I'm finding it hard to believe Ben Carson was ever a "brain surgeon".

[BannonsLiver]

This man's stupidity is breathtaking and it's making me wonder how any human being could survive a procedure done by him. I realize that makes me sound like a CT loon but It's just not believable. I wouldn't trust him to stitch up a simple cut let alone someone's cranium.

[C Moon]

1. Perhaps he made too many botched attempts on his own brain. nt

[Cha]

2. It's that savant thing.. brilliant in one area and

in benny's case.. dumber than shite everywhere else.

I wonder how he's going to muddle through head of HUD without killing it?

[BannonsLiver]

3. That's the only possible explanation.

If I ran into him in public before he became famous I'd likely assume he's had some kind of head trauma in his past.

[Rhiannon12866]

6. I still think of him as "the narcoleptic candidate..."

[joet67]

24. I'm totally with you on your thoughts. I have long thought the exact same things.

Makes me wonder if he's a sham who just hasn't gotten caught yet. Maybe I've watched too many investigative shows over the years, but it wouldn't surprise me if he just reads stuff out of a few books and then does stuff.

[Amishman]

55. As a surgeon, he is definitely the real deal. I like the savant theory

His work separating the conjoined twins was apparently exceptional. Could fake that.

His being some kind of savant would fit. The only place he's competent is inside someone's head (pun intended)

[MedusaX]

4. That's why he's there

He is to serve as Dr. Kavorkian ...
and help put HUD out of its alleged misery....

[Cha]

7. That's what I'm afraid of.. So many of us

are helped immensely by the assist from HUD.

[BannonsLiver]

12. My hope is he just doesn't do much of anything

I don't think Agent Orange is that into HUD or understands what it does. It seems possible Carson will be left to his own devices so maybe he just sort of falls asleep (literally) on the job without any real fundamental changes.

[exboyfil]

17. Zero out the budget

That would be the approach. Is anything in the budget an entitlement that would require legislation beyond the next budget?

$50B which is close to the amount for the defense build up.

Ben Carson won't lift a finger to stop any budget reductions. In that he is like DeVos and Tillerson.

[Cha]

18. Jeeze wouldn't that be

nice.. not destroy it like they want to do with People's Health care.

We'll have to look back on these speculations and hopes when it's more clear which direction the somnolent dr will take it.



But, he's one scary dude with thoughts like these.. oh look he acknowledged "slavery" then..

[world wide wally]

25. And now we see what he knows about slavery

[Cha]

26. right.

[cstanleytech]

27. Aye, I wish HUD had more resources though as me, my brothers and our mother

were never fortunate enough to get any help so we were forced to move pretty much constantly from one place to another *sigh*

[Cha]

29. Sorry to hear that, cstanley.

Sounds like my family way back in the day.. before HUD.. which started September 9, 1965.

I fell into it quite by accident in New York.. my landlady's daughter worked for them and she could see I was having trouble with my rent.

[putitinD]

36. that is the mission; to kill it!

[Eyeball_Kid]

53. I don't think that Carson would know how to kill HUD. By now, he still doesn't

understand HUD's mission. Others are correct, however. Listening to Carson talk about ANYTHING leads me to conclude that I wouldn't trust him with making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich-- even IF he can do brain surgery.

The GOOD news is that he no longer practices surgery.

[putitinD]

54. not Carson's mission, he can't do anything right, but the administration's mission, thats

why they put a blunderfuck in charge of it. To run it into the ground.

[calimary]

37. That's probably why.

[Zing Zing Zingbah]

45. Ben Carson is the the Rain Man of neurosurgery

My husband and I were talking about this last night.

[HAB911]

51. I think his assigned job is

to kill HUD, as is Perry's assignment

[True Dough]

5. He's brilliant!

Nah, not at all. But he's entertaining, at least.

[Cha]

10. Oh wow.. thanks for the recap from benny, the genius, carson.

Wait a minute.. he acknowledges Slavery there.. so he's mr two face benny carson.

True Dough

[southerncrone]

8. I've never believed he was a brain surgeon.

I keep thinking he's a Holiday Inn Express ad.

[elleng]

9. I agree but

during my first job in DC a colleague, who lived in/near Baltimore, told me about Carson the GREAT brain surgeon, and that was around 1980.

