**A Post by Shifra**
Whenever we hear anything about the latest polls, there is always something about Obama’s “likability.” Although a rising number of likely voters believe the country is going in the wrong direction, there’s always that pesky “likability” thing. And many of us are wondering, as Tammy did on Friday’s show, “Who is this group of people who like Barack Obama?”
So, I set off to find myself a real live Obot. Typed in “Obama” and “likability,” and there she was, courtesy of the HuffPo: Christine Alonzo, 43 years old.
Alonzo volunteered for Obama during the 2008 campaign. A few months after Obama’s victory, she lost her job. She’s still looking for work. Instead of blaming Obama for the economic crisis, she’s volunteering full time to help him capture a second term.
“It’s tough out there,” Alonzo says. But, the 43-year-old adds, “I don’t think our president’s had enough time to get us back to where we need to be.” She still likes him even though she’s not hot about the state of the country. “He’s got the intelligence, the drive, to get this country back on track.”
…Public opinion polls routinely show that Americans like the president personally even though they don’t agree with his policies, even if hurt by them.
Even if hurt by them?
So, how is Christine different than a woman saying about her boyfriend, “Ok, he punched me in the face and threw me down the stairs. And I’m not hot about my broken foot. But my boyfriend’s got the intelligence and the drive to make this relationship work.”
You say “likability,” I say “pathology.”
And no, I am not referring here to the pathology of the Obots. I am talking about O’s innate ability to promise empty promises, and to manipulate people to believe in him. I am talking about his sociopathic charm.
This is in no way a definitive diagnosis of our Empty-Chair-in-Chief. Much has been written about his Malignant Narcissism, and it is all very much on target. But I do believe that he has sociopathic tendencies. Think of a blender with only two speeds.
Speed #1: Pleasant, intelligent, smooth talker, charming, maybe a bit seductive, makes you feel good about yourself.
Speed #2: Angry, contemptuous and vindictive when he/she realizes that the charm and smooth talking are not working to get what they want from you.
Consider these two exchanges, one between Obama and McCain, the other between Obama and Eric Cantor, during the 2010 meeting to “discuss” healthcare.
Notice Obama’s inconsistent eye contact, the irritation, the thinly veiled anger rising to the surface, the contemptuous tone. (And since he was addressed as “Mr. President,” it would have been appropriate to respond to “Senator McCain,” instead of the dismissive “John.”)
And that is why Clint Eastwood’s speech, and the zingers aimed at Obama during the convention, were so effective. Because the malignant narcissist with sociopathic tendencies cannot tolerate criticism, and becomes unhinged when the charm does not work.
Obama will make mistakes. He will tip his hand. We will see more of his anger and vindictiveness. It will be his undoing.
Thanks for the analysis Shifra, here’s some supplemental information.
This article, from our favorite online encyclopedia, has another ‘take’ on what is going on here with El Presidente’ and his shills:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_manipulation
This is the Biggest Con Game in American Political History, imho.
posted 9/8 915pm Texas[Knowledge is Power!]Time
Damn, Dennis. That reads like Obama’s secret playbook!
Great post, Shifra. I’ve always seen a deep anger bubbling under the surface with this guy, right back to that 2004 convention speech when he stood and lectured America from his high horse of Illinois State Senator. Unfortunately, it’s all but impossible to get people to believe he has bad intentions of any kind, or that he has a personality disorder. No one wants to believe those things about a POTUS, or even of someone who would consider running for the job.
It’s sad to hear about these O bag holders. No matter who is president at some point you have to put your head down and make/find your way. The loss of opportunity waiting (up to 8 years (10% of a life span)) for a president to “get us back where we need to be” could be a problem.
I have long seen Obama as a sociopathic personality, based on his need to demonstrate his dominance over others. Obviously there are times when power must be exercised; for example, when dealing with bin Laden. But compelling the Church infrastructure to provide birth control…this sort of thing serves no vital purpose. Where’s that famous “tolerance”? I can understand why some people think the Church is wrong, and of course many of the rank-and-file Catholics violate the directives. But what need is there to beat an institution into compliance? It’s not like Sandra Fluke couldn’t go buy her contraceptives for an affordable sum at the corner store. And this is not an isolated example. Same thing happens with smoking, raw milk, light bulbs, the height of toilets, you name it. We see government morphing into this monstrous power that makes all decisions for us. The advocates of such practices frame their argument in moral terms, but it just doesn’t wash. It’s the need to dominate, to control others. And it’s okay to control those people because they need or deserve to be controlled. Those other people, they’re stupid, they’re greedy. The appeal of Obama lies in the dark side of the human soul, the narcissistic component that regards self as sacrosanct, and others as unfit. We, the wise and worthy, are entitled to control you, the erring and degraded.
I’m reminded of an interesting line in Oliver Stone’s film “Nixon”. At one point, a dejected Nixon faces the White House portrait of JFK. Speaking to the portrait, he says: “When they [the people] look at you, they see what they want to be. When they look at me, they see what they are.”
“Likeability”? Yes, we like and dislike for strange, warped reasons. For those that require their dark and ugly impulses to be validated, Obama is very likeable.
Thanks Shifra! “.”
My thoughts on the big ‘O’s likability, he’s a waste disposal orifice.
