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As A Veteran, I know Integrity is Central to My Life, and Ben Carson Lacks It Entirely
The Guardian ^ | 11/7/2015 | Richard Allen Smith

Posted on 11/08/2015 1:35:43 PM PST by conservativejoy

As the Republican candidates life story comes under increasing scrutiny, it has become clear that Carson is missing an essential value I learned in the army.

As a private in basic training, I learned the Army Values. We were issued a plastic card, on which they were listed: loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. For any inspection, until I left the military as a sergeant, that card was a required item.

The US army still teaches the Army Values to every soldier. Its a cheesy, motivational speaker esque acronym that spells 'LDRSHIP'. But it is also useful for teaching new troops, many of whom enter the military with little direction or understanding of what soldiering requires.

The Army Values can be learned in any walk of life. Even running for the presidency. But one such value, integrity, seems to have escaped one Republican candidate altogether.

Ben Carsons personal story is in question, and rightly so. There was the Popeyes stick up in Baltimore that likely never happened, according to Baltimore police. The snake oil company Carson claimed he never shilled for, despite readily availably video evidence of Carson schilling for snake oil. The brutally violent attacks he committed during his childhood that no one who grew up with him can seem to remember. And, of course, a claim that he was offered a 'scholarship' to the United States Military Academy by General William Westmoreland, but turned it down to go to Yale.

'There is no such thing as being 'offered a full scholarship’ at West Point,' recalls Frederick Wellman, a West Point alumnus who served for 22 years, obtained a graduate degree from Harvard University and now leads ScoutComms, an agency advocating for veterans. 'You apply. You get in. Meeting a general doesnt get you in.'

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


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: 2016election; army; carson; elections
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To: Slyfox

Since I was with a man who went through the process of applying to the Naval Academy with the recommendations of Admirals (his dad was a well connected officer) and he did not get in, I know the recommendations of higher ups are helpful but not a guarantee. There are many aspects of a young man they want to see in addition to recommendations and GPA’s. They are systematics in their evaluations and treat everyone equally - from the farm boy to the Northeastern private school crowd.

So you are wrong about Westmoreland having the power to get people into West Point. It’s very competitive and recommendations are only one small part of the process.


81 posted on 11/08/2015 3:24:22 PM PST by SaraJohnson
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To: Slyfox

No! That’s not how it works.


82 posted on 11/08/2015 3:50:19 PM PST by theoldmarine (Saved by grace through Faith)
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To: conservativejoy; Patton@Bastogne

So let me get this straight. We should all pay attention to your feelings about Carson and ignore the facts about Cruz’s voting record?

Please address this before posting any more for you knee jerk childish attack bot postings.

You inability to do anything but post childish rants based on nothing more sustainable their your own inflated sense of the infallibility of your feelings renders you irrelevant here.

Sen. Cruz Presents Measure to Strengthen, Improve Legal Immigration

From his Senate office website

http://www.cruz.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=137

Offers amendment to increase H-1B visas to help improve, retain high-skilled labor force
May 14, 2013
|
press@cruz.senate.gov / (202) 228-7561

WASHINGTON, DC – U.S. Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) today presented an amendment to the Gang of Eight immigration bill that would improve our nation’s legal immigration system by increasing high-skilled temporary worker visas, called H-1B visas, by 500 percent

Ted Cruz Was For Birthright Citizenship Before He Was Against It

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/page/317794_Ted_Cruz_Was_For_Birthright_Ci

Cruz reverses support for TPA trade bill, blasts GOP leaders

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/06/ted-cruz-no-support-tpa-trade-bill-119319#ixzz3qv2CoiJ8


83 posted on 11/08/2015 4:22:57 PM PST by MNJohnnie ( Tyranny, like Hell, is not easily conquered)
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To: conservativejoy
By Richard Allen Smith? The same Richard Allen Smith who wrote:

Army Vet: Bowe Bergdahl’s Rescue Was the Right Message to Send to Soldiers

No, Rep. West, That's Not How We Speak in the Military

The New Poll on DADT is Shady and Wrong

Obama Administration Sets the Standard for Veterans Care

Why Fox News Rejected our Clean Energy Ad

Progressive Dixie: A Rare Occasion for Pride



I think I'll pass.

84 posted on 11/08/2015 4:50:16 PM PST by FourPeas ("Maladjusted and wigging out is no way to go through life, son." -hg)
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To: MNJohnnie
.

Please address this before posting any more for you knee jerk childish attack bot postings.

You inability to do anything but post childish rants based on nothing more sustainable their your own inflated sense of the infallibility of your feelings renders you irrelevant here.



Fortunately, you're not the arbitrator of "relevancy".

You're just dazed and frazzeled as your Wonder Boy Dr. Ben Ben Carson continues his self-implosion.

You wish Dr. Ben Carson to be "off-limits" for the same reason that Obama was "off-limits" in 2008/2012.


Good luck with that strategy, here, Son ...


