Trump’s America: The return of Ben Carson

We’re getting some idea of what the Unites States will look like under a President Trump through media reports and the man’s own Twitter feed, which has become required reading for every journalist in the country looking for a quick few thousand pageviews.

There’s much to discuss, hence this semi-regular space in the paper. This week we’ll focus on a single cabinet appointment: Dr. Ben Carson, the literal brain surgeon and Trump’s onetime competitor for the Republican nomination.

It’s tough to play the Carson appointment straight. He has a painting of himself with Jesus hanging on the wall of his house, both of them in bathrobes. He has said that he believes the great pyramids of Egypt were originally intended as grain silos. And, most importantly, the last time Carson was offered a cabinet position, which was like two weeks ago, he turned it down, saying through a spokesperson that he did not have enough experience and had never run a federal agency. And this was for Health & Human Services, a department in which, as an actual doctor, he has at least some relevant experience.

And this was from a man who ran for president.

But he took a job in the Trump Administration this week, as secretary of housing & urban development. As someone who was both raised in public housing and on government assistance, but who is also on the record as opposing these things in favor of bootstrapping, Carson occupies a lonely position in the landscape of opinion.

But hey: It could be worse. Trump is interviewing Pat McCrory for a spot this week.