Wow, seeing these clips again I’m reminded how embarrassed I was for Obama at the White House healthcare summit. Didn’t he realize that projecting that superior attitude diminished him not elevate him? What’s to like? He seems so uncomfortable in his own skin, always on the defensive, always trying to prove how much smarter he is than anyone else in the room. Sadly, it’s GOT to go back to his mother rejecting him….and this is just a layman’s view. Then how to explain why so many find him ‘likable’? It’s a puzzlement and frightening that there may be enough Obots to keep him in office (one way or another). Another great post Shifra!
Agree, agree, agree! As the election moves on and the pressure on Obama becomes greater Obama will lose it. Romney can keep the pressure on him that will be it. Everything around him is crumbling whether it is the campaign staff at odds, the platform etc. The only thing left is Obama himself.
So the DB is a MN
He’s a Minnesotan?
LOL!
The soulless hatred that his followers display on Twitter and other venues disturbs me just as much as his Malignant Narcissism. If he were to order them into violent behavior, they would no doubt go.
I believe all his life Barack Obama sailed through because others saw him as someone who has great potential. You don’t ask a man of destiny how he’s doing so far. It doesn’t matter. It’s all about the future.
Bill Clinton is another sociopath who rose to the presidency, but he is a self-made con man. He recognized early on his ability to fool people and he cultivated that talent for his ambitions. Obama is a creation of the wishful thinking of others. He doesn’t understand that. He conformed to the way people treated him. He evolved into a narcissist and someone who could never have genuine empathy for others. His destiny is to be the famous empty man who could be everywhere and nowhere at the same time. I could feel sorry for him except for the great damage this pathetic person will cause.
Everywhere and nowhere. Well put Pat.
Chauncey Gardner with an axe to grind?
You took the words right out of my mouth.
I’ve *never liked* con artists like him who just BS and say anything to get their way. Either those likability polls are seriously “massaged”, or the populace continues to get more gullible and blind.
Shifra, Thanks for your usual thoughtful and well articulated analysis. When viewing the clips above it becomes immediately clear that he never intended to meet with them. He called them there, I believe in his mind, to scold them and berate them at every opportunity and to vent his anger at being challenged. Displaying exactly the sort of behavior that you describe. This behavior has been evident from the beginning of his campaign and is getting worse and more frequent as time passes. As Tammy points out frequently; there is something wrong with this guy.
I hope the Romney/Ryan campaign has an adviser with your skill set coaching them on how to press his buttons, especially during the upcoming debates. The more his buttons get pressed the more he will reveal himself.
Thanks Shifra. This fits in with BHO’s statements that his mistake was that he didn’t do a good job of explaining his programs to the public. While we respond with, you’re on TV every day, he might be going to speed #1, the only thing that he knows other than speed #2.
btw, the NY Post discussed Woodward’s new book yesterday, and in the book, Woodward writes that the time when BHO invited Ryan to a healthcare speech and then savaged him, that BHO was unaware that Ryan was there. Eg, an aide invited Ryan and didn’t tell BHO. HaHaHaHaHa. An iconic political journalist accepts that and carries the water. Obviously the admin. recognized that that display of speed #2 had to be covered up. And wasn’t Ryan in the front row?
That’s funny, Alain41. So, are we to believe that he did not see the Supreme Court members sitting in front of him during the SOTU when he berated them, to the cheers of the Dems? Hey, maybe the DB needs glasses!
Thanks, Timbo, but I don’t think it takes much to “press his buttons.” I just pray that Romney “goes after him” on the issues and calls him out for the numbers the DB seems to be pulling out of a hat. *That* should be enough to irritate him. (I wonder if, during the debate, Romney will call him “Mr. President,” while the DB will call him “Mitt.”)
Pat_S, yes, absolutely, Clinton is a sociopath. You make a very interesting distinction between the two of them. Btw, if we can believe Dick Morris, Billy Jeff would often fly into a rage when things were not working his way. I think he once tackled Morris to the ground. Nice guy…
What a relief it will be to have *normal* people in the WH!
Thanks, TAMS, for your thoughtful comments.
Maybe Mitt can call him Bah-rock.
You might do well to study Nero. He and Obama are similar.
Keep Writing Shifra! The 2nd speed on the blender is NASTY. I’ve noticed that 2nd speed a number of times. The retail term RTV (Return To Vendor) comes to mind. There is a pile of RTVs in the store. The “Customer Is Always Right”. This blender has a default setting at 2nd speed & therefore it is a reject.
From the beginning I recognized the sociopathy in Clinton as I was married to one at the time, so the pathology was recognizable. I have puzzled over Obama, not quite accepting him as a defined sociopath and have instead come to the conclusion that he is pure evil. He is totally amoral – he pretends empathy for his fellow citizens, despises individualism and embraces globalism as his religion.
Tammy, I never really Liked Pimps, what they give you is a few trinkets and then they slap you around, give you a little more trinkets and then brained you theirs for life, that’s why I never really Liked Pimps. Black Americans, Hispanic Americans, and Jewish Americans to name a few.
I don’t like ‘im…maybe I am in a bubble, but he comes over to me as an arrogant a**hole. Of course, it may be just me ….because I have been hearing for 3 years that since I am a middle class older white grandpa that I am automatically a racist.
Wow…while driving through San Francisco this weekend I saw a very cool yet Snarky poster of the DB…On Lombard Street…HA!!!!
The fact that such a large percentage of the population claims to “like” Obama and is willing to give him another term makes me seriously wonder if we will survive as a society. The Leftist, PC poison and constant inversion of reality has sunk so deep into the American psyche, for so many generations, that we may not be able to recover. Rather than steer away from the abyss, we seem almost as likely to do a “Thelma and Louise” right over the cliff.