Of course, my biggest question is whether Dr. Ben Carson smiled that famous "$hit eating grin" when he announced:

1) No "association" with Mannatech after receiving $ 120,000 in product endorsement and speaking fees

2) Puerto Rico statehood

3) "Citizenship" amnesty for 15 million Mexican immigrants

4) No guarantee of Second Amendment protections

5) Endorsement of Gay marriage

6) Endorsement of Abortion "rights"

7) Endorsement of "special bathrooms" for LGBT folks (a billion dollar construction project)

8) Utter failure to clearly answer a question about his proposed 10-15-25 percent "Church Tithe" federal income tax plan at the last GOP debate

9) Endorsement of Al Sharpton's "sterling character"

10) Spewing (like a complete FOOL) tin-foil wacked-out theories about Egypt's pyramids



I would continue the list, but I'm sure that your "Egyptian Pyramid Grain Storage Secret Decoder Ring" is setting itself for "Self-Destruct" ...

just like Dr. Ben Carson's "inept" presidential campaign is doing to itself.



How about you man-up, "Johnnie", and accept my $ 50 bet that Dr. Ben Carson will be polling "single digits" (Average between RCP and Monmounth polls) on Christmas Day 2015 ?

Otherwise, you're the same Bravo Sierra artist that Dr. Ben Carson is ...


.
85 posted on 11/08/2015 4:57:36 PM PST by Patton@Bastogne
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To: MNJohnnie; All; conservativejoy
.

Please address this before posting any more for you knee jerk childish attack bot postings.

You inability to do anything but post childish rants based on nothing more sustainable their your own inflated sense of the infallibility of your feelings renders you irrelevant here.



Fortunately, you're not the arbitrator of "relevancy".

You're just dazed and frazzeled as your Wonder Boy Dr. Ben Ben Carson continues his self-implosion.

You wish Dr. Ben Carson to be "off-limits" for the same reason that Obama was "off-limits" in 2008/2012.


Good luck with that strategy, here, Son ...


Of course, my biggest question is whether Dr. Ben Carson smiled that famous "$hit eating grin" when he announced:

1) No "association" with Mannatech after receiving $ 120,000 in product endorsement and speaking fees

2) Puerto Rico statehood

3) "Citizenship" amnesty for 15 million Mexican immigrants

4) No guarantee of Second Amendment protections

5) Endorsement of Gay marriage

6) Endorsement of Abortion "rights"

7) Endorsement of "special bathrooms" for LGBT folks (a billion dollar construction project)

8) Utter failure to clearly answer a question about his proposed 10-15-25 percent "Church Tithe" federal income tax plan at the last GOP debate

9) Endorsement of Al Sharpton's "sterling character"

10) Spewing (like a complete FOOL) tin-foil wacked-out theories about Egypt's pyramids



I would continue the list, but I'm sure that your "Egyptian Pyramid Grain Storage Secret Decoder Ring" is setting itself for "Self-Destruct" ...

just like Dr. Ben Carson's "inept" presidential campaign is doing to itself.



How about you man-up, "Johnnie", and accept my $ 50 bet that Dr. Ben Carson will be polling "single digits" (Average between RCP and Monmounth polls) on Christmas Day 2015 ?

Otherwise, you're the same Bravo Sierra artist that Dr. Ben Carson has sadly become ...


.

86 posted on 11/08/2015 4:59:04 PM PST by Patton@Bastogne
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To: conservativejoy

Nonsense...at best.....just 1 point, every West point student receives a scholarship....ie:free tuition and room/board.....they incur some obligation after graduation, but the trip through the academy costs them nothing.....and opportunities like this were regularly offered to worthy Blacks in those years......no problem!!!


87 posted on 11/08/2015 5:31:37 PM PST by terycarl
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To: conservatism_IS_compassion

Carson did an hour PBS special for Mannatech and credited the company for funding his $2.5 Million endowment chair at Johns Hopkins.

As for the alleged conversation with Gen. Westmoreland, I don’t believe it ever happened. If it had, Carson would have remembered when it happened and not named a time when Westmoreland was not even in that city.


88 posted on 11/08/2015 6:16:37 PM PST by conservativejoy ( He supports, amnesty, guncontol,)
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To: conservativejoy

Back to the normal lying character assasination. You are just a lying rug.

West Point sends out hundreds of recruiters. In addition to them, Senior Officers join the recruiting effort. USMA alumni organizations assist in recruiting. The West Point Parent association joins in.

The post-Viet Nam years that Carson would be recruited in were TOUGH YEARS to be recruiting candidates. The Army would be particularly interested in accessing a promising, top of his ROTC program kid like Carson.

Many of them base their description of a cadet’s ‘free ride’ on West Point documentation which says it is a Scholarship. How else would a recruiter describe in a concise way the reality of pay, room and board, health benefits and adherence to the UCMJ?

I am pretty sure that the USMA recruiters that talked to me talked about full scholarships and there is no doubt in my mind that they also talked to him about them. If he had wanted to attend West Point it probably would have fallen into place given that situation.

