It's not brain surgery, Ben

Really. I mean, I know that it is difficult for people who are not transgender to understand what it feels or means to be transgender, because it is a non-feeling to them, but Ben Carson purports to be the "smartest guy in the room."

But all he is proving is that he is the dumbest "smart guy" in Cleveland.

In an interview with The Hill newspaper, Carson felt it necessary to share his views on transgender. As is usually the case for Carson, his synapses appear not to be firing in good order at the time.

For someone to wake up and think that they belong to a different sex because they feel different that day is the same as if you woke up and said I'm Afghani today because I saw a movie about that last night and even though my genetics might not indicate that, that's the way I feel, and if you say that I'm not, then you’re a racist.

So much to unpack there. Where are Foucault and Derrida when you need them?

I'll make my best effort

First of all, anyone who has been halfway awake over the past decade (which is not certain to include Carson, I know) understands that transgender people don't just wake up one day with that knowledge of their identity. Identity formation begins when we are quite young and takes a lifetime.

And seriously? Comparing gender identity to ethnicity? What they have in common is that both are the basis for discrimination.

From there his thought process takes such a sharp turn that I don't think the vehicle stayed on the road. Emergency equipment may be required. Ben is scheduled to speak at the Convention tonight.

The statement is precisely the kind of potential distraction convention organizers would probably like to avoid as they focus on economic issues Tuesday. Republicans adopted a staunchly conservative party platform this month, particularly on social issues, even though Donald Trump himself has taken a more liberal view on gay rights.

What we ought to do is utilize our brains, utilize our common sense as human beings. We’ve known what men are and what women are for thousands of years. So we don’t know anything, everything is relative — this doesn’t make any sense.

It’s not based on your feelings, it’s based on what you are.

Can a leopard change its spots? No. It can’t because it feels like maybe it’s a different creature. No. it’s still a leopard. Sorry.

--Carson, speaking to the Florida delegation

And for just as long, many cultures have known that not everyone fits into the binary separation of which Carson speaks.

For a "neuroscientist" the man sure has little understanding of the human brain.

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sojourns's picture

even pass the medical boards? How did any of his patients even survive? Who ties his shoes for him or is he a velcro kid?

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

elenacarlena's picture

Srsly. He seems to have brain damage.

Or is he so thoroughly bought that he doesn't care what asinine statements the Repugs ask him to say?

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snoopydawg's picture

I resemble that remark. That's exactly what happened to me, but I hope that people have noticed that i didn't turn into a raging asshole.
Smile

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There were problems with running a campaign of Joy while committing a genocide? Who could have guessed?

Harris is unburdened of speaking going forward.

elenacarlena's picture

No illness or injury is likely to cause his a$$holery, but the part of his brain that excelled at brain surgery seems to be gone as if it never existed. It's like he is not entirely aware.

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sojourns's picture

He started writing himself opioid prescriptions?

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"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage

Haikukitty's picture

Why, every time I see a great action movie, I wake up the next day and tell everyone I now identify as a man. And when I watch a great Brit Flick, the next day I start talking in a fake British accent.

/s

Actually, Ben, in MANY other pre-Western cultures, there was a recognition of people who didn't fit into the gender dichotomy. In some cases, not only were they accepted, they were esteemed.
http://www.firstpeople.us/articles/the-two-spirit-people-of-indigenous-n...

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featheredsprite's picture

they don't understand. And then they shut up.

Ben Carson doesn't fit into that subset of people.

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Life is strong. I'm weak, but Life is strong.

wilderness voice's picture

It should be obvious no one transitions unless they feel compelled to do so.

Of course ReThugs have a judgment module installed where the empathy module should have been.

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