Last week President Obama ignored political decorum and basically ignored the leader of America’s greatest ally, Gordon Brown, the British Prime Minister. The reason given for Obama’s lack of interest was unique in the annals of Presidential history: he was too tired!
But Washington figures with access to Mr Obama’s inner circle explained the slight by saying that those high up in the administration have had little time to deal with international matters, let alone the diplomatic niceties of the special relationship.
This weekend, it was announced that President Obama is now ready to open discussions with factions of the Taliban:
They are the sworn enemies of the United States – the fighters who openly support America’s enemy number one – Osama bin Laden.
And President Obama, who is now reviewing his war strategy in Afghanistan, says it may be time to talk to them.
Aboard Air Force One, he told the New York Times, we’re not winning now.
This is the same President who during the campaign last year stated that he would be willing to meet with Iran’s leadership without any preconditions.
Weird huh? A President who snubs his closest ally but is willing to discuss surrender with some of the vilest people on earth at the drop of a hanky?
Not really.
Chris from Racine posted on this article that makes the claim that Obama is a narcissist. The read is fascinating. See if any of this rings a bell?
– Have a messianic-cosmic vision of himself and his life and his “mission”.
– Sets ever more complex rules in a convoluted world of grandiose fantasies with its own language (jargon)
– Displays false modesty and unctuous “folksiness” but unable to sustain these behaviors (the persona, or mask) for long. It slips and the true Obama is revealed: haughty, aloof, distant, and disdainful of simple folk and their lives.
– Sublimates aggression and holds grudges.
– Behaves as an eternal adolescent (e.g., his choice of language, youthful image he projects, demands indulgence and feels entitled to special treatment, even though his objective accomplishments do not justify it)
I’ve worked with a couple of folks who were text book narcissists. One of their most destructive traits was the ability to treat the same person as complete scum or tolerable, depending upon whether they needed anything from that individual. Note this from the article:
Idealization or devaluation – The narcissist instantly idealizes or devalues his interlocutor. This depends on how the narcissist appraises the potential his converser has as a Narcissistic Supply Source. The narcissist flatters, adores, admires and applauds the “target” in an embarrassingly exaggerated and profuse manner – or sulks, abuses, and humiliates her.
A narcissist moves from complete disinterest or even humiliation of an individual that doesn’t feed their narcissist needs to near adulation or idealization of the individual who they believe can feed those needs. In Obama’s case, people like Gordon Brown, individuals who are already his ally, provide no feeding of Obama’s narcissistic need. However, in the case of Iran’s leadership and the Taliban, if Obama were able to score political points it would feed his narcissism in an immense way. The other reason I’m convinced that this explains the difference in how Obama has handled the varying foreign issues is this piece, the most troubling trait, from the article:
Ignores data that conflict with his fantasy world, or with his inflated and grandiose self-image.
In Obama’s mind there is no problem negotiating with terrorists because he has disassociated himself from the possibilityof bad guys causing bad things to happen. In Obama’s mind he nourishes his narcissism by simply making the attempt. To Obama its “Heads I win, Tails you lose!”
