From Album 5

To be fair, Carson issued an apology for his remarks — remarks every bit as bizarre as General Ripper’s, um, theory — but, then again, Ripper’s a character in a movie while Carson is an honest-to-god-real-life-presidential-candidate for a major political party in the United States. Yikes.

I’m guessing he realized or was told his broader political viability following such a  statement was hanging as precariously as John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda (who also sounded pretty sincere in apology). But, it shows some modest progress: there’s a limit to insulting gay people, and for that matter, reasonable people who recognize that gay isn’t deviant — and suggesting prison “makes people gay” is an insult. That said, there’s still quite a ways to go.