“The people have spoken, the bastards.”
Dick Tuck, 1966

Via Politico:

Ben Carson is suspending his bid for the presidency, the retired neurosurgeon announced Friday, speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

“Even though I might be leaving the campaign trail, you know there’s a lot of people who love me, they just won’t vote for me. But I will still continue to be heavily involved in trying to save our nation,” he said.

Of all the sad things that have happened this election cycle, Ben Carson’s self destruction has to rate up there near the top. He had immense promise as a voice for morality and cultural sanity on the national stage. I’m convinced he got into the race as a means of raising his profile for speaking engagements and to push his book (“former candidate for president” looks pretty good on the bio or dust jacket). The unsettled nature of the race propelled him to the top ranks of the candidates and hubris did the rest.

I’d like to be able to say of him a paraphrase of Banquo’s statement from MacBeth, “Nothing in his [campaign] became him like the [quitting] it.” But I can’t. He left the campaign a diminished, petty, and at times craven little man. That is too bad for him and for our nation.