Many are puzzled by Dr. Ben Carson’s commentaries about foreign policy which are difficult to follow, with facts which appear to be out of left field. This does not jive with his impressive background. After all he is obviously a brilliant doctor who has been chief of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital for many years. He is famous for having been the first surgeon to have separated conjoined twins. As a Yale graduate with a medical degree from the University of Michigan which he achieved despite his impoverished background while being raised by a single Mom, one would not expect him to speak nonsense. His story which endears him to the religious evangelical community is one of him being transformed by his faith from an angry young person who acted out on occasion, to one who learned to restrain his demons as he became an exceptional student.

It is my impression that the political pundits are attempting to somehow make sense of how this obviously, legitimately brilliant doctor can say somethings which are incredulous to most listeners such as the Egyptian pyramids were originally designed to store grain; and that adults choose to be gay is proven by prison sexual activity.

For me, his words alone disqualify him from being our commander-in-chief. He is anti-evolution and a climate change denier, despite his scientific expertise. He defines Obamacare and abortion as being equivalent to slavery. He reasons that the Holocaust occurred due to gun control. His argument is that if Jewish families had guns, the Nazis could not have accomplished their mass murders. A mass school shooting would not be successful if those being attacked rushed the shooter. He seems unaware that in the last 2015 Oregon event, the shooter was jumped on by a brave young man who suffered several gun shots. Then of course, there are young children who have also been victims.

A recent (November 2015) case in point of how Dr. Carson can be confused as when he  publicly announced that the Chinese were participating in the middle east conflict. He may have been befuddled because of some misleading media news, as exemplified in a 9/28/15 RT article reporting the following: “Meanwhile, an Israeli military news website, has cited military sources as saying that a Chinese aircraft carrier, the Liaoning-CV-16, has already been spotted at the Syrian port of Tartus on the Mediterranean coast.” However, this news story has been debunked by a 10/14/15 Reuters’ posting: ” Chinese media has also described these reports as speculative nonsense.” Every foreign policy expert including Susan Rice, US National Security Adviser have described this data as completely bogus.

Another source of Ben Carson’s puzzling foreign policy pronouncements could be due to his chief foreign policy adviser, Robert F. Dees. In the 11/10/15 (FP) Foreign Policy article, James Bamford adds some clarification with this one statement by his friend, the evangelist, retired Major General Dees: ” “Dees claimed to have an epiphany: When it comes to terrorism, all Muslims — some 23.4 percent of the world’s population — are equally worthy of suspicion. “It’s not about these guys who came from way out, knocked down some buildings, and then have left,” Dees explained at Wildfire Weekend. “We have a serious internal issue. We’ve been infiltrated.”

Retired Major General Robert F Dees

There are those in the media and others who seem to be  questioning his pathologically soundness by being openly dubious about the events described in his own words in his book made into a TV movie, “Gifted Hands.” They have raised doubts about his youthful tales regarding his unsuccessful attempt to stab another boy, because of a belt buckle impediment; hitting his Mom with a hammer; hitting a school mate with a lock; protecting high school fellow classmates in a classroom while rioting broke out; and his having been offered a full scholarship to West Point.

It is my own opinion that disparaging someone’s hard earned and well deserved reputation should be based on hard evidence. The press interviewing a few of his fellow classmates and neighbors is not sufficient to disprove Dr. Carson’s memories. Donald Trump’s show of contemptuous disbelief on how someone’s belt buckle could possibly impede a knife attack, is acting like an old man. Mr. Trump’s belt buckle would bear no similarity to the huge metal belt buckles that some young people wear.

Based on my minimal research, it is probable that Dr. Ben Carson’s version of events in his popular book are true. For example, his writing about having an offer to attend West Point at a full scholarship does make sense because he was an exceptional student who led his High School’s ROTC program. It is entirely feasible that his ROTC mentor mentioned that he would be welcome as an applicant to West Point which could provide him an education at no cost. Because the application process is a lengthy one, no action was taken when young Ben Carson indicated that he was only applying to Yale.

In addition, there is a May 11, 1997 Parade Magazine article by Michel Ryan, titled “If You Can’t Teach Me, Don’t Criticize Me,” in which Dr. Carson’s Mom, Sonja Carson backs her son’s recollections. In the article , she was detailing how she raised two highly successful sons, Curtis Carson, an engineer and Dr. Ben Carson, a highly acclaimed surgeon while she didn’t have much of an education. She told how her sons were sometimes embarrassed about her lack of education but she would answer: “If you can’t teach me, don’t criticize me. ” This is why she decided to be an example to her boys by eventually earning her GED high school degree. The author questioned the Mom about what she thought of the movie scene, where a young actor recreated the moment when at 14, Ben Carson pulled a knife on a school mate.  These are her words regarding her son’s temper: “Oh that really happened. I sat him down and told him that you don’t accomplish much by being a bully. You accomplish more with kindness than you ever do by being harsh.” The author then continues: “Sonya realized that the streets (Detroit) could easily ensnare her sons and she made it her job to ensure that-that would never happen. For starters, she made her boys come home to do their homework, and she limited them to 2 TV programs a week. The rest of their spare time, she decried, would be spent reading.”

Those who compensate well, can be highly functioning because of many having the ability to retain huge amounts of data, while also being able to think outside of the box. In a small setting such as the pediatric neurological hospital office area, a gifted doctor could be reasonably accommodated, as those around him, learn to make allowances for social mishaps while adapting their skills of communication to ask clarifying type questions for better understanding.

Famous People with Asperger’s Syndrome can be found on  www.disabled-world.com or by clicking on the link below.

This blog was updated on 11/17/15.