The media's predictable (and so far laughably inept) attempt to tear down Ben Carson

This has a familiar feel to me, as you might imagine. Ben Carson is a black conservative who is not part of the political establishment, and is running quite strong in his bid for the Republican presidential nomination. That has the media in a snit for all kinds of reasons. They don’t like black conservatives (OK, any conservatives, but especially blacks who dared to venture off the liberal plantation). They don’t like people who aren’t part of the political class daring to operate on their turf. And on top of all this, they just like to tear people down who are doing well, especially those they disagree with ideologically. So it’s no surprise that they’re doing everything they can think of to destroy Dr. Carson. And it’s fantastic to see him thwarting them at every turn.

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Rob told you last week about how Wolf Blitzer tried to go after him on CNN over the absurd matter of what makes a “real black president,” as well as Carson’s comments on guns. Blitzer predictably tried to make some sort of scandal out of the fairly obvious observation that Hitler made things easier for himself when he took guns away from the citizenry. Then there is this gem from Vanessa Williams (presumably not the former Miss America) at the Washington Post:

Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and a contender for the Republican presidential nomination, has generated headlines repeatedly for speaking his mind. His string of comments on hot-button issues includes stating that homosexuality is “absolutely” a choice, saying he would not support a Muslim for U.S. president and declaring last week that he would “not just stand there and let him shoot me” — a reference to the Oregon gunman. Carson has criticized the news media, saying his comments are being taken out of context, but he has not backed down from the basic positions.

I don’t know which is more absurd – the writer’s choice of statements she chooses to label as controversial, or her observation at the end that Carson “has not backed down from the basic positions.”

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Why is he supposed to do that? His positions are completely in line with those of most mainstream Americans, even if they are not in line with those of most members of the media. But this is one of the media’s favorite tactics for tearing down candidates they don’t like: First, they write stories about nothing more than a simple issue position someone took, but report the story with a tone that implies it’s a huge scandal simply that the person made the statement. Then they follow up with non-news like, “Carson refuses to back down from his statements,” as if there is any reason he needs to. But give Carson credit for neither getting tripped up nor backing down from the media’s attacks. It’s something he, Donald Trump and Carly Fiorina seem to understand better than their more politically experienced counterparts: You don’t have to take the media’s crap. You don’t have to accept the absurd premises behind their questions. You don’t have to play along when they ask you really dumb questions. You don’t have to take their bait when they try to trick you. And when you’re Ben Carson, you don’t have to prove yourself to them by playing the game on their terms. No one with the intelligence to become a neurosurgeon and successfully separate Siamese twins joined at the head has to prove his credibility to the likes of Wolf Blitzer. Dr. Carson may not be an expert on how to think like a politician, but unlike most of the political class (and that includes the media, by the way), he is smart enough to know that’s a good thing. Other Republican candidates should take a lesson: Carson doesn’t get tripped up because he understands their game is absurd and feels no compulsion to play it. He is comfortable in his own skin and understands – even if they don’t – what he’s doing and why. That won’t stop them from trying, of course. They always try to destroy people who want to do the right thing. But Carson is showing how to stop them from succeeding, and it’s beautiful.

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