The Media's Latest Phony Attack on Ben Carson

How about the next time the mainstream media decide to fabricate a controversy against a conservative presidential candidate, they choose something less laughable?

The media's latest faux gasp concerns Dr. Ben Carson's comments about the Oregon school shooting. When I first watched news reports on it, I didn't immediately grasp the reason for the fuss, not having the artificial sensibilities of the MSM.

Asked what he would do in a similar situation as the victims, Carson said: "I would ask everybody to attack the gunman because he can only shoot one of us at a time. That way, we don't all wind up dead." Not only did he not answer the way the media wanted but also he chuckled upon concluding his answer.

No one in his right mind would interpret Carson's uncomfortable giggle as a statement that he was laughing at the victims or is indifferent to their fate. Do I have to mention that he dedicated four decades to saving children's lives? Yeah, I thought so.

At the suggestion that he appeared tone-deaf and seemed callous, Carson said, "I'm laughing at them and their silliness," meaning the reporters asking him questions.

It rankles the media when candidates don't immediately cower when accused of this or that sin. Carson is particularly annoying to them, not only because he refuses to back down but also because he has the audacity, in their view, to espouse conservative views despite being African-American. Surely, we can all understand their frustration when blacks stray from the left's prescribed way of thinking.

Carson was not judging the victims; that doesn't even make sense. Almost everyone seriously laments the tragedy, and Carson, as a strong Christian, doubtlessly admires those courageous victims who identified themselves as Christians while knowing it would seal their fate.

Rather, Carson said he wanted to "plant the seed in people's minds so that if this happens again, you know, they don't all get killed."

When pressed about his response, Carson used the opportunity once again to criticize our stifling politically correct culture. He said: "We live in a culture now where people decide that everything you say — 'we need to set up battle lines' and 'we need to get on this side of it or that side of it' rather than collectively trying to figure out how we solve the problem. It's sort of an immature attitude, but it seems to be something that's rampant in America today."

He is correct. In the first place, we wouldn't even be having this discussion if President Obama hadn't exploited the massacre to rail against guns, gun owners and those dastardly right-wingers who cling to the Second Amendment right to bear arms. If Obama and the left weren't so hellbent on confiscating the weapons of law-abiding Americans, we could spend more time grieving, offering our prayers and later — after the dust has settled — discussing these tragedies and possible solutions.

When interviewers showed an interest in Carson's ideas instead of trying to entrap him, it was obvious that he had given this serious thought, as he suggested that we need to study the lives of all the people who've carried out a mass shooting. He said we might empower psychiatrists and psychologists "to take the appropriate interventional steps." He would also seek a "mechanism" to keep weapons away from people whom mental health professionals have identified as dangerous, stressing, however, that "we cannot do anything that compromises the Second Amendment." Finally, he expressed his support for armed guards and armed teachers in schools, if appropriate.

Refreshingly, Carson again refuses to back down from the media's onslaught and even doubles down — saying his experience in extracting bullets from victims has reinforced his conviction in the wisdom of the Second Amendment.

There is no way reasonable people would conclude that Carson was impugning the shooting victims. It's clear he was offering his ideas, in hindsight, on how people might handle such situations in the future.

The same media that castigated Carson for offering constructive ideas on this problem gave President Obama a total pass for lurching to his lectern to rail against guns and gun control opponents. Never once did they criticize him for his insensitivity and callousness, and he wasn't even responding to a question. He planned — no, premeditated — his stunningly inappropriate remarks and all but ignored the nation's and community's grief, choosing instead to lash out in anger at people who won't surrender to his demands.

I can confidently say that people are increasingly disgusted with the media's warped and biased perspective and their double standard to destroy conservatives and shelter liberals. Just consider the absurdity of the media's trying to turn this remarkably fine man into an ogre. Ben Carson's popularity increases in direct proportion to his refusal to cower in the face of such attacks and his resolve to stand on principle. This is one of the many reasons so-called outsiders are doing so well in the polls and will continue to. People have had enough of this nonsense.

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David Limbaugh is a columnist, author and attorney practicing in Cape Girardeau, Mo.