Palin Leaves The Pool
Soon we will discover if Sarah Palin's shocking move to abruptly resign as governor of Alaska was for political or personal gain. Regardless of the answer, we can confirm that this decision is one of self-interest, not the dominion of a leader concerned with supporting and sustaining the people she represents.
In clinical language we refer to Palin's move as narcissistic -- self-promoting regardless of her impact on others. Like a true narcissist, Palin once again acted with a grandiose sense of self-importance, claiming that while she "promised efficiencies and effectiveness... that's not how I'm wired. I'm not wired to operate under the same old politics as usual." Correct, she's not. She, like most other narcissists, are above the standard for reasonable behavior, important enough that she gets to make her own rules -- rules that serve her, in spite of how they affect others. Palin categorizes herself as a maverick, thereby framing any of her actions in a positive light. But that needs to be questioned rather than merely accepted.
It is quintessential for a narcissist to be self-assured, and full of herself, and for that fullness to be filled with hot air, compensating for a deeper sense of shame. Yes, I know that it may seem difficult to comprehend how someone who seems so arrogantly confident can have an internal structure of insecurity and fear of being inadequate, but that's the way it is for those whose personas are built on distortion and illusion, on smoke and mirrors.
It is worth noting that Sarah delivered her news at the end of a week in which a Vanity Fair article reported about how several Republican advisors to Senator John McCain questioned her competency. Todd Purdum, author of the Vanity Fair article, reports that "several told him independently of one another that they had consulted the definition of 'narcissistic personality disorder' in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DMS IV) -- 'a pervasive pattern of grandiosity (in fantasy or behavior), need for admiration, and lack of empathy'-- and thought it fit her perfectly."
"The persona that many narcissists present to the world often comes across to others as a "superiority complex," describes Sandy Hotchkiss, author of Why Is It Always About You? A mask of arrogance disguises the narcissist's deep sense of worthlessness. Often bossy, judgmental, perfectionistic, and power hungry, they strive to secure a status that will protect them against their personal defects. In asserting her plan to leave the governorship now, rather than wait out her term, Palin reaffirms her feeling of superiority, again under the auspices of being a maverick who gets to make her own rules. It doesn't matter that she is giving three weeks notice, what matters is that she is moving on -- to the beat of her own drummer -- maverick style.
What competent leader abandons the people who rely upon her? What kind of leader gives three weeks' notice before leaving a job at the top post? Palin said that she would "fight for all our children's future from outside the governor's office," while abandoning the children of Alaska without planning for her departure. As Hotchkiss so well describes, endemic to narcissists is "the motto that 'my feelings and thoughts are all that matter, and whatever I want, I should get.' Mutuality and reciprocity are entirely alien concepts, because others exist only to agree, obey, flatter, and comfort -- in short, to anticipate and meet my every need." The conviction of entitlement holds it all in place.
In the long run, Sarah Palin may secure her political base with hard-core conservatives who see her as a standard-bearer for their values, and she may even make an enormous amount of money as a talk show host or a public speaker. Regardless of her professional future, we need to be cautious and interpret her actions so that the public doesn't mistake them for authentic leadership.
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I would like to understand why my previous comment on this blog entry was censored? I submitted it last night. It did not promote aggression, violence or hatred. I asked questions.
I wasn't even notified that it was rejected, let alone the reason why it was rejected. Am I invisible? Was there a technical difficulty? Was I supposed to use colorful and offensive language so that more readers would follow this page?
-Linda
When she first made her appearance on the national stage I, like alot of people, read as much about her as I could. Within just a few weeks I was convinced that she had either NPD or Histronic. Anyone who is even remotely familiar with the disorder s can see it in her.
Do you really need psychobabble to get a frank impression of this woman? Hardly.
FOR SALE: Inventory of Snowmobiles. Wife has lost job. We moving to District of Columbia for wife's new job in media and journalism. Assortment of tools, mukluk boots, snow shoes, etc. Moose-dressing cutlery. Two sturdy dog sleds with harnesses. Dogs available. See TP at the TP Snowmobile Shop in Wasilla.
I would love to see Sarah give a news conference with her fish waders on and NO MAKE-UP!!!!
I can't believe that people continue to think this mayor of a town of 7,000 people has anything of importance to say.
