Ben Carson Admits Fabricating West Point Scholarship

This disqualifies Carson from the highest office in the land completely! Maybe Trey Gowdy will start an investigation into his lies. Naw! GOP lies are OK with the GOP base. He'll probably get a bump in the polls for this one. HYPOCRITES!!!!!!

Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship
Carson's campaign on Friday conceded that a central point in his inspirational personal story did not occur as he previously described.
By KYLE CHENEY

11/06/15 11:29 AM EST

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The academy has occupied a central place in Carson’s tale for years. According to a story told in Carson’s book, “Gifted Hands,” the then-17 year old was introduced in 1969 to Gen. William Westmoreland, who had just ended his command of U.S. forces in Vietnam, and the two dined together. That meeting, according to Carson’s telling, was followed by a “full scholarship” to the military academy.

West Point, however, has no record of Carson applying, much less being extended admission.

“In 1969, those who would have completed the entire process would have received their acceptance letters from the Army Adjutant General,” said Theresa Brinkerhoff,a spokeswoman for the academy. She said West Point has no records that indicate Carson even began the application process. “If he chose to pursue (the application process), then we would have records indicating such,” she said.

When presented with these facts, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.

“Dr. Carson was the top ROTC student in the City of Detroit,” campaign manager Barry Bennett wrote in an email to POLITICO. “In that role he was invited to meet General Westmoreland. He believes it was at a banquet. He can’t remember with specificity their brief conversation but it centered around Dr. Carson’s performance as ROTC City Executive Officer.”




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“He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors,” Bennett added. “They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission.”

This admission comes as serious questions about other points of fact in Carson’s personal narrative are questioned, including the seminal episode in which he claimed to have attempted to stab a close friend. Similarly, details have emerged that cast doubt on the nature of Carson’s encounter with one of the most prominent military men of that era.

The West Point spokeswoman said it certainly is possible Carson talked with Westmoreland, and perhaps the general even encouraged him to apply to West Point. However, she said, the general would have explained the benefits of a West Point education without guaranteeing him entry.

An application to West Point begins with a nomination by a member of Congress or another prominent government or military official. After that, a rigorous vetting process begins. If offered admission, all costs are covered; indeed there are no “full scholarships,” per se.

In “Gifted Hands,” Carson says he excelled in his ROTC program at Detroit’s Southwestern High School, earning the respect of his superiors — just a couple years after anger problems led him to try to murder a friend. He attained the rank of second lieutenant by his senior year of high school and became the student leader of the city’s ROTC programs.

In May of his senior year, he was chosen to march in the city’s Memorial Day parade.

“I felt so proud, my chest bursting with ribbons and braids of every kind. To make it more wonderful, we had important visitors that day. Two soldiers who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor in Viet Nam were present,” he wrote. “More exciting to me, General William Westmoreland (very prominent in the Viet Nam war) attended with an impressive entourage. Afterward, Sgt. Hunt” — his high school ROTC director — “introduced me to General Westmoreland, and I had dinner with him and the Congressional Medal winners. Later I was offered a full scholarship to West Point.”

But, according to records of Westmoreland’s schedule that were provided by the U.S. Army, the general did not visit Detroit around Memorial Day in 1969 or have dinner with Carson. In fact, the general’s records suggest he was in Washington that day and played tennis at 6:45 p.m.

 

If it turns out to be true, that Carson lied, he should be disqualified from the Presidency. It's as simple as that.
Now, will the other side be honest enough to agree their candidates who are caught lying....cough. Hillary, cough cough...should be disqualified too?

 

Yes, David, he did. However, if telling a lie were reason enough to be disqualified, there would be no candidates.

 

I agree. Perhaps I should qualify my statement.
If lying disqualifies Carson it should disqualify any other candidate caught lying.

 

Carson received an offer, but didn't apply because he wanted to go to medical school instead.

This is a petty witch hunt by Carson's enemies who don't like him because he's black. Nothing more.

 

No, Ben Carson Didn't Lie About West Point. It's Another Media Hit Job.



