Obama is a thin-skinned narcissist

[Giordano]

First, there are obvious alternative explanations to explain what you describe, including simple partisanship. Holding your opponents to a higher standard than you hold those on your side is an almost universal human trait, one need not appeal to racism to explain it.

Second, and more importantly, it's not even relevant. Even assuming it's completely true, that doesn't demonstrate in any way that Obama is not a thin-skinned narcissist.



No, it doesn't.

I have no doubt that partisanship plays a role, which then make these people overt hypocrites. So I am willing to go with describing current Trump supporters as largely motivated by a mix of subconscious biases (not always based on race, but often- look at the conscious statements of support and political beliefs of a goodly number of his supporters!) and disgusting hypocrisy.

To be fair these traits apply to people almost anywhere in the political spectrum- I believe only that the current Republican party and Trump in particular has taken these to new heights not rivaled in effectiveness or dedication by most others in the current political arena. I am particularly amazed how many fundamentalist religious "leaders" have, with some initial mutterings, gotten on the Trump bandwagon. I cannot imagine an individual more repugnant to the previously-professed beliefs of these religious fundamentalists as Trump. I am pleased to know that there are also other conservative religious groups who have not sold their views of morality down the river in this way.

[added] As to your last statement- agreed. Evidence would be nice. I am happy to add to the reasons/evidence already provided in this thread that Obama is NOT a thin-skinned narcissist; but given the inherent problems of broadly proving a negative perhaps you should go first by providing what was specifically requested in the OP- evidence that he is.

 

[Jrrarglblarg]

If Obama were thin skinned, he would have grabbed a hidden mini-nuke from under the podium in one of his States of the Union speeches and leveled the place, what with all the hate directed toward him by the congress.

He never even did that verbally. If anything I'd say Obama has been overly cautious in what he says and how he says it. He seems overly self conscious of his place in history and seems like he wanted to just get in and get out cleanly without a lot of unnecessary nonsense cluttering up his historical record.

 

[Ziggurat]

Could you please provide this evidence ?

If I get around to it. I'm now off for some long-distance travel, won't have much time for the next week or so.

 

[Tony Stark]

When accused of it, he immediately lets everyone know that it isn't true. That he has very strong and thick skin.

Oh wait...

 

[Hlafordlaes]

The way the Obama dynamic with Republicans reads to me is similar to the way our JayUtah* can - quite politely and correctly, with panache - show how freaking dumb someone is. That is far more infuriating than any stooping to coarse discourse, and a skill to aspire to.


*Don't, er, get uppity.

 

[Upchurch]

If I get around to it. I'm now off for some long-distance travel, won't have much time for the next week or so.

It's really weird how people who make the claim seem to have more important things to do when it comes to supporting it.

 

[Myron Proudfoot]

hell, there's an entire popular comic routine (Obama's anger translator) based on the fact that he's kept his cool through years of hateful and (usually) untrue attacks. Can you imagine Trump needing an anger-translator because he always seem to calm?????

 

[NoahFence]

If I get around to it. I'm now off for some long-distance travel, won't have much time for the next week or so.

Totally didn't see that coming.

 

[TheL8Elvis]

If I get around to it. I'm now off for some long-distance travel, won't have much time for the next week or so.

Don't care if it's true or not, that's some really weak sauce.

 

[fuelair]

I absolutely agree. I would add that I believe that many of the people who make this type of accusation are truly not consciously racist; same for most of the people who are convinced that Obama was not born in the USA, is a secret Muslim, etc. But I think that a lot of this arises subconsciously from emotional bias: a very vague feeling that there is something jarring and not right about this guy (who happens to be black) contradicting other guys (who happen to be white). I am not certain if I would even call this subconsciously racist in most cases- it may arise from a racial stereotype, or another bias having nothing to do with race;o can one be a racist if one doesn't have any racist conscious thoughts? No matter- that would deserve a separate thread.

The past 7+ years have really made me aware of how important this type of unaware bias is in shaping many people's political views. First comes a vague feeling arising from totally unexamined and unquestioned cultural predispositions that many who possess them are even unaware of having them. Then the individual cherry picks the news to attach some "facts" onto their predispositions, which permit then them to consciously feel that their bias-derived prejudice is actually a logically derived legitimate political opinion.