You are a very pathetic and small person to attack Carson on this.


89 posted on 11/08/2015 7:39:15 PM PST by sgtyork (Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy)
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To: MNJohnnie

She’s a serial liar. Its hard to believe someone with her allergy to the truth is a conservative.


90 posted on 11/08/2015 7:40:44 PM PST by sgtyork (Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy)
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To: conservativejoy
You've had an axe for quite some time....you continue to grind.

Are you on the payroll?

91 posted on 11/08/2015 7:43:48 PM PST by Osage Orange (The liberals are asking us to give Obama time. We agree and think 25 to life would be appropriate.)
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To: JayGalt
I don’t see Dr. Carson as an effective candidate in the general election, and I don’t see him as an especially good president if he did win.

Better than a Democrat, of course, but . . .

IMHO Trump looks great as a candidate in the general election - but he could be a very poor president. Better than most Democrats, but . . .

92 posted on 11/09/2015 5:37:09 AM PST by conservatism_IS_compassion ('Liberalism' is a conspiracy against the public by wire-service journalism.)
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To: sgtyork

Recruiters are not authorized to offer scholarships. They can only get people they think may be good prospects to apply to West Point. The process is still the same for acceptance. No offer was made to Carson because he never initiated the process by applying. I think he would have likely gotten in. He got into Yale on Affirmative Action.


93 posted on 11/09/2015 7:40:24 AM PST by conservativejoy ( He supports, amnesty, guncontol,)
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To: terycarl

The only offer that can be made to West Point is one that is made from the ongoing admissions process. They are not handed out by recruiters to folks who have not even applied. I think Carson could have gotten in if he had applied, gotten his nomination from a Congressman and following the process, but saying that he did get in when he didn’t was not truthful.


94 posted on 11/09/2015 7:47:30 AM PST by conservativejoy ( He supports, amnesty, guncontol,)
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To: conservativejoy

Richard Allen Smith clearly does not understand the meaning of the word Integrity.


95 posted on 11/09/2015 10:56:23 AM PST by CSM (White wine sipping, caviar munching, Georgetown cocktail circuit circulating, Perrier conservative.)
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To: conservativejoy

-—Recruiters are not authorized to offer scholarships.

Pulling cr(* out of your anal orifice. You have no idea what a recruiter would or would not be authorized to talk about.

Of course USMA recruiters talk about ‘scholarships’ and they make it more real to a standout.. A high school kid would hear it as an offer.

-—He got into Yale on Affirmative Action.

You really are an nasty cockroach of a person.


96 posted on 11/10/2015 6:02:55 PM PST by sgtyork (Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy)
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To: sgtyork

That is not how West Point works. There is a Process that determines who gets into West Point. It starts with an application. There must be a Congressman to nominate an individual. Then the applicants are evaluated by the administrators and candidates are selected to receive offers of appointment. Carson did not apply, no process was initiated, no slot offered to Ben Carson. If he had applied and taken the required steps, I believe he would have likely gotten in.

Carson even acknowledges that he got into Yale with a little extra help which was affirmative action.


97 posted on 11/10/2015 8:30:32 PM PST by conservativejoy (Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God,,,, We can elect Ted Cruz!)
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To: conservativejoy

You can tell me nothing about West Point recruiting. Nothing.

I was a West Point nominee, my son was a West Point nominee. I served with West Pointers through all my military career.

There are HUGE resources involved in West Point recruiting. http://westpointforusall.org/case-for-support.html West Point recruiters dangle the economic benefits (also known as ‘scholarships’) in their RECRUITING efforts- Period. Its marketing. Its competition. That’s part of the game, they have to compete with all the the other universities at college fairs, college days, dinners, events.

That’s the step BEFORE the application.

It is WITHOUT DOUBT that a stellar prospect like Doctor Carson would get even more of the marketing inducement, more of a promise. What else would a Field Grade Officer or retired Flag Officer say to a stellar high school prospect than something like ‘we’ll get you in on a full scholarship’? - with the mechanics of that applications, nominations, physical testing, etc. less highlighted.

He had every right to be proud that he was considered a first class prospect that the Army specifically targeted to access to West Point as evidence by one or another recruiter saying that ‘he could get a scholarship’.


98 posted on 11/10/2015 9:18:24 PM PST by sgtyork
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To: sgtyork

Recruiters can “dangle” whatever they want to, but they cannot bestow an appointment to West Point on anyone. Carson or anyone else has to apply and go through the process. Like I said, I think Carson would have likely gotten in, but he didn’t go through the process and receive a formal acceptance so we’ll never know.

At this point, I’m much more concerned about his support for amnesty, gun control and TPP.


99 posted on 11/11/2015 7:21:14 AM PST by conservativejoy (Pray Hard, Work Hard, Trust God,,,, We can elect Ted Cruz!)
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To: conservativejoy

So, contrary to your many posts he didn’t lie about this. Thanks for recognizing reality.


100 posted on 11/12/2015 5:37:10 PM PST by sgtyork
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