Dr. Ben Carson, Presidential candidate and utter lunatic.

So Ben Carson exists...

Man, during the first debates I thought he was simply a nut, what with his tithing tax plan and his strangely anti-vaxx opinions that a medical professional really should know better than to hold.
But he just won't stop being insane! We know he is kinda nutty about religion, he is a Seventh Day Adventist and they don't tend to hold moderate views about much, so he's done the usual evolution and climate change denial, going so far as to say evolution was inspired by the devil, he's also against abortion under any circumstances, which I guess is at least consistent.

But this week has been interesting, it started off with a 17 year old video of him speaking at a commencement in which he puts forth his personal theory that the Egyptian pyramids were built not as tombs, but as grain silos, for evidence he cites that they were "hermetically sealed" and the bible, specifically the story of Joseph when he arranged the storage of grain for a long famine.
Now there are many ways this is stupid, starting with that a stone pyramid riddled with chambers is probably the most inefficient way to build a grain silo, also the Egyptians had plenty of experiance building grain silos in the standard fashion, even back then.
Oh yeah, the Pyramids predate our best guesses at when this story took place too, so there's that.
Also, the story is probably more of a parable about how raising taxes during times of wealth to protect against times of poverty is a wise strategy, which is basically the opposite of everything the Republican party stands for these days.

But that is all just silliness, elected representatives have held odd beliefs before, and strange theories about the Pyramids don't really matter one way or another. However over the last few days, more stuff has come out. CNN has attempted to find corroboration on one of his stories from his youth about how he attempted to stab a friend (He has since changed his story to say it is a family member) and when his knife was stopped by a belt buckle, he knew he had to change his ways. Anyway, CNN was unable to find anyone who remembers that incident, in fact, friends and family members who were interviewed describe his as a nerdy, unassuming kid, without violent tendencies.
This is hilarious, being possibly the first time the media has dug into a black mans background in an effort to prove he wasn't a violent criminal.
Later Politico posted a story talking about his claim to have been offered a "Full Scholarship" to Westpoint by General Westmoreland at a dinner in the 60s. This was probably bull as well, as the Army's own records show the general in Washington DC on the day of the meeting, also, Westpoint doesn't offer scholarships, if you are accepted, and you can only apply if you are nominated by someone, and the General was not one of those who could do so, it is a full ride for anyone who gets in, there are no fees for a scholarship to cover.

At best, Carson met Westmoreland at some other event, and is mis-remembering the date as well as reading a lot more into a conversation about Wespoint than could actually have been offered, at worst he fabricated the entire thing, because his history as a person from a poor family who put himself through school and became a world renowned neurosurgeon is not inspiring enough.

In an interview today, he became quite enraged at this line of questioning, demanding to know why Obama never went under this much scrutiny.

Just... think about that statement for a second, he doesn't think president Barack Obama was scrutinized enough when he was elected. The man is delusional.

He is a genuinely creepy and unsettling man, it is a not uncommon thing for evangelicals to, shall we say, embellish the struggles they had before converting, and I think Carson may be doing this as well, from what we can tell from public records, he has always been a fairly unassuming person, but his story portrays him as the stereotype of a black thug that conservatives love to rail against. It seems a fabrication but he is holding to it anyway.

He is a solid second in the polls, narrowly behind Trump, this election is probably both the most hilarious in history, and the most terrifying as well, the best you can say about the candidates is some of them might not immediately bomb Iran. A real estate mogul/Wannabe Mad Max villain and a delusional neurosurgeon are polling higher than "real" candidates, it is glorious and terrible and I don't know if we are watching the death of democracy in action, or its salvation.