May 19, 2011

The Words Speak for Themselves:

This is from an email circular. Thanks to R.M.!

George W. Bush speech after the capture of Saddam Hussein:

The success of yesterday's mission is a tribute to our men and women now serving in Iraq. The operation was based on the superb work of intelligence analysts who found the dictator's footprints in a vast country. The operation was carried out with skill and precision by a brave fighting force. Our servicemen and women and our coalition allies have faced many dangers in the hunt for members of the fallen regime, and in their effort to bring hope and freedom to the Iraqi people. Their work continues and so do the risks. Today, on behalf of the nation, I thank the members of our Armed Forces and I congratulate them.


Barack Obama speech after the killing of bin Laden:

And so shortly after taking office, I directed Leon Panetta, the director of the CIA, to make the killing or capture of bin Laden the top priority of our war against al Qaeda, even as we continued our broader efforts to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat his network. Then, last August, after years of painstaking work by our intelligence community, I was briefed on a possible lead to bin Laden. It was far from certain, and it took many months to run this thread to ground. I met repeatedly with my national security team as we developed more information about the possibility that we had located bin Laden hiding within a compound deep inside of Pakistan . And finally, last week, I determined that we had enough intelligence to take action, and authorized an operation to get Osama bin Laden and bring him to justice. Today, at my direction, the United States launched a targeted operation against that compound in Abbottabad , Pakistan ..

Obama used the words I, me, or my over a dozen times in his entire speech. George Bush used them twice to say "I thank" and "I congratulate".

3 comments:

Alligator said...

Today Obama praised the CIA, but in his praise he said "I, me or mine" 35 times. It's on the White House website: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/05/20/remarks-president-cia-director-leon-panetta-and-dni-director-james-clapp

"Although most individuals have some narcissistic traits, high levels of narcissism can manifest themselves as a pathological form... as narcissistic personality disorder, whereby the patient overestimates his or her abilities and has an excessive need for admiration or affirmation."

It is sad, but in my humble opinion the evidence overwhelmingly points to Obama having this disorder. How many of these signs has he publicly exhibited?
* An obvious self-focus in interpersonal exchanges
* Difficulty with empathy
* Problems distinguishing the self from others (e.g. "we" really means "me')
* Hypersensitivity to any sleights or imagined insults
* Haughty body language
* Flattery towards people who admire and affirm him or her
* Detesting those who do not admire him or her
* Using other people without considering the cost to them of doing so
* Pretending to be more important than he or she is
* Bragging (subtly but persistently) and exaggerating his or her achievements
* Claiming to be an "expert" at most things
* Inability to view the world from the perspective of other people
* Denial of remorse and gratitude

A lot of this develops when childhood relationships are erratic, unstable and without empathy. Obama never knew his real dad, briefly had a step dad of another nationality, mother died when he was young and he bounced around relatives and was finally raised by liberal grandparents.

That was not a childhood of stability and nurturing. It was not his fault he was born and raised in that circumstance. But in my opinion, it has given us a narcissistic commander-in-chief.

The_Editrix said...

'gator! Good to have you back! Yes, that's an impressive list. I had to smile at this point: "Pretending to be more important than he or she is". It occurred to me that being elected President of the United States must be every narcissist's dream. The man creeps me out.

Alligator said...

I just read the other day where the president was reminiscing about his dad (Obama Sr.) giving him his first basketball. Then he said he never understood why his dad left one day and didn't come home. However, the Obama family chronology doesn't allow for these events. The evidence says that Obama Sr. never lived with his "family" or else he took off shortly after Obama's birth and never saw him again.

There is so much censorship, sealed records and media smokescreens when it comes to Obama's background it is difficult to ascertain what when on in his life and when. This is the first president that I know of whose personal life remains so unknown and difficult to verify. That the president is "remembering" a father whom he never really met is rather disturbing. Even putting politics aside, do you want a person living a fantasy in charge of a nation? Oh we'd probably be terrified to see what really goes on in the hearts and minds of so many world leaders.