EMBELLISHMENTS

Now that Republican Presidential candidate Ben Carson is running neck and neck with Donald Trump, reports are starting to surface that Carson might have embellished a few points in the life he reported in his book, Gifted Hands.

He says he was offered a full scholarship to West Point, though it turns out he never really applied.

Critics also note there's no such thing as a scholarship to this institution. Folks get in by congressional appointment. In exchange for a free education, students are obligated to a term of military service.

Carson claims to have had a violent temper, that he tried to attack his best friend with a knife.

I don't know the details, but it's been hard to turn up people in Carson's past who have any notion of his violent nature.

Also, the words "tried to attack" suggest there was no actual attack, no blood. Certainly no police report.

Carson could have reacted to these media reports by explaining the discrepancies, perhaps agreeing the words he used were open to another, more exalted interpretation.

Sorry for the misunderstanding, he might have said.

In the case of West Point, apparently somebody informed him that with his grades and so forth he'd have no trouble getting a free ride at that school. I have yet to hear who it was who made this prediction. (I haven't read the book.) Was it General Westmoreland?

It doesn't matter. The point is, Carson's response came right out of the Politicians' Playbook: Blame the media for bringing up all this trivial nonsense. Blame them for attempting to assassinate his character.

For a guy running on the "outsider" ticket, this was probably a bad move. Turns out the guy is a politician after all.

At a press conference, Carson suggested the next thing he's going to hear is some kindergarten teacher revealing young Ben peed in his pants.

While no one can be sure that report won't happen, it would not be the same sort of "attack" we've seen so far. What's going on is that certain inaccuracies are being brought to light. Carson is not being accused of failings in a general sense.

(I think we all pee our pants a little from time to time; that equipment is not foolproof.)

Carson shouldn't have to worry about the "peed his pants" story unless he spontaneously issues a claim he never in his life peed his pants. Once he makes such a bizarre statement, however, the gloves come off. Expect the search to begin for that kindergarten teacher with a long memory.

It may be that Carson, like a lot of human beings, simply cannot see the difference between what he said happened and what actually happened.

Far as he's concerned, he's got a good story and he's sticking to it.

Reminds me of why Brian Williams is no longer the anchor of the NBC Nightly News.

It went like this: There was an incident in a war zone--Iraq, 2003. Williams was flying in an Army helicopter that chanced upon another Chinook that had been brought down by RPG fire. In his story, Williams reported the helicopter "in front of us" had been hit. He failed to mention he meant an hour in front his 'copter. After telling the story a couple of times (on Letterman, etc.), those holes jumped the gap from one aircraft to another, miraculously (and dramatically) appearing in the chopper Williams had occupied. For this embellishment, the folks at NBC handed the guy a pretty severe time-out.

Carson's life story is sufficiently amazing at face value. He probably doesn't need to punch it up.

On the other hand, parts of Trump's life story suffer from certain attitude problems.

("My dad gave me a small loan of a million dollars." Perhaps some of Trump's supporters don't see the problem. Others might wish they could use the words "small loan" and "a million dollars" in the same sentence and have it feel just right. Well, guys, maybe someday...)

Ben Carson is at a particular disadvantage. Black folks in this country always have a plausible reason to explain why they're being attacked: racism. This societal failing is very alluring. It explains so much.

Apparently.

No need to look further, right?

The easy path is always wide and inviting. And just as hard to ignore. I don't believe Carson has played that card yet to explain why the media is after him, probably because he doesn't want to sound like a racial victim.

But he was very fast to conclude those guys were after him, not simply applying a little professional scrutiny to his story.

Due diligence, man. It's the sort of thing they do to everybody running for president.

Why ascribe more sinister motives?