I have a speculation about Carson's recent rise in the polls. No, the neurosurgeon is not actually dumb enough to believe his grain-in-the-pyramids theory. He is playing dumb, on purpose. If you doubt it, just look at what kind of talk got Donald Trump to the top of the polls this summer.
Or, remember Rep. Todd Akin and his brilliant insight into female anatomy. For those of you who had forgotten, he had claimed that a pregnant woman's body magically knows whether or not the conception has been through rape, and if so, it can abort the fetus on its own accord. Well, that one was actually a case of bona fide stupidity, but that is not the point.
The point is, someone had voted for that guy! That is yet another reminder of what kind of clientelle Mr. Carson is attempting to serve.
America is a nation of salesmen! The customer is always right. So is the market. So are the voters. Bill Maher, smart as he is, has no chance of changing any minds or hearts by calling Americans dumb. Coming back to Todd Akin example, one might get a fleeting, horrifying suspicion that Bill might actually have had a point. Still, every businessman knows that antagonizing the audience is asking for rotten eggs in the kisser.
A businessman won't argue with potential buyers. He will adapt to the reality of their demands, reasonable or not. Adapting is so much more practical than trying to change the world.
Thus, I speculate, Carson doesn't really believe in his own pyramid theory. His real message is: I am not siding with a bunch of egghead academics. I am one of you, folks. You know, just another American. It works. His numbers are up. I guess, we shouldn't ridicule Carson for his egregious ignorance. Instead, we should be flattered that he is trying to so hard to be one of us.
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