Our politics have become so polarized and corrupted that a president of the United States cannot even attend an event devoted to drawing people closer to God and bridge partisan and cultural divides without being lectured about his policies.

Last Thursday at the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, Dr. Ben Carson, director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and a 2008 recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, broke with a 61-year-old tradition and publicly disagreed with some of the president’s policies, such as Obamacare, taxation and the national debt. Disclosure: I have attended this event since 1971 and host a dinner the night before for members of the media.