The dissing of Dr. Carson

There is no American living today who I admire more than pioneering neurosurgeon Ben Carson. Reared in poverty in Detroit by a single-parent mother who often worked three scut jobs to put food on the table and clothes on the backs of Ben and older brother Curtis, his is a genuine Horatio Alger story.

Sonya Carson was one of America's unsung heroes. Illiterate, married at age 13, she divorced Ben's father when she learned he had a second family.

Ben and Curtis, a mechanical engineer, deserve most of the credit for their achievements in life. But it's doubtful they'd have made them were it not for the many sacrifices Sonya made on their behalf, and the discipline she imposed. She required her boys to read two books a week and restricted their television watching.

"I grew up to who I became because I had Mother," Dr. Carson said.

Sonya, who died in May, must have been proud of the Carson Scholarship Fund, which has awarded more than 6,700 scholarships to 500 colleges and universities, and the 120 Reading Rooms in 16 states where Dr. Carson hopes to spark in other poor minority students the love of reading his mother ignited in him.

No other candidates for president in either party can claim to have saved lives as Ben Carson has. No others can match his record of achievement. Yet Dr. Carson is running less for ego gratification than any of them.

The contrast between Dr. Carson and the prime egotist in the race, Donald Trump, could not be sharper. Mr. Trump brags constantly. Ben Carson lets his achievements speak for themselves. Mr. Trump bullies and name-calls. Dr. Carson searches for common ground.

Ben Carson also contrasts vividly with President Barack Obama, whose self-regard is enormous, his accomplishments sparse.

His achievements, temperament and platform make Dr. Carson an attractive candidate. So leftists are trying to tear him down, and are (as is customary) abusing the truth to do it.

On "Meet the Press" last Sunday, host Chuck Todd asked Dr. Carson: "Should a president's faith matter?"

"If it's inconsistent with the values and principles of America, then of course it should matter," he responded. "But if it fits within the realm of America and [is] consistent with the Constitution, no problem."

"Do you believe that Islam is consistent with the Constitution?" Mr. Todd pressed.

"No I don't," Dr. Carson replied. "I would not advocate that we put a Muslim in charge of this nation."

Faux outrage ensued.

Dr. Carson has made clear that he wouldn't vote for a Muslim for president because some seek a theocracy governed by Muslim (Sharia) law, which is inconsistent with the principles of religious liberty and separation of church and state upon which America was founded. (Fifty-one percent of Muslims living in the United States who responded to an online poll conducted for the Center for Security Policy said Muslims should have the option of being governed by Sharia law.)

Dr. Carson said he could support a Muslim for president if he or she pledged to abide by the Constitution.

The smug and ignorant accuse Dr. Carson of not understanding the Constitution, which forbids a religious test for public office. Neither Dr. Carson nor anyone else has challenged the right of Muslims to seek office. But voters are free to take religion into account. It was a long time before a Roman Catholic was elected president.

This faux controversy has answered positively a question I've had about Ben Carson as a presidential candidate. Despite the strenuous efforts of our corrupt political class to bully him, he's stood his ground. He may be soft-spoken, but there is steel in his spine.

I have other questions about Dr. Carson — chiefly about his willingness to respond with military force if America is attacked. If he answers them as well as he has this one, a Rubio-Carson or a Carson-Rubio GOP ticket would excite me very much.

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JWR contributor Jack Kelly, a former Marine and Green Beret, was a deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force in the Reagan administration.