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Ben Carson's RNC Speech Went Gaga For Lucifer

by Joseph D. Lyons

Perhaps the weirdest convention speech ever has come from none other than your favorite erratic former neurosurgeon, Ben Carson. He, like the other GOP bigwigs speaking at the RNC Tuesday, is no fan of Hillary Clinton. But he didn't call her a liar, crooked, or in the pocket of Wall Street. No, he said that she's an agent of the Devil. Yep, you read that correctly. I'll try to explain, but there really is no understanding him. That doesn't mean you can't laugh uncontrollably. These Ben Carson RNC speech memes and tweets are proof of that.

To be fair, before we try to understand what he meant, it's important to note that he started off his speech with some ground rules. "I’m not politically correct," he told the attendees at the Cleveland arena. "And I hate political correctness, because it’s antithetical to the founding principles of this country, and the secular progressives use it to make people sit down and shut up while they change everything." So we have the context of "crazy wins." Perfect.

From there, Carson went into his attack, declaring that a Clinton presidency would last longer than four or eight years, because she'll appoint judges who "will have an effect on us for generations, and America may never recover from that." Add to that the "crazy wins" context that we're in the end times. Maybe you can see how he jumps to Lucifer now? Maybe?

Well, it was actually through mention of an idol of Hillary Clinton's that he got onto the subject — "one of her heroes, her mentors," Carson said. That would be community organizer Saul Alinsky. Clinton wrote her senior thesis on him while at Wellesley. Alinsky worked in Chicago, and is perhaps the original community organizer. Groups he began and their subsequent spinoffs are responsible for the careers of other famous organizers, like Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez.

According to Carson, Alinsky's book Rules for Radicals is the real problem. "On the dedication page, it acknowledges Lucifer, the original radical who gained his own kingdom," he said. That's not quite true. The book was dedicated to Alinsky's wife, but he does also begin the book by referencing "the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom — Lucifer." It seems the irony in the statement was lost on Carson.

Instead, Carson applies Alinsky's supposed love of Lucifer to Clinton: "So are we willing to elect someone as president who has as their role model somebody who acknowledges Lucifer? Think about that." He of all people should be ready to acknowledge the Devil — he's the one constantly bringing up God and how the country's going to Hell. But better not to try to make too much sense of this one. No one watching in the audience gets it either, at least if Twitter is to be believed.

It may not have just been those at home surprised, either.

Because the Republican speechwriters weren't aware. Or were they? Hard to tell these days.

In the end, Carson defeats his own argument. In a way, this is a win for the fight against secular liberalism.

And of course, if this were true, all the Republican attacks would make so much more sense.

But maybe Carson has his aim set on the wrong party.

Poor Ben Carson. No one really seems to be taking this Lucifer thing seriously. And as for Trump, if his campaign's goal was to keep us distracted from his nomination by having an insane lineup of speakers, well done. Well done.