{"id":5317,"date":"2015-09-22T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2015-09-22T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2015-09-22T16:12:00","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T16:12:00","slug":"dr_ben_carson_man_of_steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admin.rushlimbaugh.com\/daily\/2015\/09\/22\/dr_ben_carson_man_of_steel\/","title":{"rendered":"Dr. Ben Carson, Man of Steel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Listen<\/a><\/p>\n

RUSH: Now, Ben Carson. What\u2019s happening here with Ben Carson is exactly one of the things that I was hoping would happen to the rest of the field with Trump in the race. What Trump is doing is shining a light on how things can happen. How you don\u2019t have to cave. You don\u2019t have to be afraid. You can double down. You do not have to cave to the demands of political correctness. You can fight it. <\/p>\n

Carson has apparently — I don\u2019t want to say “learned the lesson,” but he\u2019s seen the value in it. And I think Donald Trump\u2019s no-apologies responses to all these ginned up media controversies are becoming contagious, at least as it relates to Dr. Carson. We have Dr. Carson refusing to apologize for what I thought were highly sensible remarks in which he said he would not advocate a devout Muslim who supports Sharia law to be president. I don\u2019t even think it requires any defense. But, of course, in 2015 America it does because the forces of political correctness simply cannot comprehend a statement like that. <\/p>\n

They immediately conclude that somebody that makes a statement like that, they are toast and they deserve to be toast. And Carson is standing his ground. He has this image of soft-spoken, certainly not steel-fisted tough, but he\u2019s demonstrating that that is exactly what he is when necessary. And I think it\u2019s an upper. I think it\u2019s a positive. It\u2019s an amazing phenomenon to actually see Republicans doubling down rather than apologizing, rather than backing off, rather than caving, rather than clarifying, rather than trying to do damage control. <\/line><\/p>\n

Outside of Trump, we\u2019re not seeing this kind of — you might say Huckabee on the Kim Davis case, you might say Huckabee, but we\u2019re talking about here the upper tier of candidates. Oh, that\u2019s another thing floating around out there. I\u2019ve seen this two or three different places. It\u2019s within not just the establishment of the Republican Party, but there are also some I guess what you would call conservatives who ascribe to it that the polls are dead wrong. The polls haven\u2019t been right in a couple of cycles now, and Trump\u2019s not leading at 24%, he\u2019s nowhere near, never has been in the lead. <\/p>\n

This is what people are thinking. This what some people are saying, can\u2019t trust the polls, and it\u2019s all gonna even out at some point, and it\u2019s not at all in reality the way we think it is based on polls. Now, I don\u2019t know why people resort to that. You know, I used to do that. I think some of these people now analyzing this are wrong. I remember the 2012 presidential campaign. I didn\u2019t believe the polls. They had Romney losing by six. Romney losing by five. I said, “This can\u2019t be true.” I said, “Look at the midterm turnout in 2010, look at that. How in the world can you ignore the 2010 turnout?”<\/line><\/p>\n

When you\u2019re polling for 2012, how can you ignore that turnout in your polling sample and only go back and get the same kind of sample you got in 2008? “The reason we do that, Mr. Limbaugh, we polling companies, is because midterm turnouts are totally different than presidential-year turn outs, and we can\u2019t conflate the two, can\u2019t start mixing the two together.” And I just looked at all the anecdotal evidence, and looked at all the stuff I was seeing on television. I was hearing negatives about Obama and I thought these polls that showed Romney losing by five points were dread wrong. Of course you had Dick Morris on TV basically making similar points. And then the old saw, I saw the exit polls starting at five o\u2019clock, and I knew it was over. <\/p>\n

So since then I have not discounted what polling data says. And some people are beginning to do that now in order to explain a Republican field that they don\u2019t like. And I think it\u2019s dangerous ground when you start running around saying the polls aren\u2019t right, they never have been. Yes they have been right. They were right in 2012. It\u2019s a mistake to tell yourself that the polls are wrong, universally wrong. Some of them are. But on balance 2012, that\u2019s just the last presidential election, had it right on the money, and we\u2019re all sitting here thinking they had it wrong. <\/p>\n

<\/a>So this theory goes on that Trump is nowhere near the lead and neither is Fiorina. These are just momentary snapshots and that what really is gonna end up happening here, it\u2019s going to end up being a race between establishment candidates and one conservative candidate, unnamed. The conservative candidate has of yet to be analyzed or identified in this theory. One of the theories holds that it\u2019s gonna be Ted Cruz. Ted Cruz is at 7% right now, so you must really believe the polls are wrong, dramatically wrong, if you believe at the end of this process it\u2019s gonna be Cruz. I would not be upset with it, do not misunderstand anything here. <\/p>\n

But back to Dr. Carson. Dr. Carson, in his soft-spoken way, is proving to be a man of steel, and it really is a pleasure to see this. I know that it will never happen, but someone in the Drive-By Media ought to start asking all of these Democrat candidates whether they would support a candidate who believes in Sharia law over the US Constitution. Put the onus back on them. All this is, is another attempt, just like yesterday<\/a>, to embarrass another Republican, to expose another Republican as a bigot or whatever. <\/p>\n

