Watch Matt Welch Talk About Ben Carson's Weird Day on MSNBC at 6:30 p.m. ET
Pyramids, rap songs, intensive & inconclusive investigations into childhood events from a half-century ago, etc.

It's been a weird day for the Ben Carson campaign, and not only because a chunk of the political commentariat has been busy debating the archaeological history of the pyramids. Today was the day that Carson also released a new rap song, which is attracting some attention (strangely, not all of it positive). And this morning, CNN published the results of interviewing nine of Carson's childhood acquaintances about whether they remember the rough incidents from his oft-regurgitated narrative of transforming from a violent juvenile to a God-fearing young adult. The takeaway?
[T]hey have no memory of the anger or violence the candidate has described.
That person is unrecognizable to those whom CNN interviewed, who knew him during those formative years.
All of the people interviewed expressed surprise about the incidents Carson has described. No one challenged the stories directly. […]
CNN was unable to independently confirm any of the incidents[.]
I'll be on MSNBC at 6:30 p.m. talking about some combination of the above.
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Please oh please tell me that Kanye quote is real. Because he is a genius and the voice of a generation! But not a gay fish!
Yo Epi, I'm really happy for you, Imma let you finish but Ben Carson is one of the best candidates of all time?one of the best candidates of all time!
Hugh, the Taylor Swift article was much earlier in the day.
First!, Seriously? I knew I was going to hit gay fish here sooner or later but you commentariat fellers need to get a real job like the rest of us poor folk that works here is District 12. You know flyover country; where 24/7 internet or cell service isn't a "Thing" yet. Racism ain't a problem here but Placism, well how can we ever be first to the BBQ with the gay fish if we can't get over that mountain?
I look forward to Ben Carson "gay fish song" from South Park mashup.
Compare and contrast the media's desire to extensively dig into Carson's past with the complete lack thereof regarding Obama when he was running for his first term as President.
Not only were they NOT the least bit interested into digging up anything negative on Obama, they actively tried to run interference for him and block anybody who was interested in it.
And yet there are people who will still deny media bias.
It's funny, I never fully bought in to the whole "liberal media bias" thing until the '08 elections. I knew they were a little left of center, but I chalked up most of the bitching to butt-hurt conservatives. Until I saw how much they were in the tank during that election cycle, and again in 2012. I'm expecting more of the same this time around. Nothing they do can possibly surprise me anymore.
CNN didn't reach out and interview every member of the Choom gang?
Based the members the media did talk to, Obama sounds like an asshole.
I remember the NYT did a surprisingly candid report on Obama that painted him as a kind of narcissist that believed his own NYT press.
My favorite under-covered story was that one of Obama's fellow law school students was Jackie Fox of the Runaways. She said that Obama's narcissism made him kind of a joke to the other students. Of course if that tidbit had been about a Republican, it would have been trumpeted everywhere.
The lamestream media totally BURIED the oddball Obama stories like Rev 'Goddamn America' Wright, the missing birth certificate, the repeated false claims he was a Muslim, "pal"ing around with terrorists, etc.
Yes! No one heard about any of that in 2008!
Holy shit, I can't believe the stupid shit written here.
Say, what type of grades did The Lightbringer get in college ? Still waiting for those transcripts. The rule is below a B you never share your grades. Based on his presidency, I'm thinking he was a D student, barely passed.
Harvard Law Magna cum Laude.
The only time he's ever been cum laude loud is when he busts a nut in your mouth, you cocksucking douche rocket.
I can't see why anyone would need more proof that someone can have a degree from a prestigious university and still be a really boring and totally uninteresting dullard, than this.
Then stop writing it.
You heard about it only in the context of the left wing media bringing it up to make fun of how stupid those stupid right wingers are, not as any kind of serious discussion of whether that disqualified him to be president.
I can't wait to see Hillary on MSNBC and them asking about her seances.
That's good work, boys.
Someone who posts here (Epi? John?) has the theory that most political reporters are on the same level as the TMZ, celebrity gossip rags, and this Carson investigation is more evidence of that theory being true.
Makes sense. Politicians are just another type of celebrity in America.
No, the real issue is that Carson is certifiably looney-tunes - an idiot savant of some type. His fucking brain is sopped with crazy shit about pyramids holding grain, religious idiocy, and Nazi's.
There can be two "real" issues.
He's a really strange guy politically, buttface, but he's also a brain surgeon and you're an idiot, so your opinion is totally without value.
