Photo CBS News via Drudgereport.
Posted on 11/07/2009 12:22:33 PM PST by GVnana
Obama's Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting
A bad week for Democrats compounded by an awful moment for Barack Obama.
President Obama didn't wait long after Tuesday's devastating elections to give critics another reason to question his leadership, but this time the subject matter was more grim than a pair of governorships.
Photo CBS News via Drudgereport.
After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.
But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?
Anyone at home aware of the major news story of the previous hours had to have been stunned.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcchicago.com ...
Interesting comments. I do wonder, though, about his getting away with this for 46(?) years. That’s quite a long gig. I’ve always thought that no one in his entire life has told him no, beginning in the cradle and going through his affirmative action years and community “organizing” thuggery. As I say to my husband, in a country of 300 million people, there must be SOMEONE with access to him to play his little mental games and win. Barry Soetero may think he is an alpha male, but IMO he is not. I’d love to see an alpha take him on and show him up for the beta he is.
Thanks for the long explanation. I think I finally understand the meaning of the phrase The Emperor has no Clothes. Always pondered what the heck that meant.
Still, though, even narcissists are not superhuman. They get sick, injured, and brought low. They can try to use people as appliances, but eventually, what goes around comes around, and they become victims of all their machinations. Or they are outwitted by even WORSE narcissists. I guess that what I’m saying is that Soetero is neither omnipotent nor immortal. How on earth do you go through life an empty shell and not expect to be exposed and “defanged”? (Sorry for the mixed metaphors.) I do think that the notion of a narcissistic supply source is a valid concept. Except for lackeys, bootlickers, and malleable masses, these people would not inflict damage on others.
I echo your comments. My husband and I sit and scream very mild obscenities at our TV during every news broadcast. Usually it is “YOU IDIOTS!” I hate myself for it, but it just flies out of my mouth. Then that verse about “the wrath of man not achieving the righteousness of God” comes to mind! I pray desperately every single day for all of these issues. My biggest fear is the Lord turning his back on me or on our nation.
‘’Who’s advising him?’’
Hell, no one worth a damn. His ‘advisors’ can’t even coach him on how to use a teleprompter without him looking like a ReaderBot-Oscillating-FanHead!
However, that’s ollld news.
B-HO is not ‘teachable’ anyway. He does not (or CAN not) authentically connect with most people, on a person to person level - IMO. Most of us here know why...
My suggestion, dump cable and TV. I have been without them for many months now. Been great. Missed the MJ funeral and Ted Kennedys funeral. And I don't have to listen to Obama and his I's anymore.
That is my biggest fear also. I don’t want to make Him so mad at me that He turns His face from me. I hope He understands that I am really, really trying to control myself. On a side note, do you live in East Tennessee?
“On a side note, do you live in East Tennessee?”
I actually live in northeast Georgia, but all of my ancestors originate in East Tennessee and western NC—some of the greatest country here in the U.S. I drive the 2-3 hours up there as often as possible and visit old family stomping grounds. It is still extremely patriotic, independent, and retains that pioneer spirit that made America great.
Good point about the malleable lackeys et al.
Narcissists do use one another and it does come back to bite them - so they try to make sure to bite first. Their personal lives have more drama and ‘churn’ in them than a normal person can imagine and that may help explain why Barry doesn’t have any ‘friends’ from his college days. Perhaps the friends he does have he can’t claim because they are obvious thugs or that those persons he befriended back then didn’t like him once they got to know him (found him too self centered and inconsiderate) and left. A narcissist usually has friends they don’t associate with anymore or lackeys or...for awhile...other powerful narcissists as friends. The lackeys here would be the type that makes you say “she seems nice, I have no idea why she puts up with him...”
We can assume that Barry has been ‘exposed’ for an empty shell before but not during a key time when he was in office or running for office. Malignant narcissists are often dumped by people close to them or exposed as incompetent in their jobs (If I am right about Barry, then he is probably lucky that there is reluctance to fire a minority). They learn nothing from these experiences, feel that they are being victimized, and can hold grudges and seek revenge the rest of their lives. More often then not, they simply learn to ignore those who flee them.
There is no defanging someone who is only composed of fangs.
That is the mystery of this illness. There is no one ‘there’ for psychologists to heal, no one ‘there’ to answer the call of conscience. There is an empty control room receiving input, admiration and criticism. The response of a narcissist can often be inappropriate and childlike as the primitive self-seeking instincts try to fashion a response that would ordinarily be handled by the ‘self’ or ‘soul’ in the control room.
The reason they get as far as they do in life (marry, have kids, take office) is a combination of 1)acting, 2) kindred spirits, and 3) the good will of others.
