[VIDEO] Bill Whittle on guns, sons, missing dads, and Pajama Boy fads — plus commentary about narcissistic societies
Bill Whittle is always good. A furious Bill Whittle is even better — and Bill Whittle is mighty angry as he looks at illiberal “liberals” who blame guns for the societal diseases they’ve created, diseases whose outbreaks take the form of angry, vindictive, fatherless boys who need desperately to make all men in the world finally pay attention to them. These are boys and young men, moreover, who are constantly being told that their innate manly virtues, things such as physicality, energy, and loyalty, are disgraceful flaws that lead to rape and murder, and that must therefore be eradicated so as to create the next generation of purer, more womanly man. (I, of course, believe those virtues must be channeled into becoming sheepdogs who protect society.)
Please watch the video (and share it if you can). Then, when you’re done, stick with me for a few more thoughts I have on the subject:
I’ll begin with adding a few more common denominators to the shooters, other than physically or emotionally absent fathers: First, when one removes from the equation (a) Muslims, (b) the Roseberg shooter who was apparently a registered independent, and (c) the Charleston shooter who was unaffiliated, for almost 20 years now the shooters either have been Democrats or have come from homes that were strongly Democrat. The lesson to be drawn, of course, is that Democrats should be banned from having guns.
Second, it appears that, with the exception of the Muslim shooters, all or most of the shooters them have been on some form of drug, whether they were self-administering illegal drugs or getting treated with a cocktail of ADHD and depression drugs. This doesn’t necessarily mean that the drugs themselves are the problem. It may indicate, however, that these troubled young men should have been taken off the streets, rather than stuffed with pills and moved through the system.
Third, because the shooters who weren’t Democrats, unaffiliated, or Independents have all been Muslims, the gun grabbers might want to tailor their grabs so that, in addition to Democrats being denied guns, Muslims are denied them too. Just saying….
Fourth, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the number of shooters is escalating lately. Mass shootings used to be so uncommon as to be statistically anomalous. Now, they’re appearing with a frequency that may have some statistical relevance.
Three things might be contributing to this escalation: (a) the increase in gun-free zones, so there are more easy targets for the crazies; (b) the snowball effect of shootings, which are invariably followed by mass media coverage (which the shooters all crave), coverage that also provides detailed information about what the shooters did right to achieve their goal and what they did wrong so that they ended up dead; and (c) the age of Obama, which has proven to be a racially fraught, economically disastrous, sometimes apocalyptically scary time. End times always bring out the crazies.
And speaking of apocalyptic times, I want to discuss the peculiarly apocalyptic nature of narcissists, which I think can be applied on a larger scale to our society’s ills. I’ve mentioned before that my life has put me in the direct path of clinical narcissists, with some of them veering into the realm of being malignant narcissists. I’ve also mentioned that the same traits I see in them as people are the traits that have come to define the modern Democrat party — or at least the burgeoning Progressive wing of the Democrat party. I’ll start with a few narcissist anecdotes, and then broaden the discussion.
Here’s a laundry list of the core traits associated with narcissistic personality disorder:
- Having an exaggerated sense of self-importance
- Expecting to be recognized as superior even without achievements that warrant it
- Exaggerating your achievements and talents
- Being preoccupied with fantasies about success, power, brilliance, beauty or the perfect mate
- Believing that you are superior and can only be understood by or associate with equally special people
- Requiring constant admiration
- Having a sense of entitlement
- Expecting special favors and unquestioning compliance with your expectations
- Taking advantage of others to get what you want
- Having an inability or unwillingness to recognize the needs and feelings of others
- Being envious of others and believing others envy you
- Behaving in an arrogant or haughty manner
Although the list is intended to describe individuals, you probably saw a lot of President Obama and Hillary Clinton in it. I’m going to discuss one other trait common to the narcissists in my life — unreasonable apocalyptic fears — and then see if I can convince you that Leftism is narcissism writ large.
Something interesting that I’ve noticed in the narcissists in my life is their completely bizarre sense of risk and apocalyptic consequences, something allied with a refusal even to acknowledge that other people may have different algorithms for assessing reasonable and unreasonable risks. I’ll start with a story from my own life, which is what got me thinking along these lines.
A few days ago, one of the narcissists in my life was trying to get me to do something I didn’t want to do, because one possible outcome — admittedly a small possibility — could be irreparably harmful to me. The narcissist became abusive, telling me that my problem was that I was utterly incapable of assessing risk. After all, the risk to me of the conduct she wanted was indeed very small — but she ignored the fact that, no matter how statistically small the risk, it was still a possibility. Had the risky outcome been minimal, I would have done as she asked without a second’s thought. Since the potential outcome was unacceptable to me, however, I was unwilling to take any risk at all, no matter how unlikely. And since it’s a free country, I walked away from the situation.
Along with this habit of entirely discounting other people’s concerns is the narcissist’s habit of seeing the things that concern him, not just as a balance of risks and rewards, but in completely apocalyptic terms. Case in point: You may have been aware of a tragic Bay Area story concerning two horrible murders. About a week ago, a young Canadian backpacker was murdered in Golden Gate Park, something which happens so infrequently as to be headline news. A week later, a much beloved Marin County new age healer type was shot on a popular hiking trail. Again, this random killing was headline news and, because of its rarity, shocked the community.
Police apprehended the suspects to the man’s killing and quickly discovered strong evidence tying them to the young woman’s murder as well. The suspects were two young men and a young woman, all of whom fell into the rather classic “drifter” category of criminal: psychopaths who kill along the way to get what they need to keep moving forward. Thankfully, these types of criminals aren’t that common — and certainly haven’t been seen in the Bay Area in more decades than I can count.
