McCain, a continuation of personal narcissism

[harrison]

The term narcissism gets tossed around so much these days, sometimes it tends to lose its meaning. There is selfishness, a problem inherent to every human being, and then there is narcissism, or narcissistic personality disorder, something specific to certain individuals.

Some years ago, one analyst did his own study of Bush from afar and came up with the conclusion that Bush suffered from that disorder, which meant of course that the whole world was going to have suffer from his disordered personality. The hallmark of narcissism is a lack of empathy, an inability to walk in another person's shoes, to feel what they feel. There are other symptoms as well and the DSM lists them this way:



a grandiose sense of self-importance;is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success, power, brilliance, beauty, or ideal love; believes that he or she is "special" and can only be understood by, or should associate with, other special or high-status people (or institutions); requires excessive admiration;has a sense of entitlement, i.e., unreasonable expectations of especially favourable treatment or automatic compliance with his or her expectations ; is interpersonally exploitative, i.e., takes advantage of others to achieve his or her own ends; lacks empathy and is unwilling to recognize or identify with the feelings and needs of others; is often envious of others or believes that others are envious of him or her; shows arrogant, haughty behaviours or attitudes.


Anyone can take that checklist and apply it to Bush and his actions and come to the utter realization that this country has been under the leadership of a profound narcissist. Nothing was more telling than when Bush was asked in a debate in 2004 to name something he had done wrong, and he stammered around and never did answer the question. And that is because a narcissist doesn't do anything wrong.

I have been around narcissists and they are some of the most devastating people you could ever meet. Pity to those DU members whose parent or spouse was or is a narcissist. The healing rate for these people is incredibly low because they don't think they have any problems. Trying to get a narcissist to upchuck an "I'm sorry" is about as remote a prospect as getting Trent Lott to join as a lifetime member of the NAACP. It ain't going to happen, and if it does, it is only to further some other end or goal.

Sadly, I see in John McCain some of those symptoms, although to be sure some narcissists are less along the lines of intelligence as they are thinking, in the case of some men, that they are nature's gift to women. McCain, like Bush, grew up under a powerful family which clearly used strings to get the underachiever into important educational institutions. Like Bush, McCain was remarkably unremarkable. Like Bush, McCain doesn't seem to understand the difficulty the average person has in making it in today's economy. McCain appears to have thrown off his first trophy wife for a second trophy wife who, incidentally, was very wealthy and could help further his own ambitions. McCain portrayed himself as a maverick, but has such a thirst to be President that he threw away any so-called "principles" he had in 2000 and joined the enemy team, in order to further his own goals.

When Obama says that we are going to get more of the same, he is clearly speaking the truth. I fear that, if McCain is elected, we are going to endure another Bush/narcissist in the White House.

But narcissists don't like to be challenged and when they are, sometimes they go into rages. Thus, the pick of Governor Palin as McCain's running mate fits right into McCain's mold. That is, he picks a former beauty queen (quite in line with McCain's history), because, after all, McCain is a gift to women and he couldn't be surrounded by a middle aged, yet accomplished running mate.

But there is this: With Palin, he is not going to be challenged on anything he wants to do. She will no more be able to question McCain than a woodchuck would be able to teach algebra. She will be the quintessential "yes woman" because she has no skills at the national level. Had McCain chosen almost any other person on the radar screen, they could have questioned him or disagreed with him and had some standing to back up their positions.

But not Palin. McCain surrounds himself with a vacuous, air-headed beauty.

McCain said he chose from the heart, or that was the leak a day or two ago. He chose from the heart, okay, the heart of a narcissist.

While many of my friends were Hillary supporters, including my own daughter, my own plea to them is this: please set aside your hurt feelings, your anger, and support Obama/Biden for the good of this country. I have no doubt that McCain will engage us in more wars. It is instructive that Thad Cochran, the old Senator from Mississippi, has deep misgivings about McCain, although publicly he is now supporting him. He has worked with him. He knows him. He knows what we are getting into.

The fact is McCain isn't worried about the country. After all, he knows best. He is in charge. Despite his brushes with death, his cancer, he's not worried about Palin ever taking over. Most narcissists I know think they will live forever.

Clearly, if McCain had some sense of his own mortality and concern for the good of the country, Palin would not have been his pick. When you contrast Obama's decision with McCain, the contrast could not be more telling or plain. Obama picked a person who could pick up the mantle if, God forbid, something happened to him. For McCain, nothing is going to happen to him despite his age or his health, because he is "special."

At one time, I admired McCain because I thought that he was a person who would stand up to the religious right and Bush et al. I was wrong. He is truly in the mold of Bush. He is only a different verse.

The problem is that this country and the world cannot take anymore of the song they have been singing.

[YDogg]

1. she may not be vacuous. oh, wait, she doesn't know what the VP does.