westpoint « Unfiltered and Unfettered

UF/UF Technical Editor’s Note: Due to unforeseen technical difficulties Episode 113 of UF/UF The Podcast will not be heard tonight. The result of that is an upgrade to our equipment and a revamp of our studio. Check back next week, right here for the next installment of UF/UF The Podcast! I promise it will be some sort of tacular. Not necessarily spooktacular but a form of tacular none the less.

So some earth shattering news today. And no, it’s not that fact I’m actually writing a political article again, although that is a bit surprising. Today Ben Carson’s campaign admitted Carson’s story in his bio Gifted Hands about being offered a full scholarship to West Point was fabricated.

So here’s a spoiler alert. No shit Sherlock. Anyone with a passing interest in the military knows the service academies don’t give out full scholarships. A member of Congress or a prominent military leader can submit you for appointment. If your appointment is accepted then you are in, at no charge, for a full four year education after which you will serve a minimum of 6 years in the active military branch you chose.

At issue here is Carson’s story that after meeting with General Westmorland in 69 as a 17 year old he was offered a full scholarship. Obviously that’s not the case. But what could just as easily be the case is after meeting Westmorland the General said “Hey Ben, (who was the highest ranking Jr ROTC cadet in Detroit at that time with the grades to match), apply to West Point, I’ll vouch for your appointment.” Honestly folks is could have been that simple. The parsing of words in that report today about Ben lying is painful and tedious.

In the spirit of full disclosure let me say I do not like Ben Carson one bit. I have no doubt he’s one of the most gifted Surgeon’s of our time but that doesn’t make him smart in all things or qualify him to be a leader. I’m a big fan of Carly Fiorina for she has the exact things Carson does not. Having said all that, do I think Ben Carson is a liar?

God no. That’s ridiculous on it’s face.

Point to me a 17 year old in 1969 that could correctly explain the admission process to the service academies. Show me a congressman right now who could explain it. Hell the Air Force Academy didn’t graduate it’s first class until ’59’, a mere ten years prior to this event. Are we really down to parsing out sentences and phrases uttered before a person had the right to vote or drink and then recalled some 45 years later, as a litmus test for their worthiness? Really? Not a world I want to live in or elect a president from.

Look gang I don’t think Carson should be President, but not because of that. This line of thinking is how the President was reelected in a landslide with 22% unemployment. People nuttier than a fruitcake wasted good air time on stupid crap like birth certificates and whether or not Obama is a Muslim. Instead of focusing on President Obama’s support for late term abortion, policies that made the horrible Bush economy worse, using a department of the government as a political weapon against his adversaries – IRS v The Tea Party anyone?

If Carson is to be brought down it should be because he is in fact unworthy to lead. Not because he misrepresented some facts about an event that means absolutely nothing that happened 46 years ago.

Now some of this stuff he’s been saying the past few months on the other hand….