#1 Ben, the Fashionista
In his book, "Gifted Hands," Mr. Carson said he once tried to hit his mother after she bought him the wrong kind of clothes. In the book, his brother stopped him by holding his arms down at his sides. In a later re-telling, his brother disarmed him by wrestling a hammer from his hand.
Brad Wilson, who was a friend at the time, describes Ben Carson as so quiet and obedient that he would not even defy his mother's rules when she was absent. Ben Carson was not permitted to cross the street alone, so the two would ride their bikes on opposite sidewalks. Mr. Carson's older brother, Curtis could not be reached for comment. Their mother, Sonya, suffers from Alzheimer's.#2 Ben, and the Bathroom Conversion
Continuing his story of youthful violence, Mr. Carson claims that he hit one friend in the head with a lock opening a 3-inch gash in the boy's head; but nothing can top the story of attempting to stick a knife in the stomach of someone Mr. Carson described as "a friend," but who he now says is actually a "close family member" whose privacy he is protecting by refusing to release the name to the press. In Mr. Carson's telling, the knifing incident ended when the blade hit his friend/family member's belt buckle and snapped off. The friend/family member "fled in terror," and Mr. Carson then went into the bathroom and talked to God: "But I was more horrified than he was, because I realized that I was trying to kill somebody over nothing--and that I would never realize my dreams of becoming a physician. And I would end up in jail, reform school, or the grave. And I just locked myself in the bathroom and started praying."
According to Mr. Carson, he emerged from the bathroom an hour later a changed person, one who has never lost his temper since that day.
Without a name, or even an accurate accounting of Mr. Carson's relationship with the victim, this story is impossible to verify.#3 Ben, the Guardian Angel
On the day after Martin Luther King was assassinated, there was a riot at Ben Carson's high school. Mr. Carson told the Wall Street Journal that he protected "a few" white students by hiding them in the biology lab for which he possessed a key.
As reported by the newspaper, his "dramatic account of courage and kindness...couldn't be confirmed in interviews with a half-dozen of Mr. Carson's classmates and his high school physics teacher. The students all remembered the riot. None recalled hearing about white students hiding in the biology lab, and Mr. Carson couldn't remember the names of those he sheltered."#4 Ben, Yale's Most Honest Student
While a student at Yale University, Mr. Carson said he took a psychology classed called Perceptions 301, and that during the class, the professor conducted an honesty experiment. According to Mr. Carson, the professor told the 150 students that their exam papers had "inadvertently burned," and they would have to take the test over. The new test was much harder and 149 students walked out, leaving only Mr. Carson to complete the test. "The professor came toward me. With her was a photographer for the Yale Daily News who paused and snapped my picture." The burned exams story was a hoax. According to Mr. Carson, the professor handed him a $10 bill and told him she "wanted to see who was the most honest student in the class."
A search of the newspaper's archives could find so photograph identifying Mr. Carson. A Yale librarian reported that there was no record of a psychology course by that name or number during the years Mr. Carson was in attendance.#5 Ben, the Hero of Popeye's Chicken
Shortly after the mass shooting in Umpqua, Mr. Carson said he would never allow himself to be just another victim in a mass shooting. Instead he would encourage those around him to join him in charging the gunman. When asked how he could possibly know how he would respond in such a situation, Mr. Carson told Sirius XM radio that while waiting in a Baltimore Popeyes chicken restaurant to purchase french fries for himself and his wife, he had faced an armed robber. Feeling the gun in his ribs, he told the gunman, "I believe you want the guy behind the counter."
The Baltimore Police Department was unable to verify the story despite the fact that the chicken restaurant undoubtedly would have filed a police report. When pressed for more details, Mr. Carson's business manager, Armstrong Williams, said Mr. Carson had written about the robbery in his book "Take the Risk." There is, in fact, no mention of a robbery in the book. Gregg Lewis who co-authored the book with Mr. Carson said, "I haven't heard that story," but he did offer the opinion that perhaps it was Mr. Carson's innate humility (humility? really?) that caused him to omit the tale.what eye thynk: How can anyone fail to see a pattern here? Ben Carson has created his own Walter Mitty world where he is the hero of every story.
One quote from "Gifted Hands" stands out as at least coming within hailing distance of the truth:
"I had what I only can label a pathological temper--a disease--and this sickness controlled me, making me totally irrational." Replace "temper" with "liar," and Ben Carson may finally be on to something.
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