President-Elect Donald J. Trump Intends to Nominate Dr. Ben Carson as Secretary of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

So Trump appointed a Brilliant brain Surgeon with an emphasis on rebuilding inner cities . Liberals be mad LOL

[bcking 3,157]

So Trump appointed a Brilliant brain Surgeon with an emphasis on rebuilding inner cities . Liberals be mad LOL

What has he down to help build inner cities?

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

What has he down to help build inner cities?

Do you mean done ? He ain't president yet

[bcking 3,157]

Do you mean done ? He ain't president yet

Sorry yes I meant done. I was talking about Ben Carson. What experience does he have to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development? He lives in a house, in a city? Any other experience?

I don't deny that he must be a brilliant man (though seems a little spacey at times). To become a neurosurgeon you have to be incredibly dedicated and spend hours upon hours of study (I could never do it, I was out having fun in medical school when my friends who are now neurosurgeons were studying to get the highest scores possible on tests). I'm sure he is intelligent, but I'm just not sure what he is fit for this particular department. It seems like a random appointment of someone with name recognition but no actual experience in what he will be doing.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

Sorry yes I meant done. I was talking about Ben Carson. What experience does he have to lead the Department of Housing and Urban Development? He lives in a house, in a city? Any other experience?

I don't deny that he must be a brilliant man (though seems a little spacey at times). To become a neurosurgeon you have to be incredibly dedicated and spend hours upon hours of study (I could never do it, I was out having fun in medical school when my friends who are now neurosurgeons were studying to get the highest scores possible on tests). I'm sure he is intelligent, but I'm just not sure what he is fit for this particular department. It seems like a random appointment of someone with name recognition but no actual experience in what he will be doing.

I always love it when Obama supporters start talking about experience

[bcking 3,157]

I always love it when Obama supporters start talking about experience

You're deflecting the question. The question still stands and is perfectly valid. You want to talk about Presidents with no experience? Look at the one entering office in January.

One of the saving graces with Trump was that he claimed he was going to surround himself with the right people who do have the experience and knowledge since he knows nothing. Specific policies aside (I know nothing about what Carson plans to do in his post, though he likely doesn't know much more than me), Carson is not experienced for the role he has been chosen for. It's like the blind leading the blind.

Edited December 6, 2016 by bcking

[smilesammich 10,727]

You're deflecting the question. The question still stands and is perfectly valid. You want to talk about Presidents with no experience? Look at the one entering office in January.

One of the saving graces with Trump was that he claimed he was going to surround himself with the right people who do have the experience and knowledge since he knows nothing. Specific policies aside (I know nothing about what Carson plans to do in his post, though he likely doesn't know much more than me), Carson is not experienced for the role he has been chosen for. It's like the blind leading the blind.

well, we know he won't be swayed by any sort of dinosaur bone digging.

[The Nature Boy 7,659]

A black brain surgeon who has an iq in the top percent, who was born and raised in inner city Detroit, is not qualified to lead a campain to help rebuild mostly minority inner cities. However a community organizer who never held a private sector job is qualified to be President and if you don't agree it's because you are RACIST!

Do liberals ever just stop and think how ridiculous they sound

[Dakine10 5,452]

So Trump appointed a Brilliant brain Surgeon with an emphasis on rebuilding inner cities . Liberals be mad LOL

See, that even sounds silly.

[bcking 3,157]

A black brain surgeon who has an iq in the top percent, who was born and raised in inner city Detroit, is not qualified to lead a campain to help rebuild mostly minority inner cities. However a community organizer who never held a private sector job is qualified to be President and if you don't agree it's because you are RACIST!

Do liberals ever just stop and think how ridiculous they sound

Living in an inner city does not equal the qualification to run a Federal Department. I drive a car, I'm not qualified to run the Federal Highway Administration or Department of Transportation.

Also the "community organizer" was also a lawyer, and had already been a State Senator for what like 8 years prior to becoming a US senator? I completely agree with you that Obama was the least qualified President we had in a long time. Up until this coming January where he is easily overtaken by the President-Elect. That being said, this isn't a discussion of Obama or Trump so stop side-stepping the discussion.

