Things Presidential Candidates And Their Handlers Say

An opinion piece in the LA Times pointed out that some US presidential candidates are beginning to explicitly express their previously euphamized prejudices.  After quoting Ben Carson's 'a Muslim shouldn't be president' remark,  Michael Finnegan gets a bizarre response from his campaign manager:

"Carson campaign manager Barry Bennett said the comments were justified because Islam calls for killing gay people (Muslim clerics say that’s untrue), and that’s incompatible with the Constitution (the Constitution says “no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States”)."[emphasis added.]

It's not totally clear whether Bennett says that's incompatible or the author.  Presumably it's the author.  But in any case, is he really saying Carson's against an Islamic president because he's concerned about gay people?  Really?

I've looked for Carson previous support of gay anything, but I can't seem to find it.  Is that really the reason thinks a Muslim can't be president? 

From what I can tell online, after Carson said that prison made people gay,  he then apologized and said being gay was not a choice.  For most people going to prison isn't exactly a choice either. 

But if someone links pedophilia and bestiality with being gay, is there any doubt about what his views on gays?

"CARSON: Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It's a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn't matter what they are. They don't get to change the definition. So he, it's not something that is against gays, it's against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society. It has significant ramifications."

There's a problem in a diverse nation like the United States when people don't get to talk about a wide range of topics with family and friends who disagree with them.  If you only talk about these things with people who agree with you, you're in for a big surprise when you get outside your circle, which presidential candidates eventually have to do.


I was trying to find something about how the brain keeps most people from saying offensive things.  I don't seem to be using the right search words, but I did find this article in Psychology Today that touches on that idea.  It's from someone with an identified mental health issue, but it seems to apply to many politicians.

"At the age of 62, I know that my social and emotional regulation skills are still sometimes lacking. I have a self-righteous streak and think that people need to hear what I have to say. I sometimes feel justified in saying things because I believe them to be true, even if my comments may not be appropriate at the time. My ex-father-in-law used to say to me "Michael you are such a smart and talented guy in many ways, why can't you control your mouth?" I had no answer to this question and felt I had two choices: be an idiot and speak my mind, or shut up. I still occasionally vacillate between the two options and have mixed results."

[UPDATE: I realize that there is some rogue text going through the Carson text (at least on my computer), but it's not there in the html or in the compose mode. It comes from an earlier blog post. If anyone has ideas on how to get rid of it, I'd love to know. Thanks.

OK, got it done.  There was weird code in the post below which I got rid of and so this one is fine now.]]