Ben Carson Joins Dopes 4 Snopes Club

Uncle Ben's Brain

Dr. Rice for Brains gives us more food for thought

In Saturday evening’s GOP presidential cage match debate, Ben Carson did it again. In a previous debate that marked the beginning of his death spiral in the polls, he claimed to have inside information that China was involved in the Syrian civil war:

We also must recognize that it’s a very complex place. You know, the Chinese are there, as well as the Russians, and you have all kinds of factions there.

We thought he learned his lesson that being a talented neurosurgeon isn’t the same thing as knowing WTF is up with the rest of the world. But he was born with two feet, one of which had remained bullet-free. So in an apparent effort to remain fair and balanced, he evened the score.  Gawker has the story, citing the fact checking site, Snopes [emphasis added].

Ben Carson made a lot of questionable decisions tonight (showing up at all, to name one). His biggest mistake, though, was the active choice to end the evening with a quote from Joseph Stalin—one that was, of course, a complete lie.

“Joseph Stalin said,” Ben Carson begins, using a phrase that would rarely end well for a presidential candidate even if it were true. “If you want to bring America down, you have to undermine three things: Our spiritual life, our patriotism, and our morality.”

Unfortunately for Carson, and much like the vast majority of his information, this quote appears to have come from nothing more than a paranoid Facebook meme—according to Snopes, this Facebook meme:

Ben Carson's Fake Stalin Quote Came From a Right-Wing Facebook Meme

The only thing surprising about Carson quoting a right-wing internet meme is that it’s taken this long for it to actually happen. But then again, at least to hear Carson tell it, no one ever lets him talk in the first place.

May we offer a real quote for the good Doc to chew on?

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt.

Prove you're human: leave a comment.