. I can see an Onion-style article about the nephews and nieces of Ben Carson, a moron, complaining that Ben Carson, a moron, forwards then email written about Ben Carson, a moron.

  53. 53.

    The Golux

    October 12, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone):

    …who is the speaker of the quote? Carson? Gowdy?

    It was a former donor that Inglis was futilely trying to placate.

    He wound up losing the primary to Trey Gowdy, 71 to 29 percent.

  54. 54.

    David Koch

    October 12, 2015 at 4:34 pm

    @ Doug! :

    No Labels Conference today:

    live appearances by Lindsey Graham, Martin O’Malley, Donald Trump, Bernie Sanders, John Kasich, Chris Christie, Jim Webb and George Patawki

  55. 55.

    sharl

    October 12, 2015 at 4:37 pm

    @Capri: Yep, you and Nutella are correct, I characterized that poorly. The TCOT response would be more like he’s a Black man who won’t be a slave on the Democrat plantation, so you libs obviously wouldn’t like him.

    By the way, do you guys REALLY only vote for some who sees eye-to-eye with you? I’m 60, and I’ve NEVER fully agreed with someone I voted into office, regardless of office, even the ones I like most.

    ETA: Lots of you called out my bad comment on that; I see y’all, even without individual acknowledgements. [And FTR, I’d vote for BHO again, if he was allowed to run, and masochistic enough to do so. His HAMP program, and treatment of Shirley Sherrod, still sucked donkey dicks though. So, no, didn’t see eye-to-eye with him.]

  56. 56.

    Kay

    October 12, 2015 at 4:37 pm

    @rikyrah:

    I don’t know if the daughter knew where the money came from, but it seems like she did receive it:

    The bribery and kickbacks indictment of former Cleveland school district CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett raises questions about whether she tried to illegally direct money to the sons of her daughter, Cuyahoga County Clerk of Courts Nailah Byrd.
    Byrd-Bennett, who became CEO of the Chicago Public Schools in 2012, was indicted in Chicago Thursday on 15 counts of mail fraud and five counts of wire fraud.
    She is accused of steering a $20.5 million no-bid contract from that district to a training academy for which she worked in various roles during 2011 and 2012.
    Prosecutors said Thursday that Byrd-Bennett, who has not commented on the indictment, is cooperating with their investigation and plans to plead guilty to the charges, according to multiple news reports.
    Nailah Byrd and her twin sons are not named in the indictment as participating in the scheme or even being aware of it.

  57. 57.

    catclub

    October 12, 2015 at 4:40 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): The link is in the post i responded to.

  58. 58.

    Dmbeaster

    October 12, 2015 at 4:41 pm

    @rikyrah: Interesting. The key for this guy is his age and that he can never hope to pay and retire. The issue is an old one in other contexts, such as exemptions for IRAs which sometimes depend on how necessary the money is for retirement and whether it could be replaced from future earnings.

  59. 59.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    October 12, 2015 at 4:46 pm

    @catclub:

    Thanks for clarifying.

  60. 60.

    sharl

    October 12, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    @scav: Um, what?

    ETA: oh, I think you’re responding to my hypothetical tcot wingnut. Neeevermind…

  61. 61.

    J

    October 12, 2015 at 4:48 pm

    I’ve all along been supposing that one of the ‘mainstream’ or ‘establishment’ candidates win the nomination, and dreading the moment when he is hailed (by contrast with Trump) as a wise, moderate, statesmanlike figure, an honorable conservative and the like by the conveyors of CW. As we know, all of the candidates have embraced positions that are both hateful and cretinous. Now I wonder if Carson isn’t playing the same role in relation to Trump. I can just see it, call Trump what you will (loudmouth, blowhard, horse’s ass) by comparison with Carson, he is ‘a wise, moderate, statesmanlike…’ blah blah blah.

    The line, and I suppose I subscribe to it myself, has been that Republican big money has overplayed its hand by nurturing a monster, a Republican base of fanatical lunatics who favor policies that will do the country–even the rich people in it–a lot of harm. But what if the gamble pays off again? A not totally crazy candidate emerges,one who swears secret fealty to the plutocracy. The primary campaign has served, once again, to shift the discussion to the right, making ideas that would have been regarded as beyond the pale not too long ago ‘legitimate’ options to consider. The middle way so beloved of pundits is now massive tax cuts for the rich, reduction of social services, defunding of planned parenthood, the end of child labor laws, relaxation of environmental standards…. Not as farfetched as I wish it were.

