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Why Ben Carson’s West Point fib probably won’t hurt him
Busines via Slate ^ | November 6, 2015 | Jamelle Bouie, Slate

Posted on 11/08/2015 11:10:05 AM PST by SeekAndFind

In his acclaimed autobiography, Gifted Hands, Ben Carson says he had an offer and scholarship from the West Point military academy as a teenager, which he declined in favor of Yale University.

"I was offered full scholarship to West Point," Carson wrote, describing a meeting with Gen. William Westmoreland.

"I didn't refuse the scholarship outright, but I let them know that a military career wasn't where I saw myself going. As overjoyed as I felt to be offered such a scholarship, I wasn't really tempted. The scholarship would have obligated me to spend four years in military service after I finished college, precluding my chances to go on to medical school."

There are immediate problems here. There are no scholarships to West Point — all costs are covered for all students. And the only way to get an offer is to apply, but the school has no record of Carson's application. When pressed by Politico, Carson's campaign conceded he never applied.

"He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors,” explained his campaign manager, Barry Bennett. “They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission."

[SNIP]

So, is Politico right? Did Carson "fabricate" his West Point story?

If you judge by the text of his book, as well as other statements about the same story, the answer is not exactly. Carson never claimed that he applied to the school. And while West Point doesn't give scholarships, it's not hard to see how encouragement from authority figures -- You're a shoo-in -- becomes, after years of telling and retelling, the tale of an offer and a scholarship. It's just how memory works.

Carson is guilty of run-of-the-mill embellishment.

(Excerpt) Read more at slate.com ...


TOPICS: Editorial; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bencarson; westpoint
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1 posted on 11/08/2015 11:10:05 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind

So Politco has to walk back the story and yet the Slime media keeps lying about Carson?

Tells us quite a bit about how scared they are of Carson


2 posted on 11/08/2015 11:11:37 AM PST by MNJohnnie ( Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered)
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To: SeekAndFind

Because it’s not one?


3 posted on 11/08/2015 11:11:47 AM PST by Defiant (I wouldn't have to mansplain if it weren't for all those wymidiots.)
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To: SeekAndFind

And the US Military Academy at West Point recruiting website uses the word “scholarship” several times. And considering that you don’t pay, it is the same as a ‘full ride scholarship’ to a civilian school. the only additional point, is that it comes with a commitment of 5 years service after being commissioned as an officer.


4 posted on 11/08/2015 11:13:53 AM PST by GreyFriar (Spearhead - 3rd Armored Division 75-78 & 83-87)
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To: SeekAndFind

It wasn’t a fib. It was his perspective of an event that happened years ago.


5 posted on 11/08/2015 11:14:34 AM PST by The Ghost of FReepers Past (Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light..... Isaiah 5:20)
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To: SeekAndFind
Did he meet General Westmorland? Yes.

Would the General be impressed enough with him to offer him a scholarship on the spot? Yes.

Would West Point have admitted him just on General Westmorlands word? Yes.

Would General Westmorland have been impressed with Barack Hussein Obama? Hell No.

6 posted on 11/08/2015 11:15:39 AM PST by Slyfox (Will no one rid us of this meddlesome president?)
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To: Slyfox

Too bad the good general isn’t here to confirm all that ...


7 posted on 11/08/2015 11:16:28 AM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: Slyfox

That Carson might not have met him on Memorial Day is the only inconsistency in this whole brouhaha.


8 posted on 11/08/2015 11:19:25 AM PST by erlayman
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To: SeekAndFind

Was he offered membership in the Choom gang? He should claim he was, then they’d invex that.


9 posted on 11/08/2015 11:20:28 AM PST by gusopol3
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To: SeekAndFind
Why Ben Carson’s West Point fib probably won’t hurt him

Let me think...because he didn't fib?

10 posted on 11/08/2015 11:22:03 AM PST by stevem
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To: Slyfox

I think General Westmorland would be amazed at how Obama became anything more than a bum.


11 posted on 11/08/2015 11:31:00 AM PST by Jonty30 (What Islam and secularism have in common is that they are both death cults)
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To: The Ghost of FReepers Past

The MSM never promotes Truth-—it is always to control the perceptions of the ignorant masses. Solzhenitsyn let us “know* about America’s pravda system known as the “Free Press” as early as 78.

When Americans realize that all their *history* books and the “Free Press” is totally controlled by a few sodomite satanists (Progressives) we may be able to at least free our children from the effort at mass “Mind Control”.

This control of American “newspapers” and airwaves has been broached by a few daring people-—it is still dangerous to promote Truth in the public square as it was in 1934 Nazi Germany. It is no different here-—PC is total Mind Control-—control of Words which control the ideas of the ignorant masses.

