Ben Carson: “The Doctor is in”

Ben Carson gave a speech Thursday, Feb. 22 at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) about the necessity of turning back to God during times of political unrest in America, as well as his beliefs about the weaponization of the United States justice system.  

Carson began by delving into what he believes is the “crisis of legitimacy” that Washington faces.  

“Our government, and our legacy institutions are losing credibility in the public eye,” Carson said. “America was founded on the notion that all political power comes from the consent of the governed … The reality is that the government in Washington, D.C. no longer represents the people it claims to serve, and it has stopped even pretending to execute the charge laid out by our founders: Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  

He cautioned listeners to remember to keep their focus on fundamental issues like preventing human trafficking or finding a solution to border problems. He continued to point out that the number of young people enlisting has reduced significantly and expressed that he believes that the reason is partly due to the problems that illegal immigration poses.  

“Young men, particularly young white men, aren’t signing up in great numbers for military (service) anymore because they don’t want to fight for a country that hates them,” Carson said. “They don’t want to die halfway around the world protecting the borders of Ukraine or Taiwan or any other country on Earth when our own border is overrun by the millions.” 

Carson spoke about the expectations that the American people have for their government.  

“There is nothing radical about what we the people are demanding from our representatives,” Carson said. “We want safety and security, we want freedom of speech, and to practice our religion as is our God-given right, we want secure borders, we want a government that puts our interests first. These are things that used to be the norm in this country, and none of these demands are extreme or outrageous; they should be the simple baseline of legitimate political leadership.” 

Carson warned against repeating mistakes that ruined world superpowers in the past, and urged his listeners to return to God, rather than continuing to allow our nation to become more divided. 

“As we reject God, we are spiraling downward,” Carson said. “Any civilization that attacks itself like this has lost its will to live and cannot survive … We must stay true to our foundational values and true to our faith; we are Americans and our nation is founded on trust in God’s divine providence. With this guidance I am filled with confidence that the American spirit is still strong and will reemerge from this challenge bigger and better than ever before.” 

Carson concluded by summarizing all of the triumphs that America has had since its founding, and finished by calling his listeners to action.  

“We must remember that we the American people are not each other’s enemies, and we cannot succumb to those who are trying to divide us on the basis of race, age, income, gender, religion (or) political affiliation,” Carson said. “We are neighbors, friends and colleagues, don’t let anybody tell you that we are enemies, we are not, and our togetherness will save us.” 

Jarnigan is the asst. news editor for the Liberty Champion