November 06, 2015

Nver underestimate the capacity of the media to propagandize against Republicans.

That’s the theme of this morning’s overwrought news coverage on Dr. Ben Carson’s supposed “lie” regarding a “scholarship” to West Point. The story began with Politico, which ran with the audacious headline, “Ben Carson admits fabricating West Point scholarship.” Even I was taken in by the headline – after all, that’s a pretty bold claim!

Politico began thusly:

Ben Carson’s campaign on Friday admitted, in a response to an inquiry from POLITICO, that a central point in his inspirational personal story was fabricated: his application and acceptance into the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.

The key word here is “fabricated.” Did the Carson campaign admit any such thing? Absolutely not. The facts reported by Politico don’t even support this interpretation of the Carson campaign’s response. According to Politico, Carson said in his 1992 memoir Gifted Hands that he was offered a “full scholarship” to West Point after dining with General William Westmoreland in 1969. Here’s the relevant passage from Carson’s autobiography:

At the end of my twelfth grade I marched at the head of the Memorial Day parade. I felt so proud, my chest bursting with ribbons and braids of every kind. To make it more wonderful, We had important visitors that day. Two soldiers who had won the Congressional Medal of Honor in Viet Nam were present. More exciting to me, General William Westmoreland (very prominent in the Viet Nam war) attended with an impressive entourage. Afterward, Sgt. Hunt introduced me to General Westmoreland, and I had dinner with him and the Congressional Medal winners. Later I was offered a full scholarship to West Point. I didn’t refuse the scholarship outright, but I let them know that a military career wasn’t where I saw myself going.

That’s the entire relevant portion of Carson’s account. He reiterated that account last month in an interview with Charlie Rose, when he said, “I was offered a full scholarship at West Point, got to meet General Westmoreland and go to Congressional Medal of Honor dinners. But decided really my pathway would be medicine.”

Politico followed up on this story. They reported one additional piece of information that seems to conflict with Carson’s story: Carson never applied to West Point, and was never extended admission.

But Carson never said he applied. He said he was extended a full scholarship offer. What’s more, West Point doesn’t offer scholarships: all admission is free contingent on serving in the military afterwards. It thus seems probable that Westmoreland or another military figure tried to recruit Carson, telling him that he wouldn’t have to pay for his education – and that Carson read that as a “full scholarship,” and never applied.

In fact, that’s exactly what Carson’s campaign manager said to Politico in an email:

Dr. Carson was the top ROTC student in the City of Detroit. In that role he was invited to meet General Westmoreland. He believes it was at a banquet. He can’t remember with specificity their brief conversation but it centered around Dr. Carson’s performance as ROTC City Executive Officer. He was introduced to folks from West Point by his ROTC Supervisors. They told him they could help him get an appointment based on his grades and performance in ROTC. He considered it but in the end did not seek admission.

But here’s how Politico editorialized: “When presented with this evidence, Carson’s campaign conceded the story was false.”

That’s nonsense. They did no such thing. They provided details that corroborated Carson’s story and explained his loose use of the language. If someone told you that you could go to college for free, you might reasonably conclude that you had been offered a full scholarship to attend that university. But Politico would call you a liar if you used such language to describe the exchange.


Now, some on the right are saying that Carson should be held to a higher standard here than other candidates because he’s running as an “outsider.” But this is a basic case of misinterpreting facts, not an outright lie. Carson served in ROTC. Prominent people wanted him to go to West Point. He wouldn’t have had to pay. He didn’t apply because he didn’t want to go. Those facts are not in dispute. It’s the specific wording over which media have decided to crucify him.

This is a textbook example of a left-wing media hit. Politico would never editorialize about any Democrat who issued such a response to a factual inquiry in this manner. Politico won’t even conclude that Hillary Clinton lied about her attribution of the Benghazi attacks to a YouTube video despite email evidence that she knew Benghazi was a terrorist attack entirely unrelated to a YouTube video.

But for Ben Carson, they’ll make an exception.

Vile.

