Is He Out of His Narcissistic Mind?

What to make of such puerile behavior.

By Marilia Duffles – 12.1.14

There is nothing like watching politicians utter the naked truth. So rare it defies belief. Like Cidinha Campos, the blunt Brazilian Congresswoman from Rio de Janeiro, who points the finger at the bad political apples with justified and refreshing outrage. The late Ohio Congressman Jim Traficant had nothing on her.

It is worth watching Brazil’s Campos for a few minutes on the floor of the Brazilian Chamber before reading the brief translations (here). Referring to a corrupt congressman who did himself in, while citing specific violations of legal codes, she said:

I want to discuss those who shamelessly take from the public purse.

He is more corrupt than his politician father. Corruption is in the DNA of our politicians instead of being addressed by the legal system.

This corrupt thief appointed himself to the Treasury. I see their cynicism. The more corrupt they are, the more simpatico they come across to people.

It would be even more refreshing if the American press and media alike were to have Cidinha Campos’s cojones. But these exalted keepers of political knowledge act as if political decisions are made in a utopia where cause and effect are always meant for the common good and to save taxpayer dollars.

As Cidinha makes clear, politicians are not molded by events, it’s the other way around.

Never mind the serial briefing papers, roundtable discussions, and professions of undying devotion to a cause or constituency. The ultimate decision always boils down to politics.

Certainly they know this?

There’s nothing like an equation to solve for what is perhaps still the unknown out there. Harold Lasswell (1902-1978) — considered the father of political psychology — made an, um, textbook case:

p}d}r}=P

Which means: Political man (p) projects his personal needs onto a public object (d), and then rationalizes it (r) as being in the public interest. And, voilá, you’ve got P. The power seeker. Homo politicus.

The fourth estate’s vitriolic debates prattle on instead with the “he said, she saids,” accepting political legers de main — whether the “left or right” main — as the rightful cause to effect when it’s really legers de man.

The obvious? Obamacare: To amass more Democrat voters for the party, to leave a legacy for the president’s ego, no matter what the negative consequences to American taxpayers, to insurance companies, to the economy, to, eeek!, medical care. All rationalized as providing more coverage for American people with no cost to taxpayers or others. And, in the end, papered over with lies: “You can keep your plan, your doctor, it will be cheaper…”

The role of a leader’s personality and personal needs has been ignored, says Jerrold Post, the political psychiatrist, in his book Leaders and Their Followers in a Dangerous World. It is “leaders who make decisions,” not interest groups or events.

The scientific reality is that to decide or judge is to engage the brain and to engage the brain is to engage: emotions, moral sense, memories (including buried ones) and irrational decision-making. Always and without fail.

The frontal lobe, behind the forehead, is where reasoned, logical thinking takes place. When mulling over a decision, it always consults the limbic system lying deep within the brain and made up of a complex number of structures responsible for our emotions, behavior, motivation and long-term memories.

The limbic system is that inner voice you “hear” — that gut feeling — that helps you gain an accurate first impression of someone without being able to articulate why. The limbic system gives you those instant and unwise urges — say, to slap someone who just insulted you — but it is often held back by the rational frontal lobe which keeps your social behavior in check in order to avoid embarrassing moments, setbacks and personal failure.

Even though lawyers insist that justice is based on logic and logic alone, never does the frontal lobe make a decision without the subconscious input from the limbic system.

Especially and most particularly in politics.

President Obama’s decision-making has been so oddly lacking political reason that even his foes can’t conclude it’s his lack of experience or that he is perhaps that incompetent.

But even before his senseless decisions peaked — the situation with ISIS is out of control, for one — his psychology had been addressed. Shrinks voice unanimous analysis based on keen observation of his actions and superimposing them on the childhood revealed in Obama’s autobiographical books. Between books like Obama on the Couch, various pieces in psychology journals, and even a piece in the New Republic, the proverbial couch is no longer necessary as it is clear he has the classic narcissistic personality.

Read more: http://spectator.org/articles/61120/he-o...rcissistic-mind