[exboyfil]

11. Yale University Psychology Degree

Along with his medical degree from Michigan. He is 65 though, and I wonder that, along with having to tow the line on right wing orthodoxy, has impacted his mental skills. He lives in a right wing sound chamber where Africans sold their people into slavery, there where other slaves than Africans, many had it tough when first arriving in the country, life was better for their descendants than if they remained in Africa, and slavery was not all that bad - just look at Gone with the Wind.

The number of people on message boards justifying the analogy is simply amazing. Transport by slave ships kind of matches the vanilla definition of immigration.

[Eyeball_Kid]

57. Amateur assessment: from the way he moves his body when speaking,

the way he articulates his sentences, and expresses his thoughts, he gives an observer the impression that he's somewhat neurologically delayed. There's something going on with this guy that would lead most to believe that he's suffering from some early onset dementia. His total body expressions, from his eyes to his hands to his language, appear to suggest that he's not capable, AT THIS TIME IN HIS LIFE, of complex problem solving. Perhaps he's on a powerful medication that diminishes his daily functioning. Nothing seems normal.

[Warpy]

13. Yeah, something is seriously wrong with him

I keep thinking it was savant syndrome that allowed him to succeed academically and ultimately perform delicate surgeries. If he steps one inch outside that narrow field, the "idiot" part of savant syndrome shows up rather badly. However, it takes a lot to survive pre med, medical school, internship, residency, and advanced training. I don't see him as capable of doing that in his current condition.

It's either that or brain damage somewhere along the line causing him to leave his career suddenly in favor of being a public dumbass.

I would be very interested in finding out what full cognitive and neuro evaluations would turn up.

[SunSeeker]

14. Well, he did leave a sponge in a woman's brain.

And then when she came back to him complaining of pain, he claimed it was a brain tumor.

http://gawker.com/report-ben-carson-once-left-a-sponge-in-a-patients-bra-1735224497

He has been repeatedly sued for malpractice. It does not appear his hands or head were all that gifted.

[uponit7771]

16. DAMN !!! He was sued 8 times !!! Didn't know this, I was wondering who he fucked up as a doctor

[former9thward]

48. All surgeons are sued frequently.

Including any that have done surgery on you. And the more complicated the surgery the more they are sued. It goes with the job. That is why their medical malpractice insurance is so high.

[uponit7771]

59. For leaving parts of a sponge in people? high MMI sounds like a winger TP for capping jury rewards

[former9thward]

62. Are you saying MM is not high for surgeons?

Maybe not in your world. Some plaintiffs' claims are valid, others are total fabrications. But I know that's a RW talking point...

[uponit7771]

63. The TP is the "others" are small amount and we know that

[former9thward]

64. People who actually work in the field do not "know that'.

But internet posters do, I know that.

[Staph]

15. I know someone who was an intern with him.

My friend says that Carson did exactly as much as was required and absolutely nothing else. Most young would-be surgeons are gung-ho and wildly competitive (as was/is my friend). Carson was not like them. And apparently, he still isn't.

[exboyfil]

21. Somehow I think Trump's buddies are going to get rich

through Carson's inattention, and if any scandal blows up (and there has been two in Republican administrations), Carson will be left holding the bag. It will be a twofer for the right wingers - proves HUD is corrupt and blacks are incompetent. Bannon must have had an orgasm when Carson accepted.

[nikibatts]

41. It will be like HUD under Reagan. Read the history. The rich buddies got houses for nothing and

defrauded the government out our millions while poor people were simply ignored. I think Reagan had more of his administration put in jail than any other modern President to date.

[exboyfil]

43. Exactly what I was thinking

[JI7]

19. he is purposely saying what he says to appeal to white racists

[MFM008]

20. Maybe

It was brawny sturgeon. ...

[Mountain Mule]

22. People can be incredibly fucked up

emotionally/psychologically with profound personality disorders and still excel academically. Look at Ted Bundy. His university professors praised him to the skies and he made it into law school. The only reason he had to quit was because he kept on killing women and finally got caught.

Ben Carson may very well kill more people than Bundy did if he allows HUD to go down the tubes without a word of protest. Lots of Americans who are elderly or disabled or the children of single Mom's count on housing assistance to save them from life on the streets. I'm one of them. Turn us all out on the pavement and many will die. I'm going to take two sleeping pills and knock myself out tonight. I can't take much more of this.