I wonder if the appeal of such a person is that on some level people really wish things were that simple to fix. They want to look past that blank stare and make believe it is all about informed conviction. But how in the world can we make informed choices when we ourselves are eating additive-laden foods, some grown in toxic waste labeled safe because of political loopholes, taking a laundry list of prescribed pharmaceuticals, plugging our brains into 'scientifically proven safe' cell frying i-phones with one eye on tv headlines that have nothing to do with reality and the other on our gamed-out children who aren't learning the intrinsic value of just being in the moment or communicating with another human being - then I suppose we deserve what we get. Or, on a good day we could choose to be more deliberate and conscious thinking in our choices.
You can refer to Palin's move clinically all you like as narcissist
But, unfortunately for those at Huffpo and for people like David Letterman and Shannyn Moore, the American public, according to Gallup and other polls, do not share the overwhelming hostility and gotcha politics that they do towards Palin...fi
Are you kidding me? Pull your head out of the sand.
The rest of the nation? With only 20% or so willing to call themselves Republicans--the same percentage who still think George W did a heckuva job--you're practicing Palinesque self-deception to tell yourself the 'overwhelming majority' agree with you.
If teh polls you're watching are Gallup and Rasmussen.
To you, FHTB, I will say exactly what I said to another poster who felt the need to defend this numbskull:
Give me a break. The woman deserves every bit of derision thrown her way, and a great deal of it is coming from fellow REPUBLICANS.
If someone--anyone: man or woman, Republican or Democrat--can't stand criticism from journalists and being fodder for comedians, they have no business being in politics; that's the nature of the game, and has been for centuries. If we still had responsible journalism like we did during the Nixon era, Palin would have been reduced to a quivering mound of goo before she even got out of the gate.
The woman is loony-tunes, she is completely unqualified for public office, and she would still be rightfully unknown to the majority of Americans if McCain hadn't thrown her into the national spotlight in an act of transparent desperation.
I think she can take the 'derision' thrown her way, it's the attacks on her family. What would happen if the attacks were on the Obama kids, even if he'd lost and gone back to Chicago and they were 'still' happening after almost a year. All heck would break loose and people like you would be calling foul. And I know it's hard to see the forest for the trees, but maybe she honestly felt she was doing Alaska wrong by continuing to draw a paycheck since her time was filled fighting people like Celtic Diva and the like.
You go, FHTB! I'm right there with ya!
How come the little girl is always holding the baby, and why are the kids standing around when shes quitting her job. All Seems inappropriate .
See Jane Shure's Profile
To those who are asking should narcissists get help? The sad part of dealing with narcissists is that they do not see themselves realistically and therefore do not see the ways in which they need help. Many people have been deeply hurt by parents or spouses who are narcissistic and unable to have a clear sense of how they are perceived by others.
In Palin's case, she has such a huge fan club and is being endorsed with mega bucks that she is not in a position to be suffering. She is the poster child for the conservative movement in the moment.
In clinical treatment, narcissists don't come for therapy. They are not open to looking at themselves and their defense structure protects such an early level of wounding, that they are compelled to maintain a false belief system about who they are in the world.
Your post makes me wonder if you are suffering from NPD yourself. You have placed yourself in the position to judge someone you don't know personally based on your own partisan beliefs. You seem to think your opinion somehow deserves an aqua background, and some sort of weight compared to the eyes and ears of the average viewer.
Is Sarah Palin suffering? I can't know for sure, but I believe she is. To me this means that whether or not she asks for help, she needs help.
Is it possible for me to feel compassion for her, though she's not obviously suffering and mightn't even believe she is, herself?
I hope it's possible.
A while ago, I saw a story about a child who could not feel pain. Among other things, she needed to wear goggles so she wouldn't scratch her own eyes out. If she'd broken any bones, she would not know it. I felt very saddened and moved by this child who couldn't even tell she was hurting herself.
I believe Sarah is in this sort of imbalance, but no one can see, hear or feel her wounds because they're not on a physical level. There's no way to measure them. But, they're there. If I could see her as I saw that child, a human being creating her own illness, yet unaware of it, then perhaps I will find a way to feel empathy for her. However, it's a challenge.
Perhaps those who are least able to ask for help are the ones who need it the most.
