Ben Carson and the wealthy conservative victim class
By Brent Budowsky - 04/03/13 10:19 AM ET
When I heard Dr. Ben Carson, the
latest rightist flavor of the minute (rightist flavors come and go in minutes
these days) whine about the supposedly evil, vicious, white, liberal racists
who are picking on poor Dr. Carson, I immediately thought that with Leno and
Fallon competing to host NBC's "The Tonight Show," perhaps Carson was
throwing his beret into the ring.
He sounded like millionaire crony
capitalist Newt Gingrich, millionaire former Fox News personality Sarah Palin,
millionaire pizza magnate and would-be president Herman Cain, and other wealthy
conservatives who enjoy playing the role of victims.
When a politician goes to a
National Prayer Breakfast and misuses the occasion to make nasty, insulting
comments toward a sitting president there to join in prayer and worship, that
politician (in this case Carson) should have been taught long ago to have more
respect for moments of prayer and worship.
Where I come from,
he would simply be compared to the eastern end of a horse headed west with
behavior such as this, a description that has everything do to with his
misbehavior at a prayer breakfast and nothing to do with his race, gender or
myopic opinions.
When Carson behaves this way, he
has earned a spanking for his misbehavior and not a standing ovation from the
partisans and ideologues of the right. Have they learned anything while
enjoying two terms of President Barack Obama, while facing a high prospect they
will next enjoy two terms of President Hillary Clinton?
I doubt that Carson will be
anointed the new Republican "savior" (though the previous GOP savior
is having a tough time these days). I hope that in the end Carson does give his
commencement speech at Johns Hopkins University, whose management so unwisely
selected him to headline and whose students are now spanking Carson with
protests after his latest insults to gays, which he more or less apologized
for, presumably until his next insult to gays or the president or some other
group. This matter has nothing to do with Carson's silly charge that he is a
victim of evil, white, vicious, liberal racism. This is more parody than
politics.
The larger issue is how Carson,
Palin, Cain and Gingrich are among the wealthy elites of the Republican right
who refuse (listen to this carefully, conservatives) to take responsibility for
their actions. Some on the right talk a good game about personal
responsibility, but when they transgress or fail because of their own
shortcomings, they whine and moan and blame others for their failures. Leno and
Fallon have nothing to worry about from the gentleman from Johns Hopkins.
Thanks for your support!
Katie Lewis Accused Of Suffocating Her 5-Month-Old Son On Hospital
Video Camera
Posted: 05/07/2012 5:00 pm Updated:
05/07/2012 6:50 pm
A
Minnesota hospital video camera allegedly captured a woman pinching her infant
son's nose and covering his mouth until he could not breathe.
The
5-month-old boy "kicked frantically" before going limp, according to
a St. Paul police incident report sent to The Huffington Post. The suffocation
allegedly lasted 45 seconds. The Pioneer Press reports
that Katie
Lewis was charged with
assault, endangerment of a child and domestic assault by strangulation after
the alleged incident on May 2. Lewis had brought her son to the hospital
claiming that he would sometimes stop breathing, turn blue, and then regain
consciousness, the report said. After running a number of tests, hospital staff
told Lewis they couldn't find anything wrong with her baby and he would be
released.
It
was then that a nurse, watching the video camera in Lewis' room, saw her cover
the baby's nose and mouth, the report says.
Lewis
is quoted in the police report allegedly telling cops she "snapped"
and that she wanted her baby to "do something" so medical staff could
"find something" and help the boy more quickly.
"This
is a sad and terrifying act by a mother against her infant son,” Ramsey County
Attorney John Choi said in a news release sent to HuffPost. "Thankfully a
quick-acting hospital staffer stepped in to stop the assault, and now the
infant is in good condition and in a secure location."