Please tell me what Carson has done specifically that qualifies him to lead this particular department. Being a neurosurgeon has nothing to do with the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Yes it means he is smart, but there are A LOT of smart people out there. Not just neurosurgeons. Just "living in Housing" doesn't not qualify as experience.

[yuna628 9,530]

Well, now that the cool cat is outta the bag...........................

Sorry, whenever there is an opportunity for an Anchorman gif, I will use it.

A black brain surgeon who has an iq in the top percent, who was born and raised in inner city Detroit, is not qualified to lead a campain to help rebuild mostly minority inner cities. However a community organizer who never held a private sector job is qualified to be President and if you don't agree it's because you are RACIST!

Do liberals ever just stop and think how ridiculous they sound

I won't debate he is an excellent surgeon, as I'm a little bit more personally familiar with the man than most will be on this forum. I also won't debate he's probably very smart. But he has smarts for the things he is actually educated and trained to do. I don't believe being in this position is one of them, nor do I believe that he believes it himself (nor do I believe that he believed he was ever qualified to run for any public office). There seems to be a lot of political ''backscratching'' in this new administration, instead of looking at people that best fit the role. Had he been an individual that was heavily involved and experienced in the actual subject matter it would have been a lot more impressive a choice. I have lived in the inner city, but that doesn't make me qualified to run HUD.

So tell me, NB. What do you think it is that makes Carson qualified? Is it simply based on the fact he ''grew up in the inner city'', because while it might make him more ''empathetic'' it won't give him qualifications. I could put a computer in front of you and say ''here NB I want you to make a complex program showing real-time physics of cars crashing into each other for safety crash-test simulations'', and I could say ''you'll surely understand and know how to do this because you know cars and sell cars, right?" Now, does that make you qualified?

As for Obama, a lot has been made of his ''inexperience''. And yet we have a man who is highly educated in law and politics, was educated with real time experience in motivating, being an orator, and organizing people, was an attorney (as were a few presidents), and was elected by the people to be a senator. Had Carson decided to also take up the study of law, and indeed also be elected by the people into a political position then, I might have less objection.

[bcking 3,157]

Sorry, whenever there is an opportunity for an Anchorman gif, I will use it.

I won't debate he is an excellent surgeon, as I'm a little bit more personally familiar with the man than most will be on this forum. I also won't debate he's probably very smart. But he has smarts for the things he is actually educated and trained to do. I don't believe being in this position is one of them, nor do I believe that he believes it himself (nor do I believe that he believed he was ever qualified to run for any public office). There seems to be a lot of political ''backscratching'' in this new administration, instead of looking at people that best fit the role. Had he been an individual that was heavily involved and experienced in the actual subject matter it would have been a lot more impressive a choice. I have lived in the inner city, but that doesn't make me qualified to run HUD.

So tell me, NB. What do you think it is that makes Carson qualified? Is it simply based on the fact he ''grew up in the inner city'', because while it might make him more ''empathetic'' it won't give him qualifications. I could put a computer in front of you and say ''here NB I want you to make a complex program showing real-time physics of cars crashing into each other for safety crash-test simulations'', and I could say ''you'll surely understand and know how to do this because you know cars and sell cars, right?" Now, does that make you qualified?

As for Obama, a lot has been made of his ''inexperience''. And yet we have a man who is highly educated in law and politics, was educated with real time experience in motivating, being an orator, and organizing people, was an attorney (as were a few presidents), and was elected by the people to be a senator. Had Carson decided to also take up the study of law, and indeed also be elected by the people into a political position then, I might have less objection.

Well said.

I would say that there are physicians who segway into politics, and I have no problem with that. I do believe that it requires fairly high intelligence (or at least fairly high dedication) to become a physician, and therefore it does reflect highly on the person's work ethic and their critical thinking ability. However, there are lots of people with work ethic and critical thinking ability, not just doctors. Just like I felt it was strange for Dr. Carson to jump from Surgeon to President, I think it equally strange to jump from Surgeon to Secretary for Housing and Urban Development. There should have been something in the middle that gives him experience in this area before becoming the head of a Federal Department. As I said before, I'm a doctor and I drive on highways a lot but please don't let anyone nominate me to be the head of the Department of Transportation.

Edited December 7, 2016 by bcking