Friday, February 8, 2013

Speaking Truth to Power

At yesterday's National Prayer Breakfast world renown pediatric neurosurgeon Dr. Benjamin Carson did what few people have been able to do. He outlined a couple of policy prescriptions for the nation that run almost completely counter to those of the president, and did so in a forum in which the president was not only a captive listener but sitting only two chairs away.

Carson's speech was simple, compelling, and full of common sense. It has also apparently gone viral in the cyberworld.

Here's his presentation. It lasts a little over twenty six minutes, but it's worth listening to. The whole talk is good, but the controversial part is during the six minutes from about the 16 minute mark to about 22 minutes.
Carson has been criticized by some in the liberal media for being disrespectful to the president. Do you think he was out of line or do you think he was speaking truth to power in the spirit of the Old Testament prophets? If you think he was out of line would you have formed the same judgment had it not been Barack Obama sitting at the table but rather George W. Bush and if the speaker had been as obliquely critical of Bush's policies as Carson was of Obama's?