  62. 62.

    Baud

    October 12, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    @David Koch:

    My lord. The conference guest list should be the only advertisement Hillary needs.

  63. 63.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 12, 2015 at 4:52 pm

    @trollhattan:

    Just out of curiosity, how do the state of Jefferson folks picture being able to support themselves without the massive welfare they’re currently receiving from the rest of us Californians?

  64. 64.

    Roger Moore

    October 12, 2015 at 4:53 pm

    @RK:

    The difference between a doctor and God is that God knows he isn’t a doctor.

    Which is obvious nonsense, as anyone who has read the Bible can tell you. Just check out Genesis 2:21:

    And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof

    So God is not only a surgeon, he’s also an anesthesiologist.

  65. 65.

    grandpa john

    October 12, 2015 at 4:54 pm

    @The Golux: Living in the district next to his, have been familiar with Inglis for many years. He is and was one of the few sane GOP’ers to hold office in SC, although he was still a Republican in acts and words. He was however one of the very few Rep house members elected during the Gingrich madness that actually honored the pledge of self imposed term limits, but did rerun for office and was elected ,several years later after it was established that the contract for America was actually a contract for a hit on American democracy and that he was the mark by following his pledge

  66. 66.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 12, 2015 at 4:56 pm

    @Dmbeaster:

    IIRC, student debt can’t even be lifted if the student dies. There was a case where parents had taken out loans for their daughter’s education, she died while working on her degree, and they were still on the hook for thousands of dollars.

  67. 67.

    Origuy

    October 12, 2015 at 5:03 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone): Why, with all of the timber and minerals they’ll be able to exploit once they’re free of the tree huggers in Portland and San Francisco, of course!

  68. 68.

    Fair Economist

    October 12, 2015 at 5:07 pm

    @Elie:

    he called it the homo evolvus

    He’s not much of an evolutionary geneticist if he meant that seriously.

  69. 69.

    Germy Shoemangler

    October 12, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    @Roger Moore:

    God is not only a surgeon, he’s also an anesthesiologist.

    Then I want to sue him for malpractice. I look nothing like the original blueprints.

  70. 70.

    trollhattan

    October 12, 2015 at 5:10 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):
    I am SO ready to have that exact conversation: Why are you guys organizing an instant welfare state? The net inflow of federal dollars would have to be dazzling to keep the wheels on. And no, they can’t “have” I-5 and Shasta Lake and dam.

  71. 71.

    Doug!

    October 12, 2015 at 5:23 pm

    @David Koch:

    Pretty amazing, I know.

  72. 72.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 5:50 pm

    @Fair Economist:

    not sure what you mean — it was a hypothetical discussion — he was talking creatively and speculating. Give him a break — and the conversation was translated by me — I thought it was interesting and funny

  73. 73.

    Frankensteinbeck

    October 12, 2015 at 5:52 pm

    So, one guy shot out of obscurity to the lead when he said Mexicans are rapists and murderers. The other guy shot up in popularity when he said Muslims cannot be loyal to the United States. I don’t think I need to say anything more, really.

    @Elie:
    Physicians also live in ‘Doctor World’. Like, they’re the only people who understand each other, and everyone else they’re detached from. Some just a tiny bit. To others you’re one of those lowly non-doctors.

    @Elie:
    He’s spouting standard evolutionary biology and pretending he’s got a unique and epiphanous viewpoint. What he’s describing, where there are a bunch of different brain types and more being spawned because some might work out, is called ‘variation’. Because some are good only in small amounts or different circumstances, you reach ‘equilibrium’ where there’s a certain amount of each type in the population. And natural selection is the process that moves variation towards whatever is the current best balance.

  74. 74.

    pseudonymous in nc

    October 12, 2015 at 5:58 pm

    @Brachiator:

    The vast majority of his funding comes not from wealthy activists but from political unknowns contributing less than $1,000.

    I think that quote means “the majority of his funding comes fromold people responding to direct mail”.

