Ben Carson’s campaign made a U.S. map and put a bunch of states in the wrong place

[timosman]

Ben Carson’s campaign made a U.S. map and put a bunch of states in the wrong place

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...and-put-a-bunch-of-states-in-the-wrong-place/

By Christopher Ingraham November 18 at 11:10 AM

Happy Geography Awareness Week! Recognizing that "too many young Americans are unable to make effective decisions, understand geo-spatial issues, or even recognize their impacts as global citizens," National Geographic created this annual observance to "raise awareness to this dangerous deficiency in American education."

Ben Carson's presidential campaign inadvertently underscored this point Tuesday night, when it took to social media to share a map of the United States in which five New England states were placed in the wrong location. The campaign deleted the Twitter and Facebook posts Wednesday morning after media outlets and social media users pointed out the error.

Here's Carson's tweet from last night.

And here's a side-by-side comparison of the Carson campaign map with a map showing where the states actually belong.

As you can see, in Carson's map the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine are moved northeast by about 150 miles or so. Vermont and New York now have hundreds of miles of new beachfront property. Massachusetts shares a border with Canada. Maine straddles what is now the Gulf of Saint Lawrence.

Also, if you look closely at the mid-Atlantic area, you'll see that Virginia's portion of the Delmarva Peninsula is colored red to match Maryland, rather than gray with the rest of Virginia.

This is probably little more than a simple mishap by a graphic designer who's having a Really Bad Day. (The campaign did not respond to a request for comment.) But Carson's campaign has plenty of company when it comes to geography troubles. A study last year found that a majority of Americans couldn't place Ukraine on a map, for instance. And many of them were way, way off. Then there was the time CNN placed Hong Kong in Brazil during a newscast. Vox recently collected "27 hilariously bad maps that explain nothing."

A 2006 survey commissioned by National Geographic found that six in 10 young Americans couldn't find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, and half couldn't place New York on a map of the United States. Geographic literacy matters for "navigating the international economy or understanding the relationships among people and places that provide critical context for world events," the survey concluded.

"The United States lags behind the rest of the world in both the quality and quantity of every aspect of geography education," National Geographic writes in its Geography Awareness Week materials.

 

[VIDEODROME]

I wonder if this could be a Vector Graphic image and the code got borked somehow.

 

[CPUd]

I wonder if this could be a Vector Graphic image and the code got borked somehow.

Maybe originally, but that thing looked like it has changed hands a few times after it was rasterized.

 

[juleswin]

Considering that these are the same people leaking info to the press about how he is having a hard time understanding foreign policy issues, I would say they really don't want him to win. This is the kind of tasks you hope professional people in a campaign drawing a paycheck would fix.

If he is actually serious about running, he better start sending out pink slips now. Someone in that campaign is trying to sabotage his run.

 

[TaftFan]

Not sure how you can mess this up. You take a map template and color it. This required a change.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

wtf? Who does he have working for him? His campaign seems like it's being deliberately sabotaged from the inside. From releasing dumb statements (such as telling Politico he admitted to fabricating his West Point admission), to this nonsense. Either that or he's hired a bunch of knuckle dragging morons

 

[AngryCanadian]

So America invaded Canada lol.

 

[fisharmor]

A 2006 survey commissioned by National Geographic found that six in 10 young Americans couldn't find Iraq on a map of the Middle East, and half couldn't place New York on a map of the United States. Geographic literacy matters for "navigating the international economy or understanding the relationships among people and places that provide critical context for world events," the survey concluded.

First of all, you don't get to conclude how important something is based on the fact that people don't know it.

If anything, the fact that people don't know it PROVES that it is NOT important.

Second, nobody gives a shit about geography, and they shouldn't have to.
I happen to agree with their "conclusion" and I think it's important to understand geography if you're going to be dealing with people from that geography.

The fact of the matter is, nobody cares what the label is on a colored blob on a piece of paper. The only way to get people to care about geography is to get them invested in it. Say, for instance, sending them there.

If we could get people over to these places with some goal other than murder, then they'd probably take an interest.

If we let people fly without groping them, maybe they'd fly, and maybe they'd learn some geography.

