A conservative doctor named Ben Carson made quite a splash this week when he appeared to lecture President Obama at the national prayer breakfast.
On CNN's State of the Union Sunday, host Candy Crowley asked her guests, "Do you find anything offensive with" what the doctor said or did (video follows with transcript and commentary):
CANDY CROWLEY, HOST: This was in Dr. Ben Carson. He is a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon out of Johns Hopkins. He was at the prayer breakfast and he was talking about the idea of, you know, weaving the Bible into some objections he appears to have with the President's approach. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. BEN CARSON: When I pick up my Bible, you know what I see? I see the fairest individual in the universe, God, and he's given us a system. It's called tithe. Now we don't necessarily have to do a ten percent, but this principal. He didn't say, “If your crops fail, don't give me any tithes.” He didn’t say, “If you have a bumper crop, give me triple tithes.” So there must be something inherently fair about proportionality.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CROWLEY: Whoa! So, this was really interesting number one for the venue, number two for the person doing this. Not a, I mean, he may be a political person, but it’s the first time I’ve seen him on the national stage. What did you think of that?
"Whoa?"
Exactly what was so bothersome about Carson's cited words there that justified such a reaction from Crowley?
Also, is it really shocking that someone would be speaking at the national prayer breakfast that Crowley was unfamiliar with?
Should guests in the future be cleared by her?
KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON, FORMER SENATOR (R-TEXAS): Well, it reminded me of the prayer breakfast I went to when Mother Teresa was talking, and Bill and Hillary Clinton were sitting there, and she was talking about how bad abortion is. And it was so uncomfortable in the room watching that. And I'm told that the prayer breakfast with this gentleman was the same. But I think his, his other point, his main point was political correctness has just gone beyond bizarre, and we’ve got to come down to reality here, and people have got to be able to kind of relax and talk about how they want to talk, and, you know, I just thought it was a great message.
CROWLEY: Do you find anything offensive with, certainly it's America, he's entitled to his opinion. A lot of the talk was about was this the right place to do it? And there was lots of applause from Republicans who said, “Finally somebody stood up and said it.”
"Do you find anything offensive?"
A conservative guest says things that don't fit with the liberal agenda, and Crowley wonders if someone on her panel finds anything offensive.
Good grief!
CONGRESSWOMAN JAN SCHAKOWSKY (D-ILLINOIS): Well, I think that there’s a political correctness that he was trying to use to appeal to a conservative audience. I think it's really, not really an appropriate place to make this kind of political speech and to invoke God as his support for that kind of point of view. But I think most of all the kind of message that he was giving shows a real empathy gap of where the American people are right now, and I think it's reflective of where many of the Republicans and Tea Parties are right now that we need to have an economy that works for everyone.
So Schakowsky thinks a prayer breakfast isn't an appropriate place to "invoke God" as support for one's political beliefs.
Isn't that actually the perfect place to do such a thing?
It's certainly not the first time it's happened at the national prayer breakfast.
The only novelty here - or should I say "offensive" thing! - is that someone invoked God to support views that Obama and his adoring media disagree with.
It seems a metaphysical certitude that if a liberal guest had done such a thing at a national prayer breakfast when George W. Bush was president, folks like Crowley would not only not find it offensive, they would have been cheering from the rooftops calling said person a hero.
But such praise isn't extended to conservatives who dare speak against the current White House resident.
Said person is "offensive."