UPDATE: Dave Weigel of The Washington Post rightly points out this from Carson's Facebook page circa August:

I was the highest student ROTC member in Detroit and was thrilled to get an offer from West Point. But I knew medicine is what I wanted to do. So I applied to only one school. (it was all the money I had). I applied to Yale and thank God they accepted me. I often wonder what might have happened had they said no.

Weigel also points out that Carson said as much in his book -- the same book Politico quoted to pretend that Carson lied:



So Politico lied again -- Carson never even claimed to have applied to West Point.

The Carson campaign has denied the Politico headline, of course, because the headline is factually untrue. They told The Daily Caller, "The Politico story is an outright Lie....The campaign never 'admitted to anything.' This is what we have come to expect from Politico.”

UPDATE II: In a lame attempt to walk back their story but maintain the hit on Carson, Politico just tweeted this revised headline:



Pathetic. Armstrong Williams, a close associate of Carson's, told Weigel, "In the story itself, the campaign does not say Dr. Carson applied to West Point. Dr. Carson boasts about his scores in ROTC. Westmoreland encourages him to apply. As Dr. Carson says, they were impressed by his scores, but he never applied. They said to him, we could get you in. This guy got into Yale -- obviously he could have got in. The headline was a fabrication."

http://www.dailywire.com/news/960/no-ben-carson-didnt-lie-about-west-point-its-ben-shapiro

 

Now you're talking like me. You can learn.

 

Ahhh! You almost had it.

 

Except <<<------See that Coitus------- There is this little fact.

But, according to records of Westmoreland’s schedule that were provided by the U.S. Army, the general did not visit Detroit around Memorial Day in 1969 or have dinner with Carson. In fact, the general’s records suggest he was in Washington that day and played tennis at 6:45 p.m.

 

Are you saying a lie from a Conservative is unacceptable while a lie from a liberal is perfectly okay?

 

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/carson-admits-lying-about-west-point-scholarship?cid=sm_fb_allin

Ben Carson admits to fabricating West Point story, 11/6/15, 12:30 PM ET
Ben Carson admits he never applied to West Point
11/06/15 12:24 PM—UPDATED 11/06/15 02:40 PM

2 share group 291
By Aliyah Frumin
Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson’s campaign has admitted that the retired neurosurgeon never applied to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point as he claimed in his autobiography, MSNBC has confirmed.

A spokesperson at West Point initially told Politico, which first reported the story, that the school had no record of Carson applying, let alone gaining acceptance.

On Friday, after the story surfaced, Carson told The New York Times that he doesn’t “remember all the specific details,” adding “Because I had done so extraordinarily well you know I was told that someone like me — they could get a scholarship to West Point. But I made it clear I was going to pursue a career in medicine.” He insisted the back and forth with the school was “an informal ‘with a record like yours we could easily get you a scholarship to West Point.‘ “

Theresa Brinkerhoff, a spokeswoman at West Point had said the academy had no records that Carson began the application process and that “If he chose to pursue (the application process) then we would have records indicating such.” It appears possible, however, that if Carson were nominated for admission but chose not to apply, records of that would not have been kept, according to a statement sent to NBC News by West Point.

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Campaign manager Barry Bennett said that Carson was introduced to people at the school who told him they could get him an initial appointment because of his ROTC record, and while he “considered it but in the end did not seek admission.”

However, in his book, “Gifted Hands,” Carson wrote that he received a full scholarship to the military academy after meeting with Gen. William Westmoreland for dinner in 1969. At the time of the meeting, Carson was in high school in Detroit and a member of ROTC.

Bennett said, “I would argue strongly that an appointment is indeed an amazing full scholarship. Having ran several congressional offices, I am very familiar with the nomination process.” Bennett added that Carson and Westmoreland did meet but Carson ”can’t remember with specificity their brief conversation but it centered around Dr. Carson’s performance as ROTC City Executive Officer.”