When my mother (who is quite definitely a clinical narcissist) heard that my children (older teens) were planning to go into San Francisco to celebrate Fleet Week, she called me in a dizzy. “That’s dangerous. Your children won’t know how to avoid dangers. They’ll get killed.”
Wow! That was a heavy load of fear there. As it happens, murders are uncommon during Fleet Week. The waterfront becomes a bustling, exciting area, from the Marina Green all the way down to AT&T Park. Happy crowds are everywhere. I’d warn my children about purse snatchers and pick pockets, but I certainly don’t see the event as a murderer’s paradise. Nor was there any risk that the kids would wander off into the Tenderloin by mistake. They’re savvy enough to avoid that. My mother, however, sees everything in apocalyptic terms — don’t do anything at all lest the worst happens.
It would be easy enough to attribute my mother’s fears to her life experiences, what with WWII and everything, but that doesn’t explain another narcissist whom I know. This friend often accuses me of being an insane worrier because, when I prepare for trips, I run through possible eventualities in my mind. You know the kind of thing: If it rains, we’ll need this; if the kids get too hungry, we’ll need that; if the sun is out, we’ll need hats and sunscreen; and we’d better make double, no, triple sure that we’ve got our passports and that they’re accessible. I don’t call this worrying; I call it planning.
My friend, however, is different. If you tell him anything that affects one of his plans, the first thing he thinks of is the worst case, apocalyptic scenario. All slightly negative changes in plan are met with “This is a disaster.” Plane running 10 minutes late? This is a disaster. We’ll miss the connecting flight. One of his children gets a less than good grade? This is a disaster. He (or she) will never get into college. Grumbling noise in the car engine? This is a disaster. It will probably cost thousands of dollars to fix.
Both of these narcissistic people remind me of the WWII-era American Jewish joke playing on the Jews’ traditional fear of dogs (which have been associated with Cossacks and Nazis, and not in nice ways):
General Patton assembles his troops on the eve of a great battle.
“We need the best spy we can find,” he says, “in order to scout the enemy position.”
Everyone agrees that Siegel is the best spy, and Siegel is sent ahead and told to return by five the next afternoon.
At four o’clock,there is no sign of Siegel. Four-thirty — nothing. Finally, at ten minutes to five, Siegel returns, shaking and quivering.
“Siegel,” says the general,”what do you find?”
“On the right flank, General, they have hundreds and hundreds of tanks.”
“That’s terrible!”
“No, sir. We have artillery, and we’ll destroy their tanks and send in our infantry.”
“Brilliant, Siegel, but what about the left flank?”
“On the left flank, sir, they have thousands of troops and hundreds of cannons.”
“That’s terrible!”
“No, sir. We’ll send in our tanks to overrun them.”
“Brilliant, Siegel, but what about the center?”
“Oy, sir, don’t even ask.”
“Siegel, what do you mean?”
“It’s horrible. I can’t even talk about it.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“We’ll stage a pincer movement and destroy the enemy on both flanks.”
“All right, but tell me — I have to know — what did you see in the center?”
“Oy sir, in the center they’ve got such a big dog!”
(From The Big Book of Jewish Humor, 1981 ed.)
Putting aside our understanding of the historical roots of Siegel’s fear, the joke on its face reveals someone who’s world view is so limited that he magnify’s his fears out on a global scale. Having abandoned the comforts of traditional religion, Leftists have opted to revert to a pagan-esque, Gaia religion, which has all the failings that went with the classic pagan Gods: the God is a tyrannical monster, arbitrary and capricious, operating without justice or moral standards, that must be placated at all times. The failure to do so means imminent apocalyptic disaster.
Reason becomes irrelevant, which is why the fact that the science has consistently proved inconsistent with global warmist theories doesn’t faze the Gaia worshippers. The important point is the worship, rather than the data.
With that in mind, look at the way Obama brushes aside the slaughter in Syria, Putin’s bombing campaign, the realignment of allegiances in the Middle East, and the refugee crisis in Europe to focus on the real problem (emphasis mine):
Steve Kroft: He’s challenging your leadership, Mr. President. He’s challenging your leadership–
President Barack Obama: Well Steve, I got to tell you, if you think that running your economy into the ground and having to send troops in in order to prop up your only ally is leadership, then we’ve got a different definition of leadership. My definition of leadership would be leading on climate change, an international accord that potentially we’ll get in Paris. My definition of leadership is mobilizing the entire world community to make sure that Iran doesn’t get a nuclear weapon. And with respect to the Middle East, we’ve got a 60-country coalition that isn’t suddenly lining up around Russia’s strategy. To the contrary, they are arguing that, in fact, that strategy will not work.
All these imminent concerns are other people’s problems, such as the civilians in Syria, the Israelis caught in Iran’s cross-hairs, the Ukrainians, the Europeans with their overrun borders, etc. The real problem, because it frightens the pagan in Obama (indeed, in every Leftist), is that Mother Earth is angry. Never mind the conflicting data, never mind the lies, never mind the failed predictions, never mind that warming historically brings more water and more food to more people — We’re doomed! We’re all going to die! The end is near! Ignore the concrete problems that we have to plan for and deal with now, and worry about the coming apocalypse. Ayyyyyyyy!
All of which gets me back to the video in which Whittle, whether he meant to or not, highlights two other Leftist qualities: The Leftists’ apocalyptic, unreasoning fear of something that’s really not a problem, which is coupled with their narcissistic belief that only they have the answers, and that they must be put in complete control to implement change. And by the way, they’re not above using lying, manipulation, and abuse to achieve the power they need to prevent the non-apocalypse that frightens them so much.
I’ve already put up this poster, but let me reiterate how ridiculous it is that the Left expends so much energy, anger, money, and power on the mass murder issue: