America, We Have a Problem

Poking fun at his profession, Harry S. Truman once said, “My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a # or a politician. And to tell the truth, there’s hardly any difference.” I have seven decades of life under my belt and I rarely expect politicians to act as statesmen, though some most surely have. What history and my own experience has taught me is that some very twisted souls aspire to high office and the power that comes with it. For this reason my interest was piqued by a paper written by Dr. Sam Vaknin, PhD, the author of “Malignant Self Love”. Posted on the Global Politician website back in August 2008, Dr. Vaknin found Barack Obama’s background and behavior fit the description of a Narcissistic Personality Disorder spelled out in his book. His paper runs to eight pages, so I will be selective in quoting from it, but I recommend everyone read it if they have picked up on the signals Dr. Vaknin lays out. You can read it here.

The narcissist

1. feels grandiose and self-important,
2. is obsessed with fantasies of unlimited success,
3. is firmly convinced he or she is unique,
4. requires excessive admiration, adulation, attention, and affirmation,
5. feels entitled,
6. uses others to achieve his or her own ends,
7. is devoid of empathy,
8. is constantly envious of others and seeks to hurt or destroy the objects of his or her frustrations,
9. suffers from persecutory, paranoid delusions,
10. is constantly envious of others, and
11. behaves arrogantly and haughtily, and “Feels superior, omnipotent, omniscient, invincible, immune, ‘above the law’’, and omnipresent (magical thinking).

We all know people who exhibit some of these traits and Dr. Vaknin points out that “Narcissists are an elusive breed, hard to spot, harder to pinpoint, impossible to capture.” Even an experienced mental health diagnostician, warned Dr. Vaknin, “would find it fiendishly difficult to determine with any degree of certainty whether someone suffers from a full fledged Narcissistic Personality Disorder.” Even so, after two years of campaigning and now a month or more into his presidency, one can sense that Barack Obama is no ordinary, ambitious politician. As Dr. Vaknin notes, like those with the disorder, Obama “Subtly misrepresents facts and expediently and opportunistically shifts positions, views, opinions, and ‘ideals’.” This disorder permits the narcissist to ignore data “that conflict with his fantasy world or with his inflated and grandiose self-image.” Moreover, such people feel that they are “above the law” and the fight being waged by Obama to ensure that his birth certificate and other data such as college records is a reflection of this. Such people have “a messianic-cosmic vision of himself and his life and his ‘mission’,” says Dr. Vaknin. Think back to Obama’s speeches in which he talks of “our moment” and being the one that people were waiting for. “Pathological narcissism is the art of deception,” says Dr. Vaknin. “The narcissistic or psychopathic leader is the culmination and reification of his period, culture, and civilization. He is likely to rise to prominence in narcissistic societies.” We live in a society where more people can name the American Idol judges than tell you who uttered the words, “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” America, we have a problem and his name is Barack Hussein Obama, and he is the President of the United States. And he has a Democrat controlled Congress that has cobbled together—in secret—a “stimulus” bill that will likely destroy the economy in the long or short term. None of my generation ever expected to see this day arrive and few of the younger generations that think he will take care of all their needs understand the dangers to the republic, to our freedoms, and, for some like the elderly who will be denied treatment under universal healthcare, their lives.