I recently spoke to someone who knows Ben Carson professionally. And this person confirmed that however weird he may be and however cloudy his affect, Carson’s a really smart guy – which is what you’d expect from a top of his field brain surgeon. But I’m really wondering if it’s possible that it’s just Carson’s hands that are really smart. Because man, this latest thing, even I’m flabbergasted. Carson says he’s really not convinced by the archeological elite about the pyramids being built as tombs. He thinks Joseph built them to store grain.
Now … biblical literalism aside, I’m pretty certain that with the exception of the burial chambers, the pyramids are solid. They’re definitely not hollow. Does Carson think they’re hollow?
Conservatives warn of creeping Gayism at conservative darling Chick-Fil-A.
If you remember the plot of Mel Brooks’ classic movie, The Producers, the idea was that the scammers set out to produce the worst possible play imaginable to be certain it would close after one night. Yet, they made it so bad it broke through the membrane of awful into the sublime. And they were screwed. Which brings us to the Ben Carson campaign. There is a lot of evidence, coming from a variety of angles, that Carson for President is actually a direct mail scam. Or at least that it started that way.
First, let me explain a bit about what I mean.
Ed Kilgore explains why Ben Carson is not going away – and why that’s pretty scary.
The initial numbers for pot legalization in Ohio don’t look good.
At the end of next week, TPM will celebrate its 15th year online. Three more than twelve, a third of my life. Wow.
We’re going to put together some fun stuff for next week. And we’ve got something I think core readers will be really excited about which we’re announcing tomorrow.
From the Denver Post …
Minutes before 33-year-old Noah Harpham began a shooting rampage Saturday in Colorado Springs that would leave four dead, his neighbor spotted the tall, lanky man standing outside with a rifle.
Naomi Bettis said she called 911 to report Harpham, but a dispatcher explained that Colorado has an open carry law that allows public handling of firearms. Bettis was perturbed by the call taker’s response, which she feels could have prevented catastrophe.
Read the rest here.
Obama: If GOPers can’t handle CNBC moderators, they can’t handle Putin. Watch.
After yesterday’s joint agreement among Republican presidential candidates to negotiate the terms of future debates with right-wing cable networks, it seemed like the biggest breakthrough for collective bargaining in the GOP in half a century. But now it looks like the whole effort is breaking down. First, Trump, striver, says he’ll negotiate directly with the networks. Now Fiorina, Kasich, and Christie each say they won’t sign either.
So now we’re left with, who’s actually going to sign? And can the Syndicate survive at all? Or is it just Ben Carson, Jeb and guys who can’t get over 1%?