Also, he's no more religious than you are. In fact no one is more religious than a proggie sycophant like you.
I don't believe in anything, you fucking moron.
Especially not religion, government, or conspiracy theories.
Shut up. You're too stupid to have permission to speak to me. Go eat some crayons or something.
Didn't you recently proclaim that truth doesn't matter?
You don't understand what that means, do you? It's not like we didn't already know it, but saying it out loud like that...geez.
Fuck off shreek.
I guess if he doesn't believe in anything, that includes things like gravity and bacteria. Also would include global warming. He's gonna have a hard time explaining that last one to his comrades.
"I don't believe in anything..."
Okay then.
He's a denier. Just sort of a general purpose denier.
We believe in nothing, Lebowski. Nothing.
We'd all be better off with a president who thought the pyramids held grain than one who thinks Obamacare is a good idea.
Shoot, I've believed this to be accurate for years.
It's funny how they didn't go after Obama though.
They have no integrity.
You ARE a moron after all.
And I doubted it for a few minutes.
Don't worry Rufus he doesn't really mean that.
Because he "doesn't believe anything."
Epi? John?
Glad I'm not the only one who gets them confused
Lemme guess... NOW Kanye doesn't make any fucking sense.
Are you accusing Carson of being a nicer kid than he claims to have been?
They are trying to frame him as a liar.
I am assuming this will not involve Chris Hayes
Well, I know Carson is a really intelligent guy. But if I didn't know who he is and I heard Kayne saying that he's really smart guy, I would immediately assume that he's a moron.
This.
I care less about "Suge" Carson's thuglife childhood than Matt's lack of shirt-tie contrast.
He was doing so well sticking with the purple.
Pyramids are clearly antennae to speak to the Space People who gave us thumbs. Next question
And this morning, CNN published the results of interviewing nine of Carson's childhood acquaintances about whether they remember the rough incidents from his oft-regurgitated narrative of transforming from a violent juvenile to a God-fearing young adult. The takeaway?
What more proof do we need that CNN are just a bunch of hacks?
Did they ever go dig into Obama's past like this?
Unreal the double standard at work.
""Did they ever go dig into Obama's past like this?""
They certainly did.
When he was a challenge to Hillary.
Did they dig into his past? I don't recall that. I could be wrong.
Yeah, but Carson's one of those Uncle Toms, he's not a real negro like Obama. I mean if he was a real man of accomplishment why would he be hanging around Johns Hopkins doing brain surgeries instead of something really impressive, like community organizing?
That's my point. CNN didn't make much of the fact of community organizing. For example, what exactly was he involved in?
I read a book that came out in 2008 called "The Case Against Barack Obama" http://www.amazon.com/The-Case.....B0023RT022 I don't remember all of the details, but I remember it being probably the most objective thing about the man I read that year. And in retrospect I think it was pretty mild. The author's summation was basically that he wasn't a bad person, but that he was a typical politician like everyone else in Washington. In retrospect we can see that is a pretty generous thing to say, but at the time, compared to all the media adulation, it would've seemed cynical and mean to many people.
he was a typical politician like everyone else in Washington
This is actually what I believed about Obama almost from the start. I was glad he got elected the first term simply for two terms, that he's less evil than both Hillary and McCain. I still believe the latter. But the former, I no longer believe. The guy is a hardcore leftist ideologue as well as a typical politician, a very bad combination. He's also a narcissistic asshole, I have no doubt about that.
hardcore leftist ideologue
Yeah, that's something the book alluded to but I think the author underemphasized. Possibly because it wasn't as obvious. Obama associated with many far left types in his life and career, but kept enough distance that it was hard to pin anything concrete to him specifically.
Of course he still tries to do that as president, but no one with half a brain believes that he finds out about everything in the paper the next day
I had someone not too long ago to tell me that CNN is the only unbiased news network. Yes, someone seriously believes this, which proves that people can convince themselves to believe pretty much anything.
Bullshit.
I saw an infomercial for Pastor Pete recently. If you join his church (donate) you will immediately win the lottery or have some random person walk up to your door and hand you a check for at least 10K.
Really, it's true. They had dozens of people testifying to that. It's a fact.
He;s not even smart enough to write two autobiographies...
This might be the first time a presidential candidate was criticized for NOT having a violent disreputable youth.
This might be the first time a presidential candidate was criticized for NOT having a violent disreputable youth.