-Linda
See Jane Shure's Profile
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is complex and can be presented in many ways. Generally it exemplifies someone with an inflated sense of themselves with little ability to look at themselves realistically. Negative comments are taken as slights and felt as wounds that need to be defended against. On blogger sent this interesting comment about Dunning-Kruger effect - it does seem to fit
Check it out:
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The Dunning-Kruger effect is an example of cognitive bias in which "...people reach erroneous conclusions and make unfortunate choices but their incompetence robs them of the metacognitive ability to realize it"[1]. They therefore suffer an illusory superiority, rating their own ability as above average. This leads to a perverse result where people with less competence will rate their ability more highly than people with relatively more competence. It also explains why competence may weaken the projection of confidence because competent individuals falsely assume others are of equivalent understanding "Thus, the miscalibration of the incompetent stems from an error about the self, whereas the miscalibration of the highly competent stems from an error about others."
Your analysis can go on and on...but you are going to be a lonely soul among those on Huffpo, since it seems the country doesn't share your ideas of concerns..
Who said it was supposed to?
I don't know where you're getting your ideas from. The vast majority of the nation has had it with Republicans (and the Republican mentality) in general, and especially with Palin and her idiocy. Perhaps you live in one of those towns full of "real Americans" (i.e., ignorant, frightened hicks) where everyone supports any anti-abortion, anti-gay, pseudo-Christian, barbaric war monger, but let me tell you something, FHTB: YOU are in the minority. Accept it and move on with your life. Get out of your trailer park and see the world.
Dead on!
This absolutely (and eloquently) captures exactly what I've been thinking! The real danger is her appealing to so many people who feel like "victims" and need a greater sense of "power" in their life (but, of course, won't do anything of substance to change themselves or their situations
Convince yourself of this...sor
Yeah, when I'm wondering about someone I just take out my handy Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Discorders that I carry around with me. I'm sure that's just what these 'anonymous' Republican campaign people independently did. By the way, I wouldn't go to any type of doctor who 'diagnosed' someone they'd never met.
the DSM certainly can be used to develop a hypothesis from observed behavior. if the criteria are met the criteria are met.
Nonsense..
They could easily look it up on the internet, kind of like what we are doing right now. The web is pretty accessable.
Yeah, and I'm sure they all went right to the internet and researched mental diseases what with all of their spare time during the campaign. Come on, I could believe one person did, but several? One person may have and then passed it on, but not several. Didn't happen that way.
One doesn't have to "meet," Palin to see that she is in way over her head. She's inept and dishonest to boot. She constantly plays the victim.
If you actually had a copy of the DSM you would understand what we're talking about.
I'm not so 'stooopid' that I don't understand what you're talking about. I get what is said about the disease, I just don't buy that all of these people contacted the DSM about this. As Judge Judy says, "If it doesn't make sense, it's not true." Therefore, if I think part of the article is false, I dismiss the rest of it....figu
As much as I agree with this article's sentiments, I have to say I am a bit creeped out by seeing a professional psychotherapist publicly applying a clinical diagnosis to someone she has never met. Reminds me too much of totalitarian governments that deem any dissidents to be insane. For a layman to call Palin a whacko or even narcissist is one thing, but to hear that from a practicing psychotherapist? That bothers me. Such statements apparently are *not* technical violations of the profession's formal code of ethics, but they nonetheless seem to me to cross an ethical line on some level, much akin to a political sticker on a fire truck or judge's bench.
On one level I agree with your comment, insight808. However, SP is SUCH a (self-promoted) public figure that she is game for interpretation and comment by those who know about such things. And really, hasn't SP displayed enough of her life, attitudes/
Sorry, it is irresponsible to engage in speculative analysis..
it is done for forensic purposes esp when the subject is not willing to meet the doctor. it is also used to develop a hypothesis about the subject. she wants to run the country if not the world and refuses to be questioned--- justification to consider possible diagnosis. Notice how no matter what the topic she talks about how much better she is than most of us. she is not wired to milk the public like other office holders. she as a small town mayor has real responsibilities unlike community organizers. she and her supporters are real americans. it always comes down to her superiority.
Sheer poppycock.
Doesn't it make more sense for a professional -- who actually is qualified to make a diagnosis -- to air a qualified opinion?
For a layman to call Palin a narcissist suggests that her behavior is so over-the-top that even one who is only marginally knowledgable can spot the symptoms. When a professional concurs, that adds weight.
Put it another way -- If you're running a fever and your face swells up, your mom may tell you it looks like mumps. If the doctor says so, you accept the diagnosis.
Palin's personality problem is even more obvious than a case of mumps.
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