Dr. Ben Carson: A star is born

And something far more important happened in the last week; the prayer breakfast in which Dr. Ben Carson made his public debut. Armstrong Williams’s review below is right on target. Dr. Carson brings an  awakening, and anyone who does not see the power and life force  of this man should take another look at the clip – the one in which he talks about the man with $10 billion and  the man with $10.

{mosads}And look at the suddenly sallow and ashen faces, the creeping  trepidation  of President Obama, Vice President Biden and the others. (And the terror of liberal commentators following  like Bob Bechtel: “Spewing bile … shame!”) 

To add a word to Armstrong’s review, there is  even a trace of the  holy in Dr. Carson’s delicate smile, like the man rarely sent to us to begin time and events again. There is something in him specific to the American journey that only we, the Americans, can fully understand and relate to. 

His journey is our journey, and you feel it right away. Or not  at all. He said that he would only run for office if the Lord  grabbed his collar, but he should be grabbed first and drafted by the conservative rank and  file (and the “legitimate press!”) looking desperately for a savior. 

In 2008 I devised a system of choosing presidential candidates similar to that which they use to grade cheese at county fairs here in New Hampshire, in an attempt to head off the American Idol approach that is bringing us to ruin. 

At top was Governor of a Big State, especially New York, Texas or California. And by all rights, California Gov. Jerry Brown and Texas Gov. Rick  Perry should lead the pack. Then Top Military Commander (Grant, Eisenhower) and Governor of a Small State (Vermont’s Howard Dean and New Mexico’s  Gary Johnson) and spiralling down to Stand up Comedian, Professional Wrestler and finally, Just Anybody (Glenn Beck).

But at the top of the list, equal to Governor of a Big State is the Indigenous Outrigger: anyone who somehow captures the imagination of the people almost overnight. That would be Obama, for example,  and former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. 

The world’s greatest leaders always come from this crowd as if out of nowhere. Dr. Carson might consider himself to be that leader in our times. We live in changing times, and it is rare in times of change that the true leader comes from the rank and file. She or he comes instead, from nature.