Search Box

Saturday, July 23, 2016

Tears and laughter

Back in January, I wrote about Obama's tears at a press conference, which were supposedly shed over the plight of all the people killed by gun violence. I explained in that post that since Obama had never shed tears over the various mass killings before, it was probably more than coincidental that his tears happened to come on the day after the Senate had passed a bill repealing Obamacare (which Obama vetoed).

Yesterday, Obama spoke of the Munich shootings. After making the requisite boilerplate comment, "our hearts go out to those who may have been injured," within thirty seconds he was grinning and joking about how his older daughter Malia was graduating high school and leaving home.

I certainly don't blame Obama for not shedding tears over the plight of the nine Germans who were killed yesterday. No one is so empathetic that they weep over every tragedy that takes place in the world; that would be impossible. (I certainly don't.)

But I also didn't give him credit for being warmhearted for having cried six months ago.

I do hope that all those media types who gave him credit for a big heart after he shed tears at that January news conference take note of his joking performance yesterday, and try to figure out what it says about him.

(Not that I'd expect them to.)


Anonymous said...

Obama basically runs on resentment against white people. To me it SEEMS LIKE whenever Obama hears of dead white people, his default emotional reaction is "THEY HAD IT COMING."

But of course, I am not a mind reader.


John Craig said...

I'm guessing he has a particular animus against Germany, given their history.

Anonymous said...

[this ain't a regular comment, more like a heads-up...I saw this ad on craigslist:

and I did think of your blog...It doesn't bother me if you don't want to use it, no need to post the comment, I am only copying the ad text because the guy who wrote it might (possibly) delete it before you view it...I THINK IT MIGHT BE BENT FICTION anyways
==== FAKE BABA ]

"A sociopath has ruined my life and I'm not complaining...I'm scared. Everything I was and everything I had that meant something to me has been destroyed. I guess if I truly had a solid self esteem I would have not let it get to this point. I'm attractive, I used to be outgoing, I liked myself. I don't like myself anymore. I don't care about things like I used to. I try to get through the day - I don't live it. He just keeps on going and going. Things don't hurt him. He thrives on watching me lose everything I had. I don't know if there's some kind of perversion within myself to see how far he can take me? He's abusive physically. Recently, he took the strangulation farther then usual. I thought he was going to kill me. No, I don't like it...but there's a part of me that hates me so much- I guess I feel like if I were him, I would do it too. I'm worthless next to him...or anyone else for that matter.
When I'm trying to get his grip off my neck it's the worst feeling. It's urgent and scary and I can't breathe and I don't know when he's going to let go. My body thrashes and flails. I suppose that's when the physical instinct to survive kicks in.
What do I do to get him to this point? He owes me a lot of money. I saved his house from foreclosure over two years ago. I was threatened into lending it to him. There was one thing on this planet that meant something to me that was left he could use to get the 25 grand he needed. I wound up losing that too. I won't go into all that. It's too emotional. He is in foreclosure again. Doesn't make a house payment. Doesn't pay me back either. I don't have any way of getting away from here w/o that money. If it were the other way around - he'd beat the shit out of me. Wreck my car (can't do that now it got repo'd). It doesn't matter anymore. I sit here and look out at the sunny weather. I'm not a part of the world. I had everything when I met him. I have absolutely nothing left. I don't know why I'm announcing this on craigslist. Probably because he's convinced everyone I'm crazy. In the grand scheme of things - I'm not. I used to be normal. I used to have everyday to look forward to. I had a life to live. This is a tough crowd...I'm not scared. There's nothing you can say to me that will upset me. I'm past that point. My unsolicited advice is to get away from a sociopath. I went on a website several years ago after looking up sociopaths on the Internet. Some chick was saying to run the other direction if you're involved with one. I remember asking myself what he could actually do to ruin my life. I thought I owned my own life. If only I had taken that advice. I can't even imagine what life would have been like had I. I try to think about what life used to be like and I can only feel it for a split second. He might as well kill me at this point. I don't want to live anymore. I wish I was part of the world. I wish I had never met him. This is full of typos...I'm on an iPad...he destroyed my laptop."

