"Tall tales" is being generous. He seems to be flat-out lying about much of his past.
So far, Carson has claimed that:
- He stabbed a guy.
- He threw a big rock at a guy's face.
- He attacked somebody with a baseball bat.
- He attacked somebody with a hammer.
Carson's problem is that there is no evidence whatsoever of his stories of violence. The people who have talked about young Carson said that his stories didn't fit his character and never saw any violence. He hasn't given one name of the victims, nor has anyone else. No victims have surfaced and there are no police reports for any of these assaults.
Not only that, his tall tales of violence is continuing with his latest claim that he was recently held up at Popeye's. There are no witnesses and no police report of this hold up ever occurring.
Why would Carson make all of these claims about his youthful violence? Fuzzy believes that it supports his narrative that he worked his way up from the very bottom. This "anyone can succeed" argument allows him to rail against entitlements and social programs -- a pillar of his platform.
Unfortunately, many news stories about this topic shows images of youths, so Fuzzy can only provide this flimsy link:
https://goo.gl/Qsi5Ke
There are some aspects of these issues that are telling in more subtle ways. As to the issues of his youth and violence he has claimed to have been involved in, it is within the realm of possible that the incidents were never reported and were unknown to many of his friends at the time they occurred. I had "good" friends and "bad" friends growing up. The good ones would have been stunned at some of my actions with the bad ones. It was two separate realities. I'm not saying his stories are accurate, or defending him per se, but it is to me possible. Given the area and circumstances he grew up in, it is credible to be that he would have been exposed to some violent types and have a lot of frustration and anger as a child that could place him in those situations. If the stories are not true at all - I can think that perhaps they became real to him as a way of pushing back white being a minority in an overwhelmingly white profession when he was starting out. I thinking of perhaps a guy who allowed stereotypes to be added to his image to impress peers - just guessing at this point.
The Popeye's story is interesting on a couple of points. First did it happen? I don't know how reliable paper records or even digital copies of thirty plus year police reports are coming from Baltimore. I never hear Carson say he was interviewed as a witness at the time, although one would expect he was or should have been. Did he leave before the cops arrived? He was a doctor on a lunch break. Did the cop who did arrive not take a statement for whatever reason? I have no idea. As to the truth of the story - I'll give him a pass on this one, there is too much that would be hard to verify. The point that made the story stick out for me was that I heard it AFTER his statements on standing up to shooters, like the ones happening in movie theatres, and colleges. He advocated confronting the gunman, even unarmed with the idea that the gunman could not kill everyone and would be overpowered. We an argue that too. But his larger point seemed to me that mass shootings happen because people (unarmed people) are sheep and allow them. That in and of itself was telling, but then it comes out almost at the same time that he himself directed a gunman to a cashier during a robbery rather than initiate the beat down he expects others to perform in similar circumstances. To me, the focus should be in the inconsistent view of his own personal call to action - be the hero, be the victim.
West Point. The service academies are hard to get into, and the application process is arduous and difficult. My father went to the USNA in Annapolis. My mother, as a teacher had numerous students apply to and graduate from all the US service academies. That said, if a student is recruited for athletic reasons or other reasons, exceptions can be made to jump line. The applicant would still have to qualify in all other ways, but would not need the requisite "appointment" to get in. It is not unusual. I doubt the schools keep records of people who were recruited but did not wish to attend. If Westmoreland made the offer over a lunch I doubt that there would be a record anywhere - least of all the academy. Did the offer or the luncheon even occur? That would be the question.
If Carson has been puffing his resume - like Trump puffing his billions, or Brian Williams / Bill O'Reilly puffing theirs, to be it would be a serious issue of character, but in all honesty would it affect my vote if I were inclined to vote for Carson anyway?
No, it would not. I voted for Bill Clinton twice, knowing full well he lied often about personal issues as well as political ones. Still, I liked what I hoped his policies would be if elected. I picked him over H.W. Bush who was a credible war hero, and was far more QUALIFIED to be president than any man since - well anyone.
I voted for Clinton even after DOMA - which I hated, because I knew that Dems would be out of office for ten years on that issue alone. It showed a lack of character on his part and mine. That is politics.
At the end of it all, you can be pure of heart or you can advance part of your agenda. I don't like it, but that is where the world is. Given that, I understand why Carson's supporters don't care that he is not always telling the plain simple truth.