By the way, this that\u2019s happening is why so many people got so upset at the first presidential debate and the questions being asked. It\u2019s why people said, “My God, it sounds just like the questions the liberal media asks.” So Dr. Carson says what he says, it was perfectly clear, “Are you also as bigoted as Dr. Carson? Do you also discriminate against Muslims?” and that\u2019s what the effort is, and yet the same question would not even be asked of Democrat candidates. Could you support a devout Muslim candidate who puts Sharia law over the US Constitution? They should also ask the Democrats if they\u2019re okay with a president who believes in Sharia law? Are they comfortable with having a majority in Congress who believe in Sharia law? <\/p>\n

Let\u2019s not stop at the White House. If we\u2019re gonna start talking about whether or not we should have a Muslim president, let\u2019s explain what that is, and let\u2019s include Sharia law in it, and let\u2019s ask if we want a Sharia law majority in the House or in the Senate, and if not, why not. Ask the Democrats these questions. Now, the media isn\u2019t gonna do that. So somehow our people have to find a way to reverse this and turn it around on these people. I would even be throwing it right back at the media just trying to make hay out of this. <\/line>The thing is, if the Democrats thought it might get them more voters, lunatic fringe, who knows what they would stand for. I think that\u2019s the bottom line for Democrats. <\/line><\/p>\n

Isn\u2019t it demonstrably true now that the Democrats don\u2019t care, as long as they can get the majority of votes, they don\u2019t care how they do it, and they don\u2019t care what becomes of the country in the process. The bottom line question is this. Is Sharia law consistent with the United States Constitution? Now, of course it isn\u2019t. But that is the bottom line question. Sharia law is not even consistent with the First Amendment. You cannot have both side by side. Something has to give. <\/p>\n

If you have someone who believes in the superiority or the prominence of Sharia law, then it\u2019s bye-bye First Amendment, bye-bye Bill of Rights, the Constitution doesn\u2019t matter, either. That\u2019s the way this needs to be framed, and that is why Dr. Carson said what he said. He\u2019s obviously a tough guy. He didn\u2019t back off his comments to Obama about Obamacare, either. <\/p>\n

The thing that happened that put him on the map, he\u2019s at the National Prayer Breakfast, and he openly tells Obama what he thinks of Obamacare and how he would fix it, and here came the double barrel shots from the Drive-By Media and the White House, and he didn\u2019t back down from that, either. Even after he was audited, they audited him after that. The IRS did. And he hasn\u2019t backed down to any of it. So don\u2019t be fooled by any of this soft-spokenness. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: We\u2019ll start here with media incredulity over Ben Carson not being harmed by his comments that he would not support a Sharia law Muslim for president of the United States. The media thought, and they still believe, that when any Republican says anything like this, that they could take \u2019em out, wipe \u2019em out, destroy them, certainly destroy their campaign. If they\u2019re lucky, they can destroy their political future, and if they really hit the grand slam, they can destroy their life. And they really thought, they really believed that Ben Carson stepped in it so bad that it was over for him. All they had to do was spread the news. <\/p>\n

It turns out that all immediate measurements — Twitter, Facebook, flash overnight Internet polls — show Ben Carson increasing his popularity after the comment. And once again, it\u2019s rooted in the Drive-By Media. See, I don\u2019t know if they know this or if they\u2019re deluded. I don\u2019t know if they really think that their brand of thinking is the majority of thought in the country or not. They act like it\u2019s the majority of thought. It\u2019s a technique. The Drive-Bys, when they report any outrage over anything a conservative or Republican does, they act like the whole country is also outraged, not just a part, the whole country, that conservatives are maybe 1% of the population. <\/p>\n

And then they find out that they\u2019re nowhere near correct in that assessment. So I wonder if they know it and are just delusional, or if they realize it and are using this as a tactic and technique to make it look like they\u2019re the majority when they know full well they\u2019re not. In the end, I guess it doesn\u2019t matter, but here\u2019s an example. Alisyn Camerota — it\u2019s on CNN\u2019s “New Day” today — reporting on Carson\u2019s support, increased support since his remarks that he would not support a Sharia law devout Muslim for president.<\/p>\n

CAMEROTA: Ben Carson. Since he made his comments about he would never support a Muslim for president, his fundraising has gone up, he\u2019s gotten more dollars, and his Facebook followers, his social media people, it\u2019s not just like it\u2019s gone viral, it\u2019s like he\u2019s gotten more support, more likes, more followers. It\u2019s working.<\/line><\/p>\n

RUSH: Can\u2019t believe it. He\u2019s got more support, got more likes, got more followers, it\u2019s working. And here is Tom Llamas, who is the ABC Good Morning America correspondent talking about all of this.<\/p>\n

LLAMAS: Dr. Ben Carson says his comments were not that controversial. The reason why? Right after he said them on Sunday morning his Facebook page went up by more than 100,000 likes. George?<\/p>\n