1) Acting: They are said to be fighting the terrible knowledge that they lack something the rest of us have (a personality). It’s supposed to feel horrifying and empty and they are said to complain of boredom (no substantial inner life). They basically compensate by trying to extract life from the people around them. In reading about them the most common metaphor used is that of vampire. The most moving and disturbing book I have found on this subject is ‘Stalking The Soul’. (http://www.amazon.com/Stalking-Soul-Marie-France-Hirigoyen/dp/188558699X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257641041&sr=8-1) The book focuses on family or marriage to a narcissist, not politics.
Narcissist basically devote their lives to developing their act and they do meet people who see through it. Try telling others what you see (a vampire) and watch your listener recoil when they hear you say ‘such things’ about that ‘nice’ man or woman. The damaging extent of this illness is hard believe for many who are new to the subject - they get the impression that you are intolerant and expecting the narcissist to be perfect if you point out a time in which the narcissist was shockingly insensitive.
2) Kindred SPirits: Narcissists hire narcissists. In one workplace, I marveled that the entire row of window offices in a corridor at work were occupied by very malignant narcissists. I wondered if there was a secret handshake or...? They ‘show well’ in that the take credit for the work of others and devote extra time and effort to grooming themselves for the executive suite, gridiron or operating room. They have a false charm that I can usually spot a mile away but unsuspecting people often do not.
3) The good will of others: I have had a hard time figuring out why it took me so long to accept the whole concept of narcissism and maybe my struggle holds some information for others. For me to accept that my loved one(s) are severe narcissists means I have to accept that they do not know what love is, will never understand that I love them, and despite all assurances, never loved me. One in particular kept telling me with tears in her eyes that no one loved her - I had to watch her heart break while knowing that people do love her, she doesn’t love them and she can’t. So we are not inclined to think this way about the people around us.
For many years, I was not aware that I was only seeing the scraps of personality left over after the damage done to the personality, I was seeing and loving the person that was meant to be but who had actually been destroyed in childhood. There are delightful fragments of remarkable intellect, and sense of humor, and sentimentality and gestures of remarkable kindness - but these are like the planets in our solar system but without a sun in the center of it all. I and many others take these fragments and sort of knit them together into the ‘best’ image we can of the person. So I would accept kindness in some areas and forgive shocking moments of cruelty because the person made a mistake or has a flaw...don’t we all? I listened to and supported some of these people for years before I realized that they lost interest in any conversation if I spoke of myself or shared something that was on my mind. I can point to a lovely hand made gift, crafted by a friend I knew for 20 years...but I have to finally admit that there is no ‘personality’ there, as far as she is concerned, I am there to support her in her interests an that is all. IF it pleases her to make something nice for me she’ll do it, otherwise I don’t exist until she needs me.
What I noticed, particularly in friend narcissists is that they are there in a superficial way (happily drive you to the store, make a gift for you, plan your birthday party) and they will come to you with most if not all of their burdens in life (because you haven’t noticed yet but all their other friends are narcissists who don’t care to listen to them or everyone else has fled) but sadly, if you look back over the years you have known them, they really are not supportive of you, they resent it when something good happens in your life as if it was unfairly extracted from theirs, and they have been stealthily tearing you down all that time. It’s painful for all concerned.
What is really noticeable, thinking back on all of the narcissists I have known, is that they are tireless in the harm that they cause. They can be sick or tired, or in the hospital but they can still open their eyes, look at you, and say something to build themselves and tear you down at the same time. And their bitterness, envy, and desire for revenge appears to last their entire lives. And, strangely, they don’t seem to grow the way the rest of us do. One in my life, a friend since I was 19 years old, really has not grown into an adult but has equal amounts of ‘bratty’ behavior that have never given way to the maturing effects of time.
If one out of every 10 people in the US is a narcissist, as the statistics say, then it is possible that some reading my post have received a diagnosis of narcissism. To those I want to say that my comments deal with severe, malignant narcissists, and that dialectic treatment has given many narcissists much more peace and greater quality of life. The damage is there - but our actions are results of our choices. No narcissist HAS to hurt other people. It is a choice and choosing treatment is the way for narcissists to fight the effects of the illness.
If Monty Hall were here, he would give spectacular door prizes to each and every intrepid soul who trudged on throughout my post and made it this far!
The potus wants to bring the most heinous of jihadi's to American soil from Guantanamo and put them in prison with other prisoners to spread their vile hate and war and be given constitutional rights to be tried by a jury.
I agree. Hubby and I live in South Florida (uggh) but are getting our retirement home ready in east Tennessee. Love the area and the people.
ransomenote: I, too, am familiar with the online writings of Dr. Sam Vaknin, and I would heartily recommend them to anyone wishing a more in-depth (yet popularized - i.e., for laymen) explanation (warning: he's written a LOT).
However, I would be more interested in the aetiology of the disorder. Also: In the apparent stronger manifestation of this disorder in old age.
Does anyone have any ideas at to what factors in Obama's upbringing are likely to have contributed to it? Of course, he OBVIOUSLY comes from a dysfunctional family - but another person under identical circumstances might still have turned out differently.
Regards,
Thank you for this post.
Thank you for this post. Excellent post.
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