“When I look at Obama I see a guy who wants out of his job. It’s waaaaay harder than he thought it was going to be. The Democrats will defend him to the death (because they elected him), but he would really like to leave his job and go and get some Hawaiian Ice.”
This is it in a nutshell. He liked the job when it was new and people were still fainting in the sheer wonder of his ‘light worker’ singularity. Now people have figured him out, and his poll numbers have fallen precipitously. To a Malignant Narcissist, this is misery itself. (1) He’s too known a quantity to fool people anymore, and (2) he’s not getting the relentless admiration & praise he requires in order to feel even so-so/okay about himself, much less good.
Yes, he would definitely like to be elsewhere. He still loves the golf & AF1, but it’s not as much fun when people are constantly criticizing him. Those who say he doesn’t care if he’s hated & despised are dead wrong. His need to be admired is pathological. In the past he handled his situation by changing jobs/situations often. By the time people figured out he was a fraud he was gone. This time is different, & it’s eating him alive.
Those who compare him to Hitler & Stalin, & who expect a coup d’état, or similar, are also mistaken. Obama is fundamentally weak. He’s expert at playing the race card, & little else. Hitler & Stalin were driven men: they craved power & pursued it ruthlessly. Obama craves the golf course, expensive vacations, drugs & booze, parties, & similar distractions. The damage he has done to the country is in keeping with his goal of “fundamentally transforming” the US, but it’s not his passion. *He* is his passion.
He’s not going to pull off a major coup by leading from behind. Passive aggression is his style. To punish us for not liking him enough, he’ll flood the country with illegals—but he won’t admit he’s doing it. It’s the Republicans’ fault. Granted, Hitler blamed the Jews for the Reichstag Fire, but that was all part of his larger plan. He didn’t stage the fire in order to destroy Germany but to advance himself politically. Obama is not advancing via out-of-control illegal immigration; he is nuking what little remains of his reputation as a competent leader.
He’s probably flirting with the idea of resigning. In his mind, this would be the ultimate punishment of the American People. We don’t appreciate him—fine; he will deprive us of his unique, singular wonderfulness. Whether he’ll actually follow through is another matter. His native indecisiveness has only gotten worse. No doubt Jarrett will pressure him to stick it out. Ultimately that will take less courage than resigning, so he may blunder on. Underneath it all, however, he wants out. Being hated was never part of his plan. Depending on how bad it gets, the dramatic action we see might be Obama taking his ball & going home.
Well said.
He’s not going to pull off a major coup by leading from behind. Passive aggression is his style.
Another good point.
He’s probably flirting with the idea of resigning. In his mind, this would be the ultimate punishment of the American People. We don’t appreciate him—fine; he will deprive us of his unique, singular wonderfulness. Whether he’ll actually follow through is another matter.
Resigning can be taken as an an admission that he made mistakes or wasn't up for the job. And he won't do that. Is he "flirting" with the idea of resigning? It may have occurred to him but politicians don't like to do unexpected things. I don't think he seriously considered stepping down (and Hillary most likely will run -- she'll do the expected thing herself).
I don't know about the whole "malignant narcissist" thing. Politicians tend to be narcissistic -- Obama more than most. Narcissists may have grandiose self-conceptions, but they tend to be petty people who end up shooting themselves in the foot -- sabotaging themselves through their own neediness and obsessions and manipulations. Case in point: Jimmy Carter.
Wanting garden variety narcissists to be malignant or pathological narcissists is part of the meme that wants them to be Hitler or Stalin, preparing tyranny or apocalypse. That doesn't mean narcissism is a good thing, but people do tend to get carried away. Bill Clinton was a "pathological narcissist" when he was in office. Now he's a run-of-the-mill narcissist in comparison to Obama (who will be run-of-the-mill in comparison to the next presidential narcissist).
People also get caught up in words: "pathological" needs don't necessary add up to or amount to a pathology, and "narcissistic" behavior isn't always a sign of a narcissistic personality (let alone of pathological narcissism).