---
[ ARCHIVE ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive)
# Ben Carson is the Worst Thing to Happen to Us since He Opened His Mouth
October 17 2013
Written by Earl Ofari Hutchinson.
[](https://www.addtoany.com/share)
***URBAN PERSPECTIVE***-Dr. Ben Carson’s shoot from the lip, crackpot quips, digs, and insults at women, blacks, Democrats, and especially President Obama are fast becoming the stuff of legend. This time he almost outdid his past inane cracks with the zinger that the Affordable Care Act is worse than slavery. Carson has parlayed his zany potshots into a plum spot as a Fox News Network commentator.
This is the sorry case of a man who at one time had the respect of many for his moving, inspiring story of overcoming hardships to become a highly respected medical professional and who now has prostituted himself to grab a quick headline from a sound bite driven, titillation media that hungrily eats up anything that someone like a Carson dishes out.
But it’s also the case of a man such as Carson and his ilk that serve a calculating purpose. They get attention for the GOP. While they are zany, they also touch a deep, dark, and throbbing pulse among legions of ultra-conservatives who think that Obama and many Democrats are communists, gays are immoral, and that the health care reform law is exactly what Carson called it “slavery,” meaning the tyrannical intrusion by big government into their lives. Carson actually went even further than the slavery dig and likened the health care law to the old communist dictatorship in the Soviet Union run by Lenin.
Mainstream GOP leaders can’t utter these inanities. They must always give appearance that they are above the dirt, mud, and hate slinging fray. So they leave it to a well-paid stalking horse like Carson to do their dirty work for them. But that’s only part of Carson’s worth to conservatives.
He gives the illusion that the GOP is a race neutral party that has a plethora of big name, African-Americans as their visible point men and women, and who speak with authority. The cast of shameless black panderers and hucksters that the GOP has trotted out and plopped in front of the TV cameras during the past few years has been both endless and embarrassing. But they still keep them coming.
The idiotic comparison of the Affordable Care Act to slavery was a perfect example of how the GOP craftily manages to weld race and its current signature hit issue of Obama, the health care law, into one package to play on rightwing hysteria over the law. The GOP understands the fundamental political axiom that self-interest rules politics as well, if not better, than the Democrats. Party leaders have long known that blue collar white voters, especially male voters, can be easily aroused to vote and shout loudly on the emotional wedge issues; abortion, family values, anti-gay marriage and tax cuts.
For months before passage, they whipped up mania and borderline racism against the health care law. This was glaringly apparent in ferocity and bile spouted by the shock troops that the GOP leaders in conjunction with the tea party brought out to harangue, harass and bully Democratic legislators on the eve of the health care vote.
For the months after passage of the act and its upholding by the Supreme Court the GOP has never relented in the drumbeat attack up on it. That includes the dozens of House votes to defund or outright kill it. And then everything it making it the prime bargaining chip in its fresh assault on government with the partial shutdown.
Carson fits neatly into this script. He’s an African-American with name identification and some admiration among blacks, though that’s dwindling fast. We can be sure then that this won’t be the last crackpot quip that we’ll hear from Carson. Sadly, he’ll continue to be the worst thing that happened to us since he opened his mouth.
***(Earl Ofari Hutchinson is an author and political analyst. He is a frequent political commentator on MSNBC and a weekly co-host of the Al Sharpton Show on American Urban Radio Network. He is the author of How Obama Governed: The Year of Crisis and Challenge. He is an associate editor of New America Media. Follow Earl Ofari Hutchinson on Twitter: )***
**-cw**
**CityWatch**
**Vol 11 Issue 84**
**Pub: Oct 18, 2013**
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/115 "Brian Goldsmith Vertical R. Col")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/107 "LA DWP | Save $4K, Green | Priority Ad")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/114 "McKinney Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/82 "LA DWP #2 (Power Savers)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/98 "Donna Tryfman - HS1-1")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/97 "Home - LA DWP #2 (Pay Water Bill Help)")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/111 "David DeJute Campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/112 "Anna Reitano Vertical R. Col")
## Get The News In Your Email Inbox Mondays & Thursdays
First Name
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/113 "Rhonda Haymon campaign")
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/component/banners/click/110 "Something You Should Know")
---
## Featured CityWatch Stories
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
### [Prosecutor, Democrat, City Attorney? McKinney Makes His Case to Los Angeles Voters](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/election-2024/33624-prosecutor-democrat-city-attorney-mckinney-makes-his-case-to-los-angeles-voters)
ELECTION 2026 - The race for LA City Attorney has been laced with political accusations and allegations that when close…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
### [The LA Watchdog’s 2026 Voter Guide](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/la-watchdog/33544-the-la-watchdogs-2026-voters-guide-2)
LA WATCHDOG - My recommendations are influenced by the need for truly balanced budgets, fiscal responsibility, long ter…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
### [The Fools’ Blame Game](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33626-the-fools-blame-game)
THE VIEW FROM HERE - Angelenos do not use elections to plot a wiser course of conduct for Los Angeles, but rather they…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
### [California Film Tax Credits Aren’t Enough. The Guilds Need to Change Too.](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/los-angeles/33619-california-film-tax-credits-arent-enough-the-guilds-need-to-change-too)
LONNIE’S VIEW - California used to be the center of the movie and television universe. If you wanted to make movies, yo…
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
### [Here’s What Zionism’s Got To Do With It](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/voices/33648-heres-what-zionisms-got-to-do-with-it)
ICAN - The anonymous website “BHUSD Watch” recently published a long, detailed article about the current BHUSD board an…
---
## [ ARCHIVE ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)### [Early Intervention and Jobs are Key to Stemming Chronic Homelessness in Los Angeles](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15339-early-intervention-and-jobs-are-key-to-stemming-chronic-homelessness-in-los-angeles)
### [Tucker Carlson and Gay Rightwinger Blame California Wildfires On Hiring LGBTQ People](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/18755-tucker-carlson-and-gay-rightwinger-blame-california-wildfires-on-hiring-lgbtq-people)
### [Anti-LGBTQ Veep Just Can’t Stop Talking about Mayor Pete](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/17690-anti-lgbtq-veep-just-can-t-stop-talking-about-mayor-pete)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)### [NEWS PULSE: ‘Corrupt System’ Reason for Not Voting in 2018 … Majority Wants More Than Two Parties](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/15316-news-pulse-corrupt-system-reason-for-not-voting-in-2018-majority-wants-more-than-two-parties)
[  ](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)### [Dead Dog Set on Fire … Sparks Fears for Strays in Los Angeles](https://ded2209.inmotionhosting.com/~citywa9/archive/10245-dead-dog-set-on-fire-sparks-fears-for-strays-in-los-angeles)