[calimary]

39. Welcome to DU, Mountain Mule!

This is excruciating. It feels like long slow torture - that doesn't leave any marks except to turn your mind inside out.

I swear, I now wake up most mornings feeling like a hostage.

[dchill]

23. He was probably nominally competent...

Until that DIY lobotomy.

[Granny M]

28. Did he practice on himself? nt

[Throck]

30. Abby Normal

[calimary]

40. Welcome to DU, Throck!

OMG - I forgot about that! Art imitating life in the case of this idiot savant.

[littlemissmartypants]

31. Just another sociopathic goon.

They come in all colors, shapes and sizes. Surgeons, in particular, are known for their enormous god complexes.

Surgeons—for some reason categorized separately from other doctors—are among the 10 most psychopathic professions, though they do get edged out by lawyers, media workers, and CEOs for the top three spots.

Reference

Kevin Dutton
The Wisdom of Psychopaths: What Saints, Spies, and Serial Killers Can Teach Us About Success
F First Edition Edition
ISBN-13: 978-0374291358, ISBN-10: 0374291357

[tavalon]

34. As a nurse, I can confirm that, for the most part,

surgeons really are a different kind of asshole from doctors in other specialties. Now, I can show you examples that contradict both of those, but as a trend, I see why they are listed separately.

Again, as a nurse, I am horrified to see my profession listed, and yet, I meet some really, really, off nurses. Most are awesomely wonderful, caring people. Some make me wonder what ever caused them to take this career path.

[lostnfound]

47. It's listed as not high on psychopathy - one of the very lowest

[Kablooie]

32. He should have just remained a celebrated conjoined twin brain surgeon.

He would be basking in admiration instead of being on display as a idiotic oddity.

[Kittycow]

38. Two years later the twins were institutionalized due to

severe neurological damage. So maybe he just pioneered the techniques?

[tavalon]

33. I think our brain surgeon had a stroke or at least a dozen TIAs

By many accounts he was, accent on the was, a really good brain surgeon. There is no way I would let him near my big toe now, so I must assume something changed. He always made me scratch my head. I suppose his old coworker's could be lying, but why?

[Eyeball_Kid]

58. Strokes/TIAs are a real possibility, as well as dementia or heavy medication.

Something's going on with this guy, and it isn't good.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

35. Brain surgery requires extreme technical skill and little wisdom. . . . nt

[liberal N proud]

42. He gave himself a lobotomy

[Vinca]

44. Maybe he was a skilled surgeon at one point, but the guy currently "ain't right."

I wouldn't let him treat my cats.

[Orrex]

46. In the wake of Trump's usurpation on 1/20/2017...

I got into a heated argument on FB with a friend-of-a-friend.

I couldn't believe how stupid he was, making wild claims directly at odds with reality while displaying a basic failure to understand politics, economics and foreign policy, and he lashed out with incredible savagery at anyone who disagreed with him.

Eventually I Googled him and couldn't believe the result: he's an accomplished and highly respected physician & research scientist as well as a department head at a major university on the west coast.

I asked my friend (whom I've known for almost 30 years) about this, and she confirmed that that's who he is, and in fact that's how she met him.

I'm sure that the good doctor sees himself as an expert in all things, but he's further proof that expertise in one field is no barrier to abject stupidity in another. Hence Dr. Ben Carson.

[Warren DeMontague]

49. I'm with you.

The guy's a creationist who thinks joseph built the pyramids for grain storage. I wouldnt trust him to operate a bumper car.

[HAB911]

50. I told a rw "friend" when Carson was running for president

that he was simply crazy.

He said, "He's a doctor!"

I said, "You think there are no crazy doctors?"

babbling ensued

[JHan]

52. Carson isn't really difficult to explain

Humans can be brilliant and dumb at the same time. Even a high IQ won't stop cognitive errors: you can have a high IQ and still be irrational about a lot of things.

[Juliusseizure]

61. Ted Kaczynski was a math prodigy

Just pointing that out

[beachbum bob]

56. his a stupid derange man who turns his back on history and his race...echoing

white supremacist sentiments....

[Orsino]

60. He was able to prescribe opioids. n/t

[spanone]

65. plumber...'Drain surgeon'....it's been a typo all these years.

that's the only thing that makes sense.

either that or he's a savant.