If we let people visit without crawling up their asses about how long they're going to stay, maybe they'd make friends here and teach them about their home.

But no, let's keep doing what we're doing - vilifying people who visit and murdering those who don't. That sounds like a great way to get people to care about other places. Seems to have worked out great for the last 50 years.

 

[Ronin Truth]

It's really hard to find good help.

 

[Ronin Truth]

So America invaded Canada lol.

again.

 

[DevilsAdvocate]

Ben Carson's persona is just crying out to be parodied. It's like a comedic goldmine

 

[69360]

Carson made me a Canadian.

His campaign is really amateur hour.

 

[Mike4Freedom]

 

[anaconda]

Just try drawing a map of the U.S. with the states in their right places. It's very difficult. For example, we all know what states border the state we live in. But pick a couple of states far away and see if you can correctly identify its border states. Having said this, it nonetheless appears that Carson simply has a low IQ when it comes to avoiding situations where he can be completely lampooned.

 

[sparebulb]

When will any of his handlers tell him to keep his fucking eyes open.

If a guy with his mannerisms came around me, I would think that he was on drugs or suffered from brain damage.

 

[Liberty74]

wtf? Who does he have working for him? His campaign seems like it's being deliberately sabotaged from the inside. From releasing dumb statements (such as telling Politico he admitted to fabricating his West Point admission), to this nonsense. Either that or he's hired a bunch of knuckle dragging morons

I read that Ben has NO ONE big or important running his campaign. Which makes one wonder how serious is he really? Maybe get a book and more speech money making opportunities after he bails? After all, that's how he makes his money. It's not from being a doctor.

 

[jmdrake]

Just try drawing a map of the U.S. with the states in their right places. It's very difficult. For example, we all know what states border the state we live in. But pick a couple of states far away and see if you can correctly identify its border states. Having said this, it nonetheless appears that Carson simply has a low IQ when it comes to avoiding situations where he can be completely lampooned.

Of course it's not easy. That's why you grab someone else's map and color it the way you want.

As other people have pointed out, somehow someone hired an idiot to do this. Candidates expect campaign managers to hire competent people. I remember when Rand was running for senate someone asked him about a position he held and he said "I don't hold that position" and the reporter replied "Well it's on your website." The webmaster was promptly fired. (To be fair to the webmaster it was a position most of us thought he held based on what his father believes and what Rand said when campaigning for Ron.)

Anyhow, Dear Dr. Carson. I can color maps better than whoever you have working for you. Can I get the job? I promise not to donate any more than $2,300 to your opponent Rand Paul.

 

[jmdrake]

I read that Ben has NO ONE big or important running his campaign. Which makes one wonder how serious is he really? Maybe get a book and more speech money making opportunities after he bails? After all, that's how he makes his money. It's not from being a doctor.

Ummmm....he was already making a lot of money giving speeches and writing books before he decided to take on Obamacare. In fact he's actually lost some money after leaving the democratic plantation. But yeah, his campaign seems amateurish. So was Ron 2008 with the official campaign putting out crappy commercials and the grassroots capturing headlines with blimps.

 

[juleswin]

Of course it's not easy. That's why you grab someone else's map and color it the way you want.

As other people have pointed out, somehow someone hired an idiot to do this. Candidates expect campaign managers to hire competent people. I remember when Rand was running for senate someone asked him about a position he held and he said "I don't hold that position" and the reporter replied "Well it's on your website." The webmaster was promptly fired. (To be fair to the webmaster it was a position most of us thought he held based on what his father believes and what Rand said when campaigning for Ron.)

Anyhow, Dear Dr. Carson. I can color maps better than whoever you have working for you. Can I get the job? I promise not to donate any more than $2,300 to your opponent Rand Paul.

After seeing the way you have been coming to his defense all over this site; you are there anytime someone says something remotely negative about Ben, I thought you already work for him campaign, that or Ben Carson is your dad/very close relative.

 

[enhanced_deficit]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/11/18/ben-carsons-campaign-made-a-u-s-map-and-put-a-bunch-of-states-in-the-wrong-place/

Great move. People lacking energy accept the maps given to them, the bold energetic leaders carve their own maps. No belt buckles to come in their way lol