I believe that the Republican Party has, in particular, often exploited this strategy- first lay accusations against your opponents based on vague, undocumented personal shortcomings. If actual investigations prove many of these accusations wrong, don't let up- just keep repeating them. Soon many in the electorate will, when the name of the opponent comes up in discussion, get a vague feeling that "isn't that the politician who...?" From that point on, the voter will tend to selectively remember and magnify any bad facts that appear about that politician and forget or minimize the good ones.

It really is no different from modern commercial advertising. Look at all the TV commercials (in the USA at least) which don't even discuss the product in any detail, but only seek to associate it in the viewers' minds with beautiful natural scenes, happy families, people helping out others, young people enjoying themselves (and no doubt wishing to have sex with you if you buy the product).

I freely call it openly and knowingly and intentionally racist - but only because it is!!!!!

 

[Giordano]

When accused of it, he immediately lets everyone know that it isn't true. That he has very strong and thick skin.

Oh wait...

And Trump doesn't have small fingers. In fact, he takes almost a large in gloves! He has thick and long skinned hands!

 

[FenerFan]

The way the Obama dynamic with Republicans reads to me is similar to the way our JayUtah* can - quite politely and correctly, with panache - show how freaking dumb someone is. That is far more infuriating than any stooping to coarse discourse, and a skill to aspire to.


*Don't, er, get uppity.

I think that is a very good point. To many of his detractors that probably comes across as arrogance. It's a short leap to then claim narcicissim.

 

[sir drinks-a-lot]

Obama is black so "thin-skinned narcissist " is just another way of saying "uppity ******."

I didn't think this place could get any dumber, but it just did.

 

[xjx388]

Cheese and rice....

I am not an Obama supporter in that I don't agree with his political ideas. But I see no need to attack the man personally. In fact, I kind of admire him as a human being. I don't know why we have to demean our political opponents. They are mostly people like us: good people with good intentions. I'm all for calling them out on things they do wrong but my God people, they aren't the Devil.

 

[332nd]

I didn't think this place could get any dumber, but it just did.

Yeah, the way conservatives are avoiding providing evidence for their claims is sad

 

[Puppycow]

Trump is obviously a thin-skinned narcissist. Look at all the lawsuits he has brought against people for things like defamation. How many people has Obama sued for defamation?

 

[sunmaster14]

I'm not going put much time into this thread because I've already written dozens of posts on the subject, and nothing I say ever sinks in.

Edited by Agatha: 

Edited to remove breach of rule 12

.

Regardless, here is a good start. And one of the first links to hit is a good example.

Obama's arrogance is probably at the limit of the range that psychiatrists would consider normal (Trump may fall outside that range, if his arrogance isn't some sort of interesting act). In 2008, he said this:

I think that I’m a better speechwriter than my speechwriters. I know more about policies on any particular issue than my policy directors. And I’ll tell you right now that I’m gonna think I’m a better political director than my political director.

I have read about how condescending Obama can be to advisers giving him briefings. He once treated Stephen Chu (his Energy Secretary at the time and a Nobel Prize winning physicist) like a low level staffer who was wasting his time - dismissing him with a wave and a "that's enough Stephen."

You can see how he lords over people in meetings and conferences which have been televised. The Obamacare debates with Republicans was a prime example. He debates by attributing the most shallow and self-serving motives to his opponents, and is the consummate builder and destroyer of strawmen. He does this even to Democrats. Take for example, his dismissal of Elizabeth Warren's concerns about TPP last year.

I can see how people who aren't as smart as Obama is might see this as evidence of his genius, but I can assure you that people who are as smart as he (or likely smarter) can see right through the ********, right down to a man who at his core will not change his mind, or admit a mistake, or even admit that his opponents might be advocating in good faith. He has been treated as if he ***** diamonds from the time he was in law school (and probably long before), and he has turned into exactly what you might expect.

 

[Puppycow]

Trump is a thin-skinned narcissist too. How does that fit in with your theory?



The size of one's ego and the thinness of one's skin are independent variables. Bill Clinton has a fantastically large ego, but he's not thin skinned.

Number of lawsuits for defamation is an objective metric. How many has trump filed and how many has Obama?

If you prefer anecdotes, just look at how trump reacted to mild criticism during the primary campaign. Look at his Twitter feed. I can't think of anything comparable in obamas case.

Balls in your court.

 

[Belz...]

Because there is evidence that he is one.

Where?

 

[Belz...]

Trump is obviously a thin-skinned narcissist. Look at all the lawsuits he has brought against people for things like defamation. How many people has Obama sued for defamation?

He made jokes about the birth certificate nonsense. He might be fulminating inside, but he sure doesn't show it.