STEPHANOPOULOS: It\u2019s one piece of evidence.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Yeah, one piece evidence. We\u2019re not gonna put any stock in that. Hundred thousand likes on Facebook, screw that, that\u2019s just a bunch of chump change. That\u2019s one piece of evidence. But we\u2019re still not buying it. Stephanopoulos, of course, continuing in his role as a Democrat candidate political operative disguised as a journalist<\/a> over at ABC. Here\u2019s Dr. Carson himself in Sharonville, Ohio, press conference. During the Q&A, a reporter said, “You said that you would support a moderate Muslim candidate. Would that also apply to a Mormon?”<\/p>\n

CARSON: I said I would support anyone. Again, it seems to be hard for people to actually hear English and understand it. I said I would support anyone regardless of their background if in fact they embrace American values and our Constitution and are willing to place that above their beliefs.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Hey, folks, this is not weird or odd. I mentioned this yesterday. How many of you people remember the countless times Democrats and members of the media have spoken out against the idea that we might elect an evangelical Christian as president? We can\u2019t have that. We can\u2019t have those kinds of people in the White House. Those people get in the White House and start imposing their religious views on everybody. We can\u2019t have that. I mean, it was a constant refrain in the seventies and eighties. <\/p>\n

Hell, even the early parts of the nineties, Pat Robertson, somebody else with close ties to evangelical Christians would seek office, doesn\u2019t matter if it\u2019s the presidency, and here would come the media, here would come the Democrat Party, “We can\u2019t have theocrats in office. We can\u2019t have deeply devout, religious people. Why, that would be untenable.” But now, as long as it\u2019s not Christians, any other religion, fine and dandy. Want to elect a Muslim president, damn straight, fine and dandy, we\u2019re an open-ended, open-minded society. Keep the Christians outta here, but a Muslim, fine and dandy. <\/p>\n

People have forgotten the bigotry and discrimination that was on parade constantly from the Democrat Party and the media. I have to take a break here the bottom of the hour. There isn\u2019t enough time to get the next Dr. Carson sound bite in. We\u2019ve got this and actually three more from last night and today as Carson addresses this. <\/p>\n

BREAK TRANSCRIPT<\/p>\n

RUSH: Back to the Dr. Carson sound bites. This morning Sharonville, Ohio, at a press conference, Q&A, another reporter (imitating reporter), “Dr. Carson, Dr. Carson, this is something that is now defining your campaign. People are seeing you as being anti-Muslim with your statements. How do you fix that? How do you come back from this perception that we are trying to destroy you?”<\/p>\n

CARSON: The only way we fix that is fix the PC culture in our country, which only can listen to one narrative, and if it doesn\u2019t fit their philosophy, then they have to try to ascribe some motive to it to make it fit. The PC culture says whenever, you know, you\u2019re asked a question, it has to be answered in a certain way, and if you don\u2019t answer it that way, then, you know, let\u2019s attack and let\u2019s not try to actually understand what a person\u2019s saying. Let\u2019s just attack, attack, attack. And hopefully everybody else will look at that, and they will realize they\u2019re never supposed to say something like that again. That\u2019s what the PC culture is.<\/p>\n

RUSH: Okay, now, that took him 43 seconds. Dr. Carson doesn\u2019t speak in sound bites. That\u2019s another one of the differences in his candidacy and others. Professional politicians just learn it over time, sound bites are the name of the game. You\u2019ve gotta be able to say something pithy, even if it may represent your views or it may not, but in order to stand out and get noticed you gotta be able to say something. You can\u2019t shout to get noticed. I mean, you got a debate stage, 11 people up there, shouting would not get you noticed. It\u2019s what you say. <\/line><\/p>\n

I mean, even if the moderators don\u2019t come to you, you know, they\u2019re giving other candidates far more time than they\u2019re giving you, what do you do in that circumstance? Well, when they do come to you, you have to make it count. And Dr. Carson is used to long, detailed, almost stream-of-consciousness explanations and answers to questions. What you just heard here was him attempting to define political correctness for this reporter, who knows damn well what it is. <\/p>\n

“Dr. Carson, this is something that\u2019s now defining your campaign. People are seeing you as being anti-Muslim.” No, they\u2019re not. They\u2019re seeing the media trying to portray him as anti-Muslim. It\u2019s a big difference. “How do you fix that, how do you fix what we are doing to you, Dr. Carson?” The real question, “How do you stop us from ruining you, Dr. Carson?” <\/p>\n

That\u2019s what the question really is. “Dr. Carson, how are you gonna stop us from mischaracterizing what you\u2019re saying, hmm? How do you come back from this perception that we\u2019ve created about you, that you\u2019re a bigot?” And his answer was an attempt to explain how we fix the PC culture. He went on to try to define it. Now, last night he shows up on Fox News with Hannity, and he was asked if he stands by the comments that he made originally.<\/p>\n

CARSON: Absolutely I stand by the comments. You know, what we have to do is we have to recognize that this is America, and we have a Constitution, and we do not put people at the leadership of our country whose faith might interfere with them carrying out the duties of the Constitution. So if, for instance, you believe in a theocracy, I don\u2019t care if you\u2019re a Christian, if you\u2019re a Christian, and you\u2019re running for president, and you want to make this into a theocracy, I\u2019m not gonna support you. I\u2019m not gonna advocate you being the president.<\/p>\n