Most people who aspire to be elected President of the United States want to reveal only their best and brightest moments to the voting public. But not Dr. Ben Carson. He is working very hard to convince all of us that he really did try to hit his mother on the head with a hammer. Say what, Ben Carson?
Who the hell tries to hit his mother with a hammer, anyway? Who tries to hit anyone with a hammer? Someone with an anger management problem and access to hand tools, I suppose.
No one who remembers Ben from childhood remembers him as a boy with a bad temper or a proclivity for violence. Nice try, Ben, but we don't believe that story about you trying to hit your mom with a hammer.
Whether it's true or not, Ben, why even tell that story? Why tell that story when you are running for President of the United States? I don't admire hammer-wielding people in general, but I cringe at the notion of anyone waving the hammer at their mother. That is just wrong on any level.
Here's my advice for you, Ben Carson: Just be yourself. Be the smart and dignified pediatric neurosurgeon that you are and stop trying to characterize your childhood. I don't think anyone is more likely to vote for you because your childhood was rotten, dangerous or violent. Whatever your childhood was like, you have overcome it to achieve success by anyone's definition.
I'd go with that. Focus on your accomplishments. Revel in your even temperament. Brag about your leadership skills and stay mum about the time you tried to bop you mom on the head with a hammer. No one wants to hear about that. Trust me.
More importantly, no one wants to imagine you doing that as we go to the polls to vote for the next leader of the free world.
photo credit: The White House Washington DC via photopin (license)