Yesterday we wrote of Dr. Carson's unconventional beliefs about the Egyptian pyramids. Today comes a story at Yahoo Politics that Carson has consistently lied about being offered a spot at West Point. Dylan Byers at CNN debunks the story, to some degree.
What seems beyond doubt, Carson was an outstanding cadet in Detroit's high school ROTC program. It is likely a high ranking Army officer suggested the young man could get an appointment to West Point, which in view of the military's efforts to identify and promote talented minorities was probably true in 1970.
Carson claims he thanked the general but told him of his intention to go into medicine, and let it drop. In later years, however, he remembers it as being offered a spot at "Hudson High." He has called it a "full scholarship" without mentioning (or perhaps knowing) that every West Point student gets the same no-cost package.
Chances are Carson has overstated the event, simplified it to make the point that he was an outstanding kid from a tough town. At the very least, it suggests fact checking Carson's other personal claims for signs of a pattern of Brian Williams-style exaggeration or braggadocio.
Honestly, I'm more concerned with his rejection of evolution, which to me seems both self-evident and non-controversial.
