Posted on 03/06/2015 12:11:32 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
As Matt Welch noted Wednesday, pediatric neurosurgeon and next Republican president of the United States Ben Carson both "lived down to stereotype" and articulated some truths about the GOP field for 2016 when he argued that gay sex among heterosexuals in prisons proves that being gay is a "choice." (Carson's very existence, by the way, proves my general about Republicans' "long love affair" manifestly unqualified candidates.)
Here's something else to think about while mulling over whether any of this matters more than a tinker's ding-dong: Ben Carson has apologized for his comments and is already being taken to the woodshed by conservatives for backing down and issuing a formal statement. "Ben Carson Caves to Gays," runs one indicative headline.
More interesting, Hot Air's Allahpundit writes that
"for all the heat Carson took [for both his original statement and subsequent apology], he’s open to legalized gay marriage insofar as he’s a federalist on the issue. “I support the right of individual states to sanction” the practice, he says, which puts him in line with Ted Cruz and puts both of them quite a ways away from social conservative orthodoxy as recently as 2008 or so in calling for a Federal Marriage Amendment to ban gay marriage nationwide. The media’s holding Carson up as an example of how retrograde his views are, but meanwhile even the right wing of the GOP field is ready for gay marriage coast to coast so long as it’s being enacted by state legislatures."
Allahpundit muses on how the Santorum/Huckabee types in the GOP field will respond to any or all of this, noting that Carson may well end up being seen as too hard on gay issues by people on the left and too soft on gays by social cons. But his position will almost certainly be the position of the GOP presidential candidate, who will definitely not be Dr. Ben. Or Rick Santorum or Mike Huckabee, either.
Read the whole thing.
This opens up a larger question that the GOP would do well to grapple with head-on: If the vast majority of presidential wannabes are good with gay marriage—or are at least good with the federal government staying the hell out of the issue—what will they do to take it off the table for discussion among their prospective candidates and national figures?
Polls routinely show 55 percent to 60 percent of Americans approve of gay marriage. The quickness with which the issue went from not even being on the radar screen to majority and growing acceptance indicates that no political party is ever going to do well because of an anti-gay marriage position (though a party might still flourish despite an anti-gay marriage stance). Of course, the gay marriage issue resonates perfectly with all the things that conservatives say they favor, such as long-term commitment in adult relationships, devolving power out of Washington, etc. Other than a religiously based opposition to homosexual activity—and most conservatives would agree that there is and should be a separation of church and state—nothing about the issues surrounding gay marriage presents a problem for conservatives.
Conservatives and Republicans should also consider how the belief that they are homophobic hurts them with the general population. Regardless of what presidential candidates might think on the issue of gay marriage, the national and many state-level GOP platforms are anti-gay.
There are large numbers of voters who are neither Republican nor Democratic loyalists. Call them moderates, independents, whatever. Like most voters, these people care first and foremost about issues such as "the economy," "the availability of good jobs," and "the way the federal government is working," to name the top three concerns among registered voters according to Gallup last fall.
While these voters may not vote with gay issues in the front of their minds, to the extent that Republicans are seen as intolerant and spiteful if not hateful toward gays, voters will likely go the other way. Or, same thing, not feel comfortable voting for a Republican. Especially if that doesn't reflect the feelings of the party's presidential candidates, the GOP should work to change the way it operates in the court of public opinion.
Here's Ben Carson apologizing on CNN:
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
I know, I am a vet and worked for an MI battalion, but I have never heard vets describe their military service like you do, ever.
How you think your experience is anywhere close to Lt. Colonel West’s, is baffling.
Did I say I commanded a battalion? No. Did I work with flag officers, SES, secretaries and higher-ups? Sure did. As for M.I. battalions, I was in the 312th at 1st Cav., the 105th at 5th Mech. and the 102nd at 2nd Division. Also G-2, I Corps (ROK/US) Group (actually a field army, not just a corps, since we had corps under us) and TDY to many other places.
I wouldn't call the brutal sociopaths in prison normal. But if you mean normally heterosexual convicts, it happens. And you think it never does?
You should have been aware that in the context of our conversation, “normal” meant heterosexual, that you didn’t is just more strangeness.
How long does it take before a man suddenly desires homosexual sex, is that length of time the same before he wants to have sex with children, or 8 year old girls if that is all that is available at the time?
My first post I specified “brutal young men” on because in many cases you are talking about homo rape. Someone who engages in that is only concerned with their own gratification, and doesn’t care who or what provides it. And most likely they would rather have sex with a woman given the choice, but they take what they can get. You can say that person has chosen to be “a homosexual”. But if anyone who ever had sex with the same sex is “a homosexual”, by that logic any homosexual who ever had sex with someone of the opposite sex would be “a heterosexual”. I’m not going to argue over labels, but I think it’s dumb to suggest what happens in prison is some kind of proof about what happens outside of it.
See post 23.
If men are turning you on, then you have issues.
How’s that working for you?
What an utterly pathetic situation.
What MOS were you that you worked for an MI battalion?
My LRRP/LRS company worked for an MI battalion.
Ever work with ground surveillance radar folks?
LOL, I’m not interested in doing a biography.
Another of your irrational insulting posts to Hugin, I see.
Because he thinks men in prison might be forced into homosexual sex, he’s queer ?
What planet are you from ? Dripping Vitriol ?
Ben Carson was correct in his original statement - being homosexual is a choice. He should have used Craigslist as an example, though, rather than prison.
If you think that not having a woman available forces you into sexually desiring and having sex with men, then you have issues.
Oh, c’mon! LOL
It’s fine that you’re a Cruz man, but you don’t have to belittle others. It is beneath you. Or should be. But if you are going to belittle others, at least know who/what you are talking about.
Carson isn’t a businessman, he’s a recently retired world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon. He was Chairman of his department at Johns Hopkins Hospital, consistently ranked #1 in the nation.
Sneering at a Lt Col as “middle management” and a “one term congressman” without irony when you’re promoting a one term senator? Seriously, 2ndDV, you need to recalibrate here.
What rank and/or elective political office did you hold that makes you almost as qualified as West?
And O-5 is middle management, just as O-1 thru O-3 is junior management, E-7 is supervisory and O-8 thru 10 are upper level executives. A one term congressman and a one-term senator who was also a large state's solicitor general, a deputy attorney general and an advisor to a president are not the same thing, no matter how you want to spin it. Plus, a senator represents a whole state, in this case arguably one of the most important, not just a district.
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