Today hubris – tomorrow, nemesis

We recognize the narcissism of our Commander-in-Chief. It has been the subject of many an article by his detractors. Here, for example, is a harsh assessment of the depth of his pathological disorder by a purported MD psychiatrist (I say “purported”, because the identity of the author is hidden and therefore cannot be verified):

http://www.economicnoise.com/2012/05/02/a-psychologist-analyzes-the-president/

I don’t know enough to properly vet this article from a medical or psychiatric point of view, but enough rings true to be truly worried. We should all worry and pray for the health and well-being of Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng, for example, who was kicked out of the U.S. embassy in violation of a long history of American embassies providing sanctuary to human rights activists. Why?

The article cited above provides a clue:

Narcissists have no interest in things that do not help
them to reach their personal objective. They are focused on one thing
alone and that is power. All other issues are meaningless to them and
they do not want to waste their precious time on trivialities.
Anything that does not help them is beneath them and does not deserve
their attention.

If an issue raised in the Senate does not help Obama in one way or
another, he has no interest in it. The “present” vote is a safe vote.
No one can criticize him if things go wrong. Those issues are unworthy
by their very nature because they are not about him.

Sadly, Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng serves no purpose for the agenda of our narcissist in chief. He and his family, therefore, are dispensable.

In ancient Greece, narcissism was the handmaiden of hubris. It was a punishable crime, as the Greeks recognized that hubris inevitably led to destruction by nemesis. The author of the linked article worries that, should Obama be repudiated by the American people, nemesis will express itself through a backlash against African Americans, the rise of white supremacists and race wars. I disagree. I believe that we, as a people, are well beyond that.

What we do need to worry about is that a failing Obama, faced with the repudiation of his narcissistic world view by his country, will do things far more drastic to wreak revenge upon his detractors and cement his self image as the man who changed the world. Think a moment about the horrific actions of another pathological narcissist cited in the article, Jim Jones, for example.

I believe that there is a good chance that, despite widespread sabotage of the American electoral system by the Democrats, that Romney will win. What we really need to worry about is the inevitable arrival of nemesis. Let’s hope that our country’s systems of checks and balances, designed by our Founding Fathers, hold fast.

In the meantime, the rest of the world and its human rights activists have good cause to be worried. We live in dangerous times.