Apparently the most controversial thing I’ve ever said on this blog is that Barack Obama is probably smarter and, given the evidence of the texts at our disposal, a better writer than Ben Carson.

Although I will stand by that — including the “probably” — I’m certainly sorry I said it. Not because I was so viciously attacked, but because that comment detracted from the important stuff I said about both Carson and Obama. Carson is much more a man of real accomplishment and much more the real deal as an exemplary model of human excellence for us all.

I actually enjoyed the spirited reaction of the Carson supporters, including those who went on to aim to discredit my character and record. I won’t respond because I’m not running for or selling anything. Ben is certainly doing a remarkable job himself defending his personal narrative with lots of telling evidence, and his rather unscrupulous “vetting” is, all things considered, continuing to make him stronger.

To repeat: I think Ben is a great man, although I remain to be convinced that he’s ready to be president. I wasn’t convinced in Obama’s case either, and I think I was right.

My high opinion of the president’s intelligence is vindicated, I also think, by his brilliant campaigns for election and reelection. He made his opponents — including the very-high-I.Q. Mitt Romney — look clueless by comparison.

Meanwhile, my opinion of Carson’s political savvy rises as his campaign continues to flourish in a very unfriendly environment. If he actually gets elected president, then, you’re right, I have very much underestimated him.

Anyway, I really didn’t mean to diss my friend Ben Carson. He’s the one and only serious president candidate with whom I have dined multiple times, and with whom I’m on a comfortable, first-name basis. For now, I don’t think any of my good friends has what it takes to become and be president. I’m willing to be proven wrong. I think I made it clear enough that Ben is the real American hero running this time.

Well, there’s one issue I can’t ignore. And here it is: I am not wrong to think it’s perfectly grammatical to begin a sentence with a conjunction. But I give all of you all the safe space you need to be wrong on this issue.

And so one final comment: I’m also being hounded on another channel for my opinion that Trump wasn’t so funny on SNL. Well, let me add: He was still a winner. The ratings were huge, and he emerged unscathed. The Trump message got through.