Here’s a list of people whom I think are unqualified to be President:
Muslims (of course!)
Women
Blacks
Jews
Atheists
Asian-Americans
Latinos
Catholics
Ben Carson
The truth is that only one of the above lacks the right qualities to lead this country. It’s the one who said that Islam is not consistent with the Constitution, who insisted that he “would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation.” Yet he could’ve just as easily inserted any of the other groups I cited. The logic of doing so would’ve been just as irrational.
Seems that Ben Carson forgot the part in the Constitution that states that “[N]o religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office of public trust under the United States.”
Oh, that Constitution, Carson eventually acknowledged. OK, well in that case, the retired neurosurgeon later “clarified” his original remarks by explaining that he could, indeed, support a Muslim for President. “If someone has a Muslim background and they’re willing to reject those tenets to accept the way of life that we have and clearly will swear to place our Constitution above their religion…I would then be quite willing to support them,” Carson explained.
Phew! That makes sense. You can be Muslim as long as you’re not Muslim if you want to be President. (But what if you’re an atheist? Which temple should you be forced to join to become President?)
There’s more. Carson added: “I could never support a candidate for President of the United States that was Muslim and had not renounced the central tenant of Islam: Sharia Law.”
Of course! Everyone knows that all Muslims are fundamentalist terrorists.
The problem is that plenty of people actually believe that. When they hear a Republican candidate who is clearly bigoted make bigoted comments, they feel that Carson validates their own bigotry. This is, after all, what we are talking about—bigotry.
That Carson continues to do well in the polls shows that a good portion of the public either agrees with his dumb rhetoric or is willing to overlook it. Either way, that’s problematic and sad. Especially because one might think that Carson, a minority himself, not all that long ago could legally not run for any office, let alone the country’s top job. A job that he is entirely unfit to have.
