GayPatriot

The Internet home for American gay conservatives.

Obama & the Mythological Narcissus

by

Ed Driscoll linked a post by the Anchoress that I had skimmed earlier in the day (via this Instalink) with none of it registering.  Yet, on a more complete reading, I realize her rambling post (but rambling in a good way and very much worth your attention) is full of nuggets of wisdom on the state of this Administration and the nature of the liberal elite.

Or, maybe I should say, she offers insights into the psyche of this president:

Mockery and cynicism is all part of modern day politics, but I am beginning to worry that Obama is showing evidence of a real problem, and it is a problem of insecurity, identity, aloofness, self-protection and, I am sorry to say it, but delusion.

As to his ubiquitous teleprompter she offers:

Some are talking about Linus and his security blanket. To me Obama more accurately resembles the responsibility-shirking Captain Queeg, with this marbles. What is going on with him? The teleprompter protects him from a slip of the tongue. The Podium creates a barrier between him and his “audience” such as it is, and all of it keeps everything at a distance.

She wonders if the president even knows himself.  In her conclusion, she links Althouse’s commentary on her piece:

And this reminds me of something I was saying the other day about liberals. Liberals — I’m generalizing — are so engulfed in their belief that they are the good people, the smart people, that they forget to step back and look at things from the perspective of people who don’t agree with them.

Exactly.

And this brings me to Narcissus, no, not the mythological character as viewed through the distorted lens of Havelock Ellis and Sigmund Freud, but the Boetian youth known to the ancients.  In describing a psychological condition, Ellis and Freud obscured the fact that this unfortunate youth (for whom they named a certain psychological disorder) was not punished because he had fallen in love with himself.  His punishment was to fall in love with himself.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the real Narcissus (as presented by Ovid) was not a sympathetic figure.  Like Hippolytus and Henry Higgins, he scorned love, assuming he could live alone.  Unlike Higgins, however, (at least the Higgins of musical theater), this Narcissus did not let reality change his outlook on life.  He would remain forever pure.

Nemesis cursed him to look in the mirror; he became enamored with his own beauty.

Like the Narcissus longing for purity, Obama pretends he remained unsullied by the crass politics of Washington.  He spoke last night as he spoke a year ago, as if nothing had changed.  Reality did not intrude. It is this Narcissus he resembles, the one who seeks to remain apart from (above?) it all.  The one who thinks his “biggest mistake of the past year [was] his failure to adequately explain his policies to all of us.”

It’s too bad he cannot face a curse similar to that of Nemesis, be forced to engage in a little self-reflection without suffering a fate similar to that of the Thespian youth‘s jilted lovers, the fate that the goddess of divine retribution decreed for Narcissus.

Many thanks to the Anchoress for inspiring this post.

Comments

  2. are so engulfed in their belief that they are the good people, the smart people, that they forget to step back and look at things from the perspective of people who don’t agree with them.

    I disagree. I don’t think they care because people who don’t agree with them aren’t as smart, nuanced, erudite, caring etc. as they are. That’s why they hold others in contempt and why Chumpy Obamalini is always looking down his nose on the proles.

  4. Re: My new name for Obama — Black Narcissist.

    Excuse me, but today we say (Kinda) African-American Narcissist, unless you’re Chris Matthews and forgot that fact for an hour. Because after all, Obama’s narcissism transcends all racial barriers.

  5. NDT: My bet is Black Orpheus.

    I would prefer, unfortunately, to label him The Hairy Ape. We dare note reference that classic if any African-American is involved, so we must bypass a perfectly apt moniker.

  6. He spoke last night as he spoke a year ago, as if nothing had changed. Reality did not intrude.

    The election of Scott Brown last week is Obama’s first life-changing reality check. It will take him awhile to register it.

    Obama is a little kid who has charmed and manipulated people, while developing no real principles or inner substance to speak of, all the way to the U.S. Presidency. After a 45-year run of success with empty charm and manipulation, it will take him awhile to understand that it has stopped working.

  8. After a 45-year run of success with empty charm and manipulation, it will take him awhile to understand that it has stopped working.

    With all due respect, I do not think Obama is wired to change. Amazing to think that Mr. Hopenchange is incapable of change, but how could he improve on his self anointed and self appointed perch of perfection? Nope! he is a legend in his own mind. It is our job to catch up with him or remain mired in our babbling little people ghetto of mediocrity and unenlightened intellectual poverty.

  10. I do not think Obama is wired to change. Amazing to think that Mr. Hopenchange is incapable of change.

    And I don’t see evidence that he’s as bright as his sycophants claim. His policy prescriptions are hackneyed. He stumbles when he is off-teleprompter. His talking points are stale. Where’s teh smart?

  12. I think NDT was referencing “Black Narcissus.” I believe that was a novel by Roald Dahl. It was also made into a movie at some point. It had something to do with nuns. Deborah Kerr — I’m pretty sure it was — starred in it.

    I’m sure she made a very good-looking nun.

  13. And I don’t see evidence that he’s as bright as his sycophants claim.

    Check ILC at #9. I never claimed Obambi had conquered selling Girl Scout Cookies or managing a lemonade stand. (Winking smiley face: I do not know how to summon one up.)