Wednesday, March 17, 2010

A Psychoanalysis of Obama

From Robin of Berkeley:

The ultimate Stranger in a Strange Land is, of course, Obama. It's no wonder; given his bizarro family, there was no one with whom to bond. Pitifully, the focal point in Obama's life story -- the brave, oppressed Obama Sr. -- is a chimera, all smoke-and-mirrors.

Obama has surrounded himself with other Strangers. His friends are society's misfits: Van Jones, the self-proclaimed Communist; John Holdren, enthralled with devolution and eugenics. Chicago pals Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn tried to destroy their own nation with terrorism.

Obama has been called a Citizen of the World. While liberals find this appealing, what it actually means is that Obama has come from nowhere and belongs nowhere.

Someone with no country or roots has nothing. Bob Dylan described the predicament and the danger: "When you have nothing, you have nothing to lose."

This is why Obama can casually throw his grandma and pastor under the bus. And Obama can seamlessly enter into a shady land deal with slumlord Tony Rezko, knowing full well that he deprived black people of heat in frigid Chicago winters.

Obama can profess love for his father but allow paternal relatives to live in abject poverty in the projects in Boston or shacks in Kenya. He can cavalierly end the D.C. school voucher program, cheating poor black kids of a decent education.

Obama's Strangeness allows him to destroy the Democratic Party by forcing health care legislation that the populace vehemently opposes. If the party crashes and burns, it doesn't matter much to Obama. He was never one of them anyway.

In therapy lingo, Obama may have an attachment disorder. This diagnosis is often applied to children languishing in orphanages or shuttled among foster homes.

These kids may look normal, but what's missing is the ability to connect to something or someone wholesome. All grown up, unattached adults may lack empathy and, in extreme cases, a conscience.

A disconnected president puts us all at risk. We've survived narcissistic presidents before, even neophytes. But we've never seen the likes of Obama.

We've never had a president who is angry about everything but passionate about very little. We've never encountered a president who hasn't bonded to his own country.

So who is this Stranger anyway, Barack Hussein Obama? What makes him tick? Whom does he love? What fills his heart with joy?

Grasping the essence of Obama seems as futile as trying to catch snow. Perhaps part of the reason we know so little about Obama is that there may be very little to know.

1 comment:

Jeanne said...

You have grasped an elusive bit of something that I've sensed in Obama.
Something is not right. Something is sad, but I sense no desire in him to change. Anger is a habit he doesn't want to give up.

Thanks for the insight.