“I could look at me all day”
An actual psychiatrist has diagnosed, from afar, President Obama with ‘malignant narcissism”.
The question is what real damage Obama may do to the country. This man has been entrusted with the greatest power in the world. He will have that power for the next three years at least.
But he may not be able to emotionally tolerate any real limits on his need for self-aggrandizement and power. And still he can’t be allowed to beat the country into submission.
And he has one of the best quotations I’ve heard lately:
We don’t have a national crisis today. Obama is our national crisis.
I’ve felt for some time that Obama was a dangerous narcissist. In past posts I’ve explained that you need not compare Obama to the narcissist Hitler or Stalin because Obama doesn’t (yet) have access to totalitarian power. But I did compare him to narcissistic Lyndon Johnson and Douglas McArthur – both more favorably viewed by history, but both causing deep damage to individuals and the country.
The comments on the post are interesting… debate goes on about if he is a Muslim, one even suggests he is a homosexual. Those are things he can readily hide, so lacking him facing Mecca five times a day, or dating a man, I don’t think they merit much discussion. However, Obama’s psychosis clearly manifests the longer we have time to see him interact with others and govern.
It’s going to be a long 3 years.
March 4th, 2010 at 2:45 pm
I have never seen a more obvious indication of his narcissism than his victory speech in november of ’08.
He is incapable of seing his own flaws as near I can tell. Just remember, “Republicans need to stop trying to scare people about health reform, because if we don’t pass it we will go bankrupt and people will die.”
March 4th, 2010 at 2:47 pm
yep – classic. But it is a target rich environment.
Commenter Carl voted for him… I wonder if he can share his current view of Obama’s mental health.
March 4th, 2010 at 4:02 pm
That is claim for which you have no evidence, only inferences. I have no expertise in mental health, but I don’t see any significant difference between Obama and any other person in public life that would suggest mental defects. He’s as entitled to his world view as you are to yours, and he has evidence that the majority of US voters agreed with him. What direct evidence do you claim on the degree of acceptance of your ideas?
March 4th, 2010 at 4:17 pm
It isn’t about ideas. Although there are many polls that show majorities opposing what he now tries to do, which is NOT SURPRISINGLY different from what he promised while campaigning.
Look… this guy is the psychologist not me. And I’m confident if somebody I agreed with acted like Obama I’d still call him a narcissist. Newt Gingrich comes to mind.
March 4th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Obama is leading a cult of personality, he has been iconifying himself.
He has used his own “emblem” in the place of the presidential seal. The election of Scott Brown was because he didn’t communicate what he was trying to do well enough, it couldn’t possibly be because he is wrong or the populace doesn’t want what he is peddling. Bush was evil but lets do more of what Bush did. The surge was a bad idea, but lets send more troops!
I opposed Obama before it became popular, and I don’t see any motion on his part that has a chance in hell of changing that. He is convinced that the State has right and responsibility to control the individual’s life.
Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.
March 4th, 2010 at 11:02 pm
Regardless of his behavior quirks or whatever you call them the guy’s an executive dud. He never was and never will be able to run anything but his mouth. His ideas are all Nietzche and Marx with a little Rev. Wright hatred thrown in. There is testimony too from 7% of Americans that Elvis is alive and Al Gore thought he was in the majority in 2000.
March 20th, 2010 at 4:38 am
Barack Obama’s book, “The Audacity of Hope,” features a appealing title. It has a taste of bravery mixed with confidence. There is nothing Pollyanna about that. I won’t support every little thing he says, but he’s our president, as well as for me, he creates confidence. Which could do more for just a country than any number of backroom deals. Hope gives us energy, and energy sustains us through trying times. Boy, we’ve had them. I’m from West Texas, and I did not vote for Bush. When McCain ran against Obama, I was a citizen of Arizona, but I gave audacious hope a chance. The fight for progress and laying the foundations of prosperity is not over. I have come across the quips of those who don’t think Obama is able to do it. But step back a second. Would anyone have most of us fail simply to tarnish the star of an incumbent for whom they did not vote? Keeping our priorities straight, let’s work together with our president and build our future.