In his CNN interview, the religious leader Pat Robertson described Bush on the eve of the invasion as "the most self-assured man I've ever met in my life."
"You remember Mark Twain said, 'He looks like a contented Christian with four aces.' I mean he was just sitting there like, 'I'm on top of the world,' " Robertson said on CNN's "Paula Zahn Now."
Pat Robertson sees Bush blessed by G_d, but interestingly fails to use the word "ethical" with George Bush, which is how most people introduce that Christian quote by Mark Twain. It's like he's not talking about Bush, like G_d is working through Bush (and Bush keeps bungling G_d's work, oddly enough). Even Robertson can't square the mistakes, but then he's getting 1/2 a million of tax payer money from the Bush administration so it's not as if there may be a conflict of interest if he chooses not to support the President or anything like that...
Turns out Bush was a Christian without four aces (no WMD, no nuclear threat, not making a safer Middle East, no connection to 9-11) not even one.
That kind of baseless confidence, one based on thin air rather than substantive accomplishments, is typical of a behavior called DESTRUCTIVE NARCISSISM. If he wasn't doing it that day, he's certainly doing it NOW.
Why people are buying into his "confidence" is absolutely frightening, it's backed up by nothing!!! Just because someone appears confident and charming does not mean that they are truly a confident person, and it definitely doesn't guarantee a capable person.
Destructive narcissists usually have two sides--grandiose self-confidence, and devastating insecurities. And guess what? THEY NEVER ADMIT MISTAKES. It shows up best when a narcissist is challenged. He's boasting and confident one minute, then someone brings him down a little bit (because he can't help being a bluffing jackass) and instead of letting it wash over him, possibly considering it, or admitting he's wrong, he becomes desperate, a victim of someone's wrath, like "[Don't pick on me] It's hard!"
We totally saw this with Bush in the debates. For debate 1 he was devastated and insecure as Kerry attacked, for debates 2 and 3 he had been coached not to become devasted, so he maintained appearing grandiose and just ignored the attacks and the truth (yet he was seething mad, as opposed to Kerry's CONSISTENT confidence and composure). Kerry should get the confidence vote, not Bush!!!
We see how Bush treats people who differ with his preset opinions or hopes--he fires, retires or silences critics who even have his best interests at heart. He trusts few people, and denies the truth when it's hitting him in the face. He has demonstrated no empathy for soldier's funerals, their deaths, or Iraqi civilian deaths. Cheney "F-you with no apologies" is just the same. Karl Rove is right there with them, really DESTRUCTIVE. Taking out his political enemies like it's really a personal war. They are all incredibly secretive. They are classic destructive narcissists.
Chances are that Bush's wife feeds it in him, pumps him up, and rarely challenges him. What did he say in the debate that she taught him, to listen to her? Hmm. That doesn't sound like two-way communication to me. My husband would never say that! I would never say that about him because it seems so basic. Of course he listens to me, and I listen to him, if we don't we're being dismissive of each other and that's awful. Further more, we talk--a lot! He might say I've taught, or rather he learned to use "patience," or "understanding," (because I don't make it easy on him!) but not something as static and unempathetic as "listening." Listening, or hearing, is just the first step...connecting is a conversation. Women who are not connected to their husbands say, "if only he would listen to me." Ladies, he does, but you both need to do more than listen, you need to plug in to each other. Children listen to you, too, to EVERYTHING--they need more understanding, too. Empathy and understanding take far more observation and self-awareness than simply listening. I believe that Bush severly lacks this capacity. A photo-op hug doesn't do it all either, by the way.
Dictionary.com
nar·cis·sism (närs-szm) also nar·cism (-szm)n.
Excessive love or admiration of oneself. See Synonyms at conceit.
1. A psychological condition characterized by self-preoccupation, lack of empathy, and unconscious deficits in self-esteem.
3. The attribute of the human psyche charactized by admiration of oneself but within normal limits [healthy narcissism].
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