John Craig said...

I never would have seen that if you hadn't put it into a comment, as I've never been to Craigslist.

My guess is, it's real, and was put up by a woman. What's happened to her could only have been accomplished by a sociopath. The strangling is probably part of sexual asphyxiation play that the sociopath takes too far for his own sadistic reasons.

The only weird thing is that she knows he's a sociopath, but stays anyway. Usually by the time people understand the definition of sociopathy, the relationship is over. Maybe she's somehow going to get her money back. Or, maybe, as you suggest, it's fictional.

Shaun F said...

Re: Fake Baba's post from Craiglist - If it's real, that is quite a sad state of affairs for a person to post something like that on craiglist. It made me think of an article in Harper's Magazine in the 90s about psychic hotlines and the problems that people would pay 3.99 a minute to talk to the likes of Philip Michael Thomas about.

Mark Caplan said...

Now that "Hitler," "racist," and "anti-Semite" haven't destroyed Trump, or even slowed his momentum, the Democrats have started calling him a sociopath, most prominently in a New Yorker profile of one of Trump's ghost writers that was also prominently featured in The New York Times. Last Tuesday, cognitive scientist Daniel Dennett tweeted: "Why has it taken so long for mainstream journalism to call Trump what he obviously is: a sociopath?"

Since you are the go-to guy on the web for ferreting out sociopaths, I was wondering how many sociopathic characteristics you see in Donald J. Trump. His ex-wives have mostly nice things to say about him. His kids seem to like him. And the women he dated say he behaved gentlemanly.

On the other hand, he lies with the frequency and skill of a five-year-old kid. People who entered into business deals with him, or who lived in one of the apartment buildings he owned have been less complimentary. He longs to capture terror suspects to have them tortured.

John Craig said...

Mark --
It's my impression that Trump is a narcissistic personality but not a sociopath. I wrote about it here on 7/19/15:

Coincidentally, I likened him to a 5-year-old in that post, too. And that, in a roundabout way, is key to his not being a sociopath. A sociopath would be far more skillful at lying, far more skillful at disguising his egotism, and far slicker with his barbs.

But I think the key here is what his long term associates and personal acquaintances think of him. both ex-wives have endorsed him, which is pretty amazing when you think about it. All of those women interviewed in that hit piece from the NY Times about Trump's "sexism" came out and said the Times misquoted them. And former employees also vouch for him. Contrast that to what Hillary's ex-Secret Service guards say about her.

That said, Trump does have something of the huckster about him. Trump University was for the most part a big fraud, and he does sort ogive off that air himself. But, I'm sticking with just a narcissist for now.

Mark Caplan said...

I just read the New Yorker article “Trump's Ghost Writer Tells All.” Even though the article always refers to Tony Schwartz as Trump's “ghost writer,” Schwartz's name is as prominently on the cover of The Art of the Deal as Trump's. Schwartz was the book's coauthor. As full coauthor, Schwartz got half of the book's half-million dollar advance and half the royalties.

In the article, Schwartz says, “More than anyone else I have ever met, Trump has the ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at any given moment is true, or sort of true, or at least ought to be true.”

Schwartz describes Trump as “a kindergartner who can’t sit still in a classroom.” (There is Trump seen by Schwartz as you and I see him in some ways, as a five-year-old child.)

John Craig said...

Mark --
That rings true. Trump is unquestionably a narcissistic personality, and Schwartz gave as good definition as any of that. Still.....on the other side we have a woman who is a likely sociopath, is filled with poison, and lies on purpose, all the time.

For most voters, it will boil down to which candidate will lead the country in the right direction; it will for me.

Mark Caplan said...

I'm with Trump too, given the alternative. If Trump today acts like a five-year-old, I'm encouraged that by the end of his second term he'll be a seasoned and mature 13-year-old.

John Craig said...

Mark --
Ha! Well put.

On the other hand, he's going to be awfully distracted by girls.