Up until this point, Carson has maintained he had been accepted into the school. Back in August, he responded to a questioner on Facebook who wanted to know if it was true that he was offered a slot at West Point after high school. Carson responded, “…that is true. I was the highest student ROTC member in Detroit and was thrilled to get an offer from West Point. But I knew medicine is what I wanted to do. So I applied to only one school. (it was all the money I had). I applied to Yale and thank God they accepted me. I often wonder what might have happened had they said no.”

Carson, who has emerged as a front-runner in recent polls, had already been facing questions about his past, including claims that he had a violent childhood, even as some organizations have tried — and failed — to verify his account.

His rival, Donald Trump, immediately took a dig at Carson after the story about West Point surfaced. “WOW, one of many lies by Ben Carson! Big story,” he tweeted. Several in the conservative media also said going forward the story is likely to be a big thorn in the Republican’s side. ”Okay, this actually could (i.e. this will) be a problem for Ben Carson,” tweeted GOP pollster Frank Luntz. Breitbart’s John Nolte wrote, “If this is true, Carson is done.” Red State’s Erick Erickson joined in, calling the news “The Beginning of Ben Carson’s End.”

Ret. Col. Jack Jacobs, a military analyst who teaches at West Point told msnbc that “It’s astonishing somebody would fabricate something as easily checked as this and then run for public office,” adding that Carson’s use of the term “full scholarship” should have raised red flags. “The education is free and you get a small stipend. Nobody calls it a full scholarship.”

 

I'm saying that the list of things the GOP has called "lies" is so long, it is hard to even comprehend which things they are even referring to as "lies" these days. And yet even after their accusations have been proven to have no merit, they continue to accuse their enemies of "lies" without any justification because their stupid idiotic base already believes the false narrative and that was the goal in the first place. You've already proven this week that the truth isn't what motivates you. You wouldn't know a lie from the truth if it bit you in the ass at this point. You've been listening to GOP lies for so long, you have no idea what the difference is anymore. It is pointless to talk to a closed minded idiot from my point of view, so please just start chanting USA! USA! USA! and we'll leave it at that.

 

It does, except in the GOP. There, lying makes your poll number go up. But if all it took was your political foes to accuse you of lying for you to be disqualified, wouldn't everyone accuse the other guy of lying? I think we have to consider the source and the motivation of the accuser as well as their track record of false claims.

Here is another example of RW lies that have been proven false but we'll keep hearing them from your side anyway...

Key Clinton emails did not contain highly classified secrets, inquiry finds
'The initial determination was based on a flawed process,' a source says.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/...ail-no-highly-classified-215599#ixzz3qkTngY00

 

Most seriously, the Inspector General assessed that Clinton’s emails included information that was highly classified—yet mislabeled as unclassified. Worse, the information in question should have been classified up to the level of “TOP SECRET//SI//TK//NOFORN,” according to the Inspector General’s report…In short: Information at the “TOP SECRET//SI//TK//NOFORN” level is considered exceptionally highly classified and must be handled with great care under penalty of serious consequences for mishandling. Every person who is cleared and “read on” for access to such information signs reams of paperwork and receives detailed training about how it is to be handled, no exceptions—and what the consequences will be if the rules are not followed.

 

Here is the lie straight from the horse's mouth....

http://mediamatters.org/embed/static/clips/2015/11/06/43037/pbs-rose-20151009-bencarson

 

Most seriously, the Inspector General assessed that Clinton’s emails included information that was highly classified—yet mislabeled as unclassified. Worse, the information in question should have been classified up to the level of “TOP SECRET//SI//TK//NOFORN,” according to the Inspector General’s report…In short: Information at the “TOP SECRET//SI//TK//NOFORN” level is considered exceptionally highly classified and must be handled with great care under penalty of serious consequences for mishandling. Every person who is cleared and “read on” for access to such information signs reams of paperwork and receives detailed training about how it is to be handled, no exceptions—and what the consequences will be if the rules are not followed.

 

Problem is, he never said he applied there.

 

What about Hillary's lies about the sniper fire thing? That was a lie that was exposed. Where does that register?

 

IMO, relative to Ben's West Point, major. Relative to Benghazi, minor which is minor compared to her email.