Watch rising Republican star Ben Carson attempt to weasel out of his remarks comparing Obamacare to slavery.

Courtesy of Salon:

 Appearing on “Meet the Press” on Sunday, former celebrated surgeon, current right-wing folk hero and potential future 2016 presidential candidate Ben Carson attempted to defend his earlier remark comparing Obamacare to slavery by noting that “anything is slavery that robs you of your ability to control your own life.” 

“First of all, recognize what I said,” Carson responded when asked by host David Gregory to explain his earlier comments. “Worst thing since slavery. I didn’t say that it was slavery.” 

“Well, you said ‘it is’ slavery ‘in a way,’” Gregory interjected. 

“Right, and I said, ‘in a way,’” Carson specified. “In a way, anything is slavery that robs you of your ability to control your own life.” 

“And when you take the most important thing that you have, which is your health care, and you put that in the hands of government bureaucrats,” Carson went on, “I think, you have done the wrong thing.” 

“And as I was about to say, you go back and you look at the neo-Marxist literature, and look at what they say — don’t have to listen to what I say — about taking control of health care of the populous, and making people dependent,” he added.

What Carson seems to miss is that before Obamacare came in an leveled the playing field somewhat, the insured were at the mercy of the insurers, who could drop you as a client for just about any reason at all.

Not only that but if you got your health insurance through your job, which the majority of Americans seem to do, then your choices of policy holders, cost, and coverage was dictated to some degree by the company that you worked for.

Did that make the employees slaves to their employers?

You cannot call Ben Carson an idiot. He was a very successful surgeon, and has written a number of bestselling books. However watching him attempt to wriggle out of, what can only be described and inflammatory and deceptive remarks, it is clear he is a zealot who is using his ethnicity and education to inflame a group of people who will not take the time to fact check his remarks.

And speaking as a white guy, I found it very troubling to see a black man who is so willing to toss around a word like slavery in such an off hand manner.

I would think that he would know better.