President Obama Joins Facebook; A Story Of Two Ben Carsons–Does It Matter To GOP Voters?
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President Barack Obama is on Instagram and Twitter, why not Facebook? The answer to that question came Monday when the White House announced that the president now has his own Facebook page.
“Hello, Facebook! I finally got my very own page. I hope you’ll think of this as a place where we can have real conversations about the most important issues facing our country – a place where you can hear directly from me, and share your own thoughts and stories. (You can expect some just-for-fun stuff, too.),” he writes in his first post.
His timeline is already chockfull of key events, including his swearing-in ceremony in 2009 and his oath of office for the second term in 2013.
By noon, Obama had garnered over 40,000 likes and a warm welcome from Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook.
“Welcome to Facebook, President Obama!” she wrote. “Excited for you to have your very own Page – and looking forward to the conversation (and the just-for-fun stuff).”
Check it out here.
PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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Ben Carson has carefully tended his image with the precision of a surgeon manipulating a scalpel during a delicate operation.
His polite and subtle non-threatening Black male demeanor has made him the darling of the mostly White Republican Party. Not only that, who doesn’t admire the story of how he bootstrapped his way from an impoverished childhood in Detroit to become a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland?
In his Gifted Hands autobiography, Carson depicts how he succeeded against the odds. He’s become so successful, he is now a presidential candidate for the Republican Party. Furthermore, he leads Donald Trump in a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey of likely GOP primary voters. In the poll released last week, Carson had 29 percent of support compared to Trump’s 23 percent.
But now Carson’s well-tended storybook persona is under fire after questions have emerged over details in his autobiography. The discord is proving to be red meat to competitors.
Carson’s woes began last week when journalists raised questions about several stories in his past, including violent incidents in his youth and claims that he was offered a full scholarship to West Point.
Then on Friday, he acknowledged that he never applied to the military academy, though he said he had received an “informal” offer from Gen. William Westmoreland. Problem is, West Point has no record of Carson applying, or of him being offered admission. And, CNN came up empty-handed in a search for witnesses to his so-called violent episodes.
Now, the surgical gloves are off, so-to-speak. No longer are Carson’s hands perfectly clasped or gently set apart to make a point beneath a soft smile. His face is cringed as he gesticulates wildly. He’s angry. And he blames the media for “completely unfair” coverage after reporters delved into his background and came up with half-truths.
“This is a bunch of lies… I think it’s pathetic,” Carson said, claiming CNN is fishing for a scandal that doesn’t exist.
From CNN:
In his 1990 autobiography, “Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story,” Carson describes those acts as flowing from an uncontrollable “pathological temper.” The violent episodes he has detailed in his book, in public statements and in interviews, include punching a classmate in the face with his hand wrapped around a lock, leaving a bloody three-inch gash in the boy’s forehead; attempting to attack his own mother with a hammer following an argument over clothes; hurling a large rock at a boy, which broke the youth’s glasses and smashed his nose; and, finally, thrusting a knife at the belly of his friend with such force that the blade snapped when it luckily struck a belt buckle covered by the boy’s clothes.
“I was trying to kill somebody,” Carson said, describing the incident — which he has said occurred at age 14 in ninth grade — during a September forum at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco.
But nine friends, classmates and neighbors who grew up with Carson told CNN they have no memory of the anger or violence the candidate has described.
Unlike in the past, none of his rivals have come forward to defend or express sympathy for Carson’s renewed scrutiny.
“Is he kidding?” New Jersey governor and Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie told CNN’s New Day on Monday.
Trump, ever the tactical magician, said the incident raised questions about Carson’s ability to run the country, telling Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor on Friday that his violent childhood indicates he has a “pathological disease” that has still not been treated.
“I don’t think it’s small ball if you have somebody that admits that he suffers from pathological disease,” Trump said.“You don’t get better. If it’s in your stream, it’s in your stream.”
We will have to wait for new poll results to see voters’ reaction to these latest developments. As for Carson, this is a come-to-Jesus moment, where he has to determine where his truth lies.
Sound off in the comments…
SOURCE: CNN | PHOTO CREDIT: Getty
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