Barack Obama should study the history of unlimited power and insanity

Imperial ObamaWhenever I get around to talking to fellow conservatives, the topic turns to Obama’s increasing lawlessness and the causes (malice?  stupidity? handlers?  feral intelligence?  all of the above?).  Regardless of the cause, Obama’s increasing autocratic behavior is dangerous on many levels, insofar as it undermines the constitution; creates a trickle-down disregard for the law; and places our national security, sovereign integrity and economy at risk.  But perhaps Obama ought to realize that he too is at risk.

When my kids periodically wish that I would discipline them less (and, believe me, I’m no great disciplinarian), I tell them they should be grateful, because I’m protecting them from insanity. I then regale them with historic tales about Roman, European, and various other monarchs who were raised without ever hearing the word “no” and who responded by going insane, usually sadistically so. It turns out the human mind needs push back or else it self-destructs.

Obama, being a narcissist, has built walls around his mind that enable him to ignore or disregard push-back from his political opponents.  That’s bad.  What’s worse is that he is surrounded, not just by “yes men,” but by passionate devotees, in politics, the media, and Hollywood. Not only does Obama not hear the word “no,” just like a Roman emperor, a Russian tsar, or a North Korean hereditary dictator, Obama is surrounded by non-stop, unhealthy, over-the-top adulation.

Thankfully, Obama does not have a horse, a la Caligula’s equine consul, Incitatus.  Still, I keep expecting to read a headline that Obama is insisting that Bo replace Biden as Veep, inaugurating a wave of sycophantic media reports about Bo’s foreign policy acumen.

Whom the Gods would destroy they first drive mad. I hold no brief for Obama.  Should his self-destruction occur, I’ll know that he invited this madness upon himself with his arrogance.  But it’s a shame that, if Obama is indeed at risk, he’s insisting on taking the whole US down his personal primrose path to the mad house.