Dr. Ben Carson seems to have a thin skin when it comes to the media.

Editorial cartoonists have a wonderful advantage versus other journalists; we can put any stupid words we want into the mouths of any public figure. Regular journalists have a slightly higher bar – they have to act like jerks to try to coax a testy quote out of a public figure. Carson’s calm demeanor likely encourages the press to prod him even harder.

Carson say plenty of stupid things without prodding. He holds some of the most knuckle-dragging views on the neanderthal right. What worries me most is the crazy religious views that color right-wing views of reality, like Carson’s rejection of the theory of evolution. His belief that the pyramids were built to store grain at the direction of Joseph (the many colored coat Joseph) is funky a one. Where this becomes dangerous is when right-wing candidates believe that we’re at the “End of Days”, and the turmoil in the Middle East shows that the apocalypse and the return of Jesus Christ is imminent – that can lead to some ugly decision making.

If not for the nutty religious stuff I might be a Republican myself.

Well, maybe not.

Here’s a very close-up blow-up of Ben Carson’s tiny face. From this you can see that I really do draw in pencil and crank up the contrast to make it look like ink. I use yellow Dixon Ticonderoga pencils, with little pink erasers on the end (I always use up the pink erasers). Pencils are forgiving to indecisive cartoonists, like me.