Carson, as Truth, is very dangerous to the satanist sodomites who control the mass media and are programming our children to be dumb and ignorant and dependent slaves of the elites. Christianity created the Age of Reason and Individual Natural Rights from God-—which is Revolutionary to the sodomite elites who want your little boys for their sacrifices to their Ba’al goat god. Kissinger and our “leaders” have their little orgies with the children-—that is their “paradise” that they are trying to condition your children into accepting—where Up is Down, girls are boys and Vice is Virtue.

Destroy Virtue in people-—the kind a Carson has-—and you collapse civil society and create tribal, servile minds who can only “group think”. Because of Carson’s Christian Worldview, he can “think outside the box” as our Founders and the brilliant individuals throughout history who led to Revolutions-——left the plantation the elites are creating with their unconstitutional systems of total control which throughout history created serfdom and peasant, tribal “cultures”.

The elites are destroying Truth-—promoting lies 24/7 so that “slavery” is the norm. Only Truth sets people free. Free Press is essential for Freedom—but we haven’t had it for a century.


12 posted on 11/08/2015 11:40:43 AM PST by savagesusie (Right Reason According to Nature = Just Law)
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To: SeekAndFind
Carson also very explicitly stated in the very same biography that he only applied to a single college, Yale, because he could only afford to apply for one.

"An ironic situation faced me in the fall of 1968, for most of the top colleges in the country had contacted me with offers and enducements. However, each college required a ten-dollar non-returnable entrance fee sent with the application. I had exactly ten dollars, so I could apply only to one."

His statement on the previous page that he was "offered" a scholarship to West Point fell under the same category as the other "offers and enducements" that he received from multiple colleges that he had not applied to yet.

I did freakishly well on my SAT. My high school grades, on the other hand, were mediocre. Shortly after I received my SAT score I began to receive a relentless stream of "offers" of admission and scholarships from colleges that would never have admitted me if I actually applied.

It is no different from the "offers" of low interest rate loans that fill all of our spam folders. All you have to do to get the loan is apply for the loan, fill out a lengthy credit application, and get accepted.

I am no Carson apologist. When this story first came out I posted that he was toast. I still don't intend to vote for him. I just believe that blatant media lies against any conservatives should be exposed.

13 posted on 11/08/2015 11:42:36 AM PST by Bubba_Leroy (The Obamanation Continues)
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To: SeekAndFind

“Ben Carson says he had an offer and scholarship”

This is a `fib’ on its face.
I don’t recall Carson ever claiming to have had the scholarship, just that it had been offered.
Slate sucks, as usual, with its tricky semantics.
They teach this **** in Gerbalism school.


14 posted on 11/08/2015 11:47:05 AM PST by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: Jonty30

One thought to remember - Obama is the best the devil will ever be able to do.


15 posted on 11/08/2015 11:50:52 AM PST by Slyfox (Will no one rid us of this meddlesome president?)
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To: SeekAndFind

1) Because it was not a fib ...


16 posted on 11/08/2015 12:03:06 PM PST by NonValueAdded (In a Time of Universal Deceit, Telling the Truth Is a Revolutionary Act)
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To: Defiant
Exactly! Because it wasn't a fib.

Duh...

Now, on to why the media's fib WILL hurt them.

17 posted on 11/08/2015 12:04:52 PM PST by DoughtyOne (It's beginning to look like "Morning in America" again. (Comment on YouTube under Trump Free Ride.))
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To: SeekAndFind

So much garbage, so little time.


18 posted on 11/08/2015 12:11:52 PM PST by jwalsh07 (.)
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To: SeekAndFind
There are no scholarships to West Point — all costs are covered for all students.

I suppose the author of this piece thought this made sense? Unless the meeting with General Westmoreland didn't occur, then almost certainly one of the pitches given was that his education would be fully paid for.

And the only way to get an offer is to apply, but the school has no record of Carson's application. When pressed by Politico, Carson's campaign conceded he never applied.

Carson's campaign didn't "concede" this because Carson never claimed he applied to begin with. And again, unless the meeting with General Westmoreland was itself a fabrication, then it is bogus to suggest he would not have been told he would have been given a full ride at the school as part of the sales pitch if the General was asking him to consider applying. The suggestion that if he didn't end up filling out paperwork that someone at the school could asked him to attend is a ridiculous suggestion. Think of college athletics - people are recruited and offered scholarships without them even expressing interest in schools, let alone going through with applying to attend the schools.

So, if Carson's claims are indeed false, it could not be for the reasons stated. Only if the meeting with the encounter with the General itself did not take place is the account given by Carson false - that's going to be difficult to either prove or disprove.

19 posted on 11/08/2015 12:20:36 PM PST by Republican Wildcat
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To: SeekAndFind

“Jamelle Bouie”

Resident “holder’s person” over at Slate. Looks like Obama’s African “brother.”


20 posted on 11/08/2015 12:23:35 PM PST by vette6387
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