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If there was any doubt that Ben Carson has become a water-carrier for the far right, it was eliminated when he paid a visit to Newsmax TV on Monday. He suggested a “compromise” to solve the marriage equality debate–gay people can do whatever they please, as long as they accept that they can’t be allowed to marry.

Carson was the special guest on Ed Berliner’s show, “Midpoint,” where he was promoting his recent book, “One Nation: What We Can All Do To Save America’s Future.” Berliner said that when he read the book, he thought that it’s possible to broker a compromise on abortion and gay marriage. Carson agreed that a compromise is indeed possible if we “replace political correctness with civil discourse.” He then said that if gays want to “form some other kind of relationship,” it’s perfectly fine with him–they just can’t call it marriage. And yet, in the same breath he claims that he’s not imposing his will on anyone. Yeah, okay. That “compromise” sounds a lot like those that have been offered by Republican lawmakers in the past on several issues–“you can do what you want as long as you accept our way, sit down, and shut up.”

To Carson’s mind, allowing gays to marry would be like trying to say that 2+2=5. In his book, he referred to a discussion between traditional and new-school mathematicians. The new-schoolers wanted to change the sum of 2+2 to 5, but the traditionalists were adamant on keeping it as 4. Eventually, the traditionalists suggested that the new-schoolers could let 2+2=5 if they wanted. The new-schoolers, however, replied that the traditionalists had to accept the new sum as well, or else they were “mathists” or “mathophobes.”

Carson is comparing apples to oranges. Getting a math problem wrong can lead to real-world consequences–like a building collapsing or a train track falling apart due to an incorrect measurement. But Carson, like just about every other opponent of gay marriage, fails to come up with an even remotely coherent explanation for how allowing gay marriage could harm anyone. He wondered why so many gays are adamant that the rest of society accept their marriages as equal. Well, that’s why–no one has been able to show how it does society any harm.

The rest of Carson’s appearance was pretty eye-opening as well. He repeated the tea party shibboleth that Obamacare was part of the master plan of the right’s latest bogeyman, Saul Alinsky, to make it easier for government to take control of everything. Combine that with his so-called compromise on gay marriage, and my assessment of Carson from a few weeks ago stands–the only difference between him and Ted Cruz is skin color. It’s too bad that Carson seems to be throwing away his sterling reputation to become a right-wing darling. The closest parallel I can draw is to Peter Duesberg, who has essentially destroyed his reputation as a pioneer in cancer research by openly embracing AIDS denialism. Like Duesberg, from the looks of it Carson’s self-inflicted damage to his reputation is permanent.

Watch the video below. Let us know your thoughts at the Liberal America Facebook page.

Darrell Lucus is a radical-lefty Jesus-lover who has been blogging for change for a decade. Follow him on Twitter @DarrellLucus or connect with him on Facebook.