Thursday, November 6, 2014

T Plus Two: What Has Not Changed

It was predictable. Indeed, it was inevitable.

I won’t chastise you should you choose not to watch the video linked above. You’ve probably had quite enough of Obama already. But if you were unaware of the remarks he made yesterday in describing his reaction to the Republicans’ trouncing of his Democrat allies, it’s worth a couple of minutes of your time.

Reflect on both the content and the tone. Is that a man who acknowledges that his unasked-for gambit in nominal support of his co-partisans –that “My policies are on the ballot...every one of them” – has been definitively answered? That those policies have been judged by the electorate and repudiated?

Don’t all answer at once, now.


Many years ago, I asked a psychologist friend to distinguish between psychopath and sociopath, words I’d often heard used interchangeably. The distinction she drew was memorable. The psychopath, she said, is emotionless. His inability to feel renders him unable to sympathize or empathize. Others’ emotions, whether pleasant or painful, are a blank to him. By contrast, she described the sociopath as conscienceless: a creature who cannot see others as moral agents. To him, others are either tools, or obstructions, or irrelevant. In practice, they tend to behave similarly, despite the varying geneses of their behavior.

My friend was an authority on the subject, having worked extensively with prison populations. I’ve used her distinction to assess many a public figure since then. Many fall into one or the other category, and some belong to both.

Barack Hussein Obama has often been described as a narcissist. That sort of self-worship is consistent with sociopathy, as the sociopath starts out regarding others as objects to be manipulated. Beyond that surface assessment lies an important implication: what to expect from the sociopath when his self-love is challenged by external developments.

The sociopath will feel frustration when others refuse to be manipulated to his liking. He will sometimes lash out against them. We can see a clear case of this in Obama’s famous “What the fuck was that?” reaction to Benjamin Netanyahu’s statements during their shared photo-op a couple of years ago. Clearly Obama could not assault the prime minister of Israel while the cameras were on them; still, restraining the impulse seems to have cost him some effort.

The Republican wave of Tuesday certainly challenged Obama’s self-love, to say nothing of the backblast against his attempt to manipulate, not only the electorate, but his co-partisans running for federal legislative offices.

Expect The Won – The Lost? – to act out more than once in the weeks to come.


Obama is unable to alter his orientation in any non-trivial way. He cannot and will not admit to error. Indeed, he appears unable to accept anything but acquiescence – preferably married to adulation – from those around him. So when Chris Matthews declaims as follows:

"The fact that this President is getting advice from people that say, 'You're always right,' is the problem," Matthews opined. "He's got too many sycophants around him telling him, 'All you have to keep doing is what you’re doing.'"

...it’s not just another case of Matthews attempting to exculpate his idol Obama; it’s a dim perception, as through a glass darkly, of one of the giveaway behaviors of a sociopath in a position of power: he will not tolerate attendants who advise him counter to his preferences. Any who unwisely attempt to do so will be “thrown under the bus,” leaving the inner circle a gaggle of yes-men and sycophants.

Yet Democrat mouthpieces habitually upbraid conservatives for immuring ourselves in a “right-wing echo chamber.” It is to laugh.


The period between now and January 3 is likely to be dangerous. Obama will not sit idle in the aftermath of Tuesday’s drubbing. He’s likely to get, if not the cooperation, at least the protection, of the outgoing Democrat caucus on Capitol Hill. They, too are frustrated...and some of them are no less sociopathic than Obama.

We’ve already heard about Obama’s planned executive actions on immigration. I cannot doubt that he has other shots in the locker. Some will be attempts to seal policies into place before the GOP has a means by which to stop them; others will be bait, temptations to being impeachment proceedings that, given the Main Stream Media’s determination to protect him, would probably rebound against the Republicans.

The key insight here is that Obama is about Obama the Supreme and will tolerate nothing else. A man who can’t even allow verbally that he’s been chastised will not act in a fashion that expresses that understanding. Indeed, the next several weeks might well see behavior more extreme than Obama has yet exhibited. Israel in particular had better look to its defenses.

Stay tuned.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

I am looking for conservative candidates I can back. I am hoping someone here can help me.
I learned by conservative values at the foot of my grandfather. My grandfather was the son of a hardheaded Danish carpenter who learned the carpentry trade by starting work at the age of eight and eventually formed a small business building affordable homes for the ??...Generation.” My father and my uncles joined him in the business and, at the age of 12 I joined them as an apprentice during the summers. During our short lunch break I would listen to them talk politics among themselves and with the rest of their employees. These are the conservative values I learned.
1-Fiscal responsibility. Spend less than what you earn and save a little for a rainy day.
2- Self-reliance. Limited government interference in one’s personal responsibilities.
3-Limited government. The role of government should only be in areas beyond the abilities of individuals (e.g., highways, military, etc.)
4-Strict interpretation of the Constitution. Judges should interpret the constitution as the founders intended.
5-Limited involvement in foreign affairs. Defend the country vigorously when attacked; stay out of other people’s business otherwise.
My problem is that I can find few politicians who actually follow these principals. Many claim to, but few actually do. Democrats obviously do not, and most Republicans in Congress seem to be just as liberal. At present, we are governed (?!) by two kinds of liberals: D-liberals and R-liberals. D-liberals want the government to tell you what kind of gun you can own; R-liberals want the government to tell you what kind of person you can marry. D-liberals are tax-and-spend wastrels; R-liberals are borrow-and-spend scoundrels. Both R-liberals and D-liberals get us entangled in brush-fire wars where we are not wanted and can’t win. Both D-liberals and R-liberals are selective in the following the founders intentions, they just pick different ones.
In short, I am looking for true conservatives. Are there any out there?

Anonymous said...

Indeed.

Unknown said...

I watched the linked video. One of the most infuriating and insidious attitudes is demonstrated as he turns his attention towards the opposition party. It is the President of The United States of America not the President of the political parties. It is infuriating that they continue to play the two party game and the people accept it! Shown is an attitude that the people are hardly recognized.

It is insidious because it is naturally comfortable to expect a partisan govt to work in exclusion of the people. It is a vestigial remnant of the expectations of a functional govt. When any politician speaks they should directly address the people. The relationship is not to the 'other side' but to the people. The people have accepted this schism created by the very govt which is now to be expected to 'get things done'.

Ronbo said...

Francis nails the real Obama to the barn door!

Indeed, our current president is a sociopath and like the police say, "Most criminals in prison are sociopaths, but unfortunately not all sociopaths are in prison."

I know one is President of the United States of America.

Unknown said...

Remember Jonestown? When a megalomaniac cult leader sees the world closing in and the adoration fading from the eyes of mesmerized followers he must punish them for their faithlessness. Folks, we're about to taste some grape Koolaid. This ain't going to end well