  75. 75.

    redshirt

    October 12, 2015 at 6:12 pm

    So, insanity is the quality Republican voters value most.

  76. 76.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 12, 2015 at 6:17 pm

    @Origuy:

    Why, of course! Strip mining and heavy logging are always the best solution when your primary income is from tourism!

    @trollhattan:

    I like the idiots out in the high desert even better who are 100 percent convinced they can be self-supporting once they don’t have to carry the burden of the entertainment and computer industries anymore.

  77. 77.

    Mnemosyne (iPhone)

    October 12, 2015 at 6:19 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Elie is a nurse (IIRC), so I think she knows some of those Dr. God types personally.
    ;-)

  78. 78.

    rikyrah

    October 12, 2015 at 6:24 pm

    @NonyNony:

    . Carson likely either has true believers or grifters on his campaign staff.

    He has Armstrong Williams leading his campaign.

    GRIFTERS comes to mind.

  79. 79.

    Quaker in a Basement

    October 12, 2015 at 6:29 pm

    @rikyrah: Seconded!

  80. 80.

    rikyrah

    October 12, 2015 at 6:30 pm

    @sharl:

    ‘So, you libs don’t want a Black man in the White House who doesn’t see eye-to-eye with you. Got it.’

    That’s true. I have no interest in having a Slave Catcher in the White House. Already have one on the Supreme Court that I can’t stand.

  81. 81.

    rikyrah

    October 12, 2015 at 6:34 pm

    @Kay:

    @rikyrah:

    I don’t know if the daughter knew where the money came from, but it seems like she did receive it:

    I believe ALL her former positions need to be investigated.

    NO WAY this was her first time doing this.

  82. 82.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 7:11 pm

    @Mnemosyne (iPhone):

    Yes….so so true. I know a couple of them personally as well…and a couple of normal ones too– so my generatlizations go only so far!

  83. 83.

    Elie

    October 12, 2015 at 7:25 pm

    @Frankensteinbeck:

    Thanks– Yes, there is variation that results from the natural and spontaneous mutation of genes. Yes, natural selection “decides” what works…Not sure what you are trying to clarify for me.

    I will try to find the interview and share the link… it was pretty interesting conversation that I am obviously not communicating effectively

  84. 84.

    J R in WV

    October 12, 2015 at 10:27 pm

    @rikyrah:

    So I’m going to quote here:

    At one point, as the victim, a 53-year-old black man, raised his head, an officer used his foot to keep the man’s face on the pavement, according to a dashboard camera video supplied to The New York Times recently by the man’s relatives.

    Is this the most despicable act this “police officer” could have committed at this time and place, having shot the guy, to then grind his face into the dirt while he is dying?

    The obvious answer here is YES!!

    Monsters on the police forces all over the country. We need some way to identify the sociopaths and psychopaths in the police departments, and shuck them out of there post haste. These people are ruining good peoples’ lives over and over, and it has to stop.

    No one can believe that it is proper or appropriate to put your foot on a mortally wounded person and grind his face into the dirt!! Anyone capable of that act should be hospitalized where they can receive therapy to remedy their crazies.

    I’m sorry I’m going off here. Sometimes you think you can handle the obscenities perpetuated on the citizens, until a little detail just sets you off.

    ETA to remove some of the dirty words I used at first.

  85. 85.

    MoeLarryAndJesus

    October 12, 2015 at 10:39 pm

    I think Victoria Jackson is writing Carson’s material.

  86. 86.

    mclaren

    October 13, 2015 at 2:47 am

    But ever since Mr. Carson remarked on Sept. 20 that he did not think a Muslim should be president, then refused to retract the statement amid a furious blowback, his campaign has watched grass-roots support grow and donations pour in — and advisers have backtracked, deciding, in the words of one, to “let Carson be Carson.”

    Wow.

    This is not going to end well for Carson or the Republicans.

  87. 87.

    Paul in KY

    October 13, 2015 at 8:42 am

    @ThresherK: Yeah, if he hadn’t attended that, he’d really be saying some freaky shit.

  88. 88.

    Paul in KY

    October 13, 2015 at 9:03 am

    @Calouste: How about: Ben Carson, megalomaniacal nutwad?

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