Republican presidential hopeful Dr. Ben Carson, who is a brain surgeon, can't stop saying stupid things. Yesterday at a Republican gathering, he compared ISIS to American patriots of old. In the speech, Carson ultimately reached the conclusion that Republicans should be more like ISIS. "They got the wrong philosophy," Carson admitted about ISIS, "but they're willing to die for what they believe, while we are busily giving away every belief and every value for the sake of political correctness." At the same gathering, Carson also argued that he's not "crazy." Carson said he stands by all his past remarks, including one comment that America under Obamacare is "very much like Nazi Germany." Carson concluded, “I don’t think there’s anything crazy at all” about those comments.

Speaking of people whose ridiculous comments are harmful to the fabric of society, conspiracy-monger Alex Jones yesterday made his endorsement for president of the United States. Jones wants a Rand Paul/Ted Cruz ticket, saying he's known Paul for 19 years. "Rand Paul is the best," Jones gushed. "He's the guy for president. Ted Cruz would make a great VP." So there you have it. We don't even have to bother with the expense of an election now, do we? Alex Jones has spoken!

Speaking of conspiracy theories, Matt Welch at libertarian site Reason.com points out that the Ron Paul Institute for Peace and Prosperity published an article arguing that the Charlie Hebdo shootings were a false flag attack. Welch says he has "tremendous respect" for Ron Paul, but he calls out the "seriously bizarre commentary" his institute publishes under his name, saying blather about false flags will "intrigue that narrow readership fond of fact-lite, rancidly-posited dot-connecting exercises, and repel just about everyone else." If libertarians want to be taken seriously, Welch argues, they need to stop promoting these kinds of conspiracies. It would certainly be a good first step.