Here is an article from Cal Thomas from FoxNews.com stating that Dr. Benjamin Carson needs to apologize for his comments at the National Prayer Breakfast regarding President Obama's policies citing the fact that the event is dubbed as one of the few non-political events of the year and that it was inappropriate to make comments in this kind of forum. Dr. Benjamin Carson is a neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric
Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital and also received the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2008 from President George W. Bush.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/02/12/dr-ben-carson-should-apologize-to-president-obama/?intcmp=HPBucket
Our politics have become so polarized and corrupted that a president
of the United States cannot even attend an event devoted to drawing
people closer to God and bridge partisan and cultural divides without
being lectured about his policies.
Last Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C.,
Dr. Ben Carson, director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins
University in Baltimore, and a 2008 recipient of the Presidential Medal
of Freedom, broke with a 61-year-old tradition and publicly disagreed
with some of the president's policies, such as "ObamaCare," taxation and
the national debt. Disclosure: I have attended this event since 1971
and host a dinner the night before for members of the media.
Several in the audience of 3,000 applauded Carson's remarks, which must have made the president feel even more uncomfortable.
I am no fan of the president's policies, but the National Prayer
Breakfast is billed as one of the few nonpolitical events in a very
political city. Each year, the co-chairs, one Democrat and one
Republican from either the House or Senate, put aside their political
differences, as they do in weekly gatherings, to pray for the nation's
leaders.
Carson, who spoke at the same event several years ago, has a
compelling and inspirational personal story. He and his brother grew up
in Detroit. His parents divorced when he was three. His mother kept an
eye on her children and made them turn off the TV and read books. Carson
said he did poorly in school and was mocked by classmates until he
later caught the learning bug. He retold part of that story, but it was
overwhelmed by his criticism of the president's policies.
Carson is a great example of what perseverance can accomplish and his
success is a rebuke to the entitlement-envy-greed mentality. By
lowering himself to mention policies with which he disagrees, he diluted
the power of a superior message.
His remarks were inappropriate for the occasion. It would have been
just as inappropriate had he praised the president's policies. The
president had a right to expect a different message about another
Kingdom. I'm wondering if the president felt drawn closer to God, or
bludgeoned by the Republican Party and the applauding conservatives in
the audience (there were many liberals there, too, as well as people
from what organizers said were more than 100 nations and all 50 states).
In 1996, radio personality Don Imus was the main speaker at the Radio
and Television Correspondents Association annual banquet in Washington
where he made sexually suggestive comments in front of President Clinton
and the first lady. I asked White House Press Secretary Dee Dee Myers
at the time if I was being too puritanical or did she also think Imus'
remarks were inappropriate. She agreed they were. Whatever happened to
propriety?
If Carson wanted to voice his opinion about the president's policies,
he could have done so backstage. Even better, he might have asked for a
private meeting with the man. As a fellow African American who faced
personal challenges and overcame them, the president might have welcomed
Dr. Carson to the White House. Instead, Carson ambushed him.
Carson should publicly apologize and stop going on TV doing "victory
laps" and proclaiming that reaction to his speech was overwhelmingly
positive. That's not the point. While many might agree with his
positions (and many others don't as shown by the November election
results), voicing them at the National Prayer Breakfast in front of the
president was the wrong venue.
Organizers for this event tell speakers ahead of time to steer clear
of politics, but Carson apparently "went rogue" on them. I'm told
organizers were astonished and disapproving of the critical parts of
Carson's keynote address. The breakfast is supposed to bring together
people from different political viewpoints and cultures. It is supposed
to bridge divides, not widen them.
If this and future presidents think their policies will be prey for
political opponents at the prayer breakfast, they might decide not to
come. That would be too bad for them and too bad for the country.
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