-By Vince Johnson
Saturday, October 23, 2009 Vince Johnson – Aumsville, Oregon There is a growing need to find a team of qualified psychologists that would reassure the world that Barack Hussein Obama does not have a mental disorder rendering him incompetent to make rational decisions.
Perhaps this suggestion would be taken more seriously if made by a highly credentialed psychologist rather than an elderly veteran of WW II and Korea. One way or another, there is a critical need to have at least three professionally recognized psychologists willing to publicly declare that Obama is, or is not pathologically narcissistic and incapable of accepting criticism without serious detriment to his judgment.
My suggestion is based upon this basic definition of Narcissism:
A pervasive pattern of a grandiose need for admiration, and extreme sensitivity to legitimate criticism observable in a variety of contexts, as indicated by the following:
- He has a grandiose sense of self-importance. (This has been re-enforced to a historically unprecedented magnitude by his election to the presidency, his party’s overwhelming control of both houses, and his selection for the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.)
- He is preoccupied with fantasies of unlimited success. (Examples: Frequent appearance on late night TV, speaking engagements at union conventions, nationally aired interviews, fund raisers, visits to “selected” elementary schools, frequent Press Conferences, etc.)
- He requires excessive admiration and surrounds himself with flocks of admiring followers. (Example: His personal selection of 32 subservient “czars” each with a large staff all of whom are accountable to himself and no one else.)
- He has a huge sense of unlimited entitlement. (As demonstrated by believing he is entitled to partially federalize ownership of General Motors, set salary ceilings for corporate executives, displaying a blasé attitude regarding his delay in making any decision regarding our commitments in Afghanistan, etc.)
- At times he reacts to criticism with “knee-jerk” contempt. (Example: His sudden, but futile order to exclude FOX journalists from an interview with “pay czar” Kenneth Feinberg.)
- He shows arrogant, haughty behaviors or attitudes. (As criticism of his presidency increase, his arrogance is becoming increasingly intense as well as more openly visible.)
There is no mechanism or precedent to use when the abnormal behavior of a President becomes a potential risk to national security. The time can arrive when any leader in government could become mentally impaired for any number of reasons. No president in my lifetime has ever objected to a physical examination, and in these times of relentless stress, Obama has compelling grounds for insisting that he also undergo a thorough psychological examination.
We are living in a seriously damaged nation, and we are risking catastrophic ruin if we fail to recognize the possibility that Obama’s mental capacity is stressed to the point where he cannot govern as judiciously as he has sworn to do. On the other hand, as the criticism regarding President Obama’s behavior becomes more frequent, it is becoming increasingly apparent that he could self destruct by making some sort of irreversible ego based boo-boo.
If I were to bet on this, I’d bet on the boo-boo.
____________
Vince Johnson welcomes comments. Please send them to,Vince Johnson(vjadtrak@wvi.com)
See Vince in the new book Americans on Politics. Policy, and Pop-Culture.
Fair Use: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of political, human rights, economic, democracy, and social justice issues, etc. I believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research, educational, or satirical purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site/blog for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.