When I read, Obama, lost in thought, Dana Milbank’s article in the Washington Post the other day, I broke out laughing. That has never happened to me before. My usual reaction to Milbank’s musing is disgust. Truth be told, he didn’t really let me down. After the laughter, the disgust did set-in.
Milbank is concerned that both those on the right and those on the left can not understand what he calls “the enigmatic president”. So he decided to put Obama on the couch, sort of speak, by consulting with ”three leading academics in the fields of psychology and behavior”. Here is what Milbank believes he learned:
With their help, I put Obama on the couch and came away with a reasonably coherent diagnosis: There’s too much going on in the poor guy’s head.
Too much is going on in the poor guy’s head? I guess, for Obama, trying to balance golf, vacations and, disco-dancing withe the responsibilities of the office of the President of the United States of America is a bit much for him. Here is some of what we learn from the three people Milbank consulted:
“What distinguishes Obama particularly is the depth and carefulness of his thinking, which renders him somewhat unfit for politics,” said Jonathan Haidt, a professor of social psychology at the University of Virginia. “He is a brilliant social and political analyst, which makes it harder for him to play hardball or to bluff.”
[...]
Philip Tetlock, a professor of psychology with the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, found that politicians on the center-left (where Obama dwells) tend to have the highest degree of integrative complexity, followed by politicians on the center-right. Politicians on the far left and far right are the most simple.
If the logic of a threat doesn’t make sense, it can still work if [your opponents] think you will be in the grips of an emotional reaction that’s not under your control,” says Robert Frank, an economist at Cornell University who specializes in behavior and emotion. “With Obama, it doesn’t seem there would be any emotional reaction that is not under his control.
There is more but you get the picture. Obama is far too complex for us common folk to understand. He is a deep analytical thinker. He sees all the ramifications of any issue and must try to analyze all the pros and cons. He is rational in the extreme. People confuse all of this with ineptitude.
Do you think you are confused by President Obama? I don’t think you are and neither am I. There is nothing very complex about Obama. He is a Marxist. He was raised to be a Marxist. And as a Marxist, he has one and only one mission and that is to destroy the last remnants of capitalism and pave the way to create a socialist state in America. He cares about nothing else and is not capable of dealing with the complex issues of the most powerful position in the world. When he is forced to try to focus on issues, he is totally confused. He tries to hide his confusion behind a cloak of aloofness. Contrary to the title of Milbank’s article, Obama is not lost in thought. Obama is just plain lost. Well, that is my humble opinion. What is yours?
loopyloo305
April 29, 2011
Isn’t is amazing the lengths some people will go to, to make this President fit their idea of excellence? Personally, I do believe that he is a sociopath for the simple fact that he seems incapable of showing any empathy for people and their problems. Perhaps it is just my flawed way of thinking, but I believe that you have to be a sociopath to believe that marxism is viable.
Either that or they are all just control freaks.
Conservatives on Fire
April 29, 2011
The Obama groupies see, hear and say no evil about their chosen one. People like Milbank are pathetic. And, yes, the sociopathic Marxist is a control freak and is dangerous.
Otis P. Driftwood
April 29, 2011
It seems that no matter how bad Obama is or how much he lies, there is some psychobabble somewhere that tries to explain it as Obama being ‘complex’. You are right – trying to balance golf, vacations and disco-dancing with his responsibilities as president of the United States is too much for him. Hopefully, after November 2012, he will be able to concentrate solely on golf, vacations and dancing.
Conservatives on Fire
April 29, 2011
We all must expose Obama for what he is every chance we get with as many people as we can.
Infidel de Manahatta
April 29, 2011
Deep thinker? They must mean “Depp thinker.”
As in Johnny Depp, Hollywood, laziness and useless socialism.
Conservatives on Fire
April 29, 2011
His deep thoughts are too shallow to measure.
Matt
April 30, 2011
That whole premise is a steaming pile of fail. His actions and policies are a direct representation of his policies.
Conservatives on Fire
April 30, 2011
I think Millbank is in love. I can’t think of any other explanation.
Bob Mack
April 30, 2011
Just goes to prove why psycho-analysis is invented babble. It’s like praising a football coach who diagrams brilliant plays but is 0-16 on the field, except in Obama’s case he can’t even diagram plays.
Conservatives on Fire
April 30, 2011
I wonder if Dunning-Kruger Effect is contagious?
Bob Mack
April 30, 2011
Whew, had to look that one up! Now that I have, I believe the phenomena is endemic to the political class of all nations, but most particularly to American Democrats (& their enablers in the media), who routinely exhibit 3 of the 4 defining characteristics (Case study #1, PELOSI, N.):
1, tend to overestimate their own level of skill;
2. fail to recognize genuine skill in others;
3, fail to recognize the extremity of their inadequacy;
Conservatives on Fire
May 1, 2011
Giving it more thought , it’s probably not contagious. More likely it is a genetic defect which leads those affected into certain professions.
KingShamus
May 1, 2011
*“He is a brilliant social and political analyst, which makes it harder for him to play hardball or to bluff.”*
Shouldn’t smart people be able to play hardball–or more to the point–bluff better than dumb people?
As for Millbank, he’s a member of the media. He’s talking about the problems involving such an enigmatic president as Obama.
If only there were organizations that could…oh, dunno…investigate such puzzling politicians to find out more about them. It’s so sad that there are no groups of people whose job it is to look into personal statements, political records and what not…maybe even before elections…so that people can better understand the candidates for public office.
Conservatives on Fire
May 1, 2011
Investigating was suppose to be the job of the media. We no longer have independent media in this country. Fox is as close as it gets today. The rest appear to be bought and paid for; at least that is how they behave. Pathetic!
nooneofanyimport
May 1, 2011
Ah hell.
I mean, great post, Jimmy G.
It’s just, dang it. I actually liked Haidt. He’s this “above the fray” conservative-apologist type liberal, and I thought he was smarter than this:
“He is a brilliant social and political analyst, which makes it harder for him to play hardball or to bluff.”
Bllleeechh. Obama is a brilliant analyst? And that’s why he sounds like an idiot to the right, and yet still manages to fail the left?
Narrative FAIL.
I found Haidt via A Goy and His Blog, and Haidt’s ’08 lecture on the moral roots of liberals and conservatives actually impressed me, given that he is a “liberal.”
Not impressed anymore, Haidt you jerk.
In case you are curious, here is that speech:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jonathan_haidt_on_the_moral_mind.html
Conservatives on Fire
May 2, 2011
I’m glad you liked the post but ‘m sorry for ruining your opinion of Haidt. After watching him at the link you provided, I can see why you would have felt the way you did. Sometimes smart people out smart themselves.
nooneofanyimport
May 1, 2011
More recently, there was this from Haidt that had lefty panties in a wad:
http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/116552/
Folks that embrace both wisdom and idiocy sure mystify me.
Conservatives on Fire
May 2, 2011
Yes, like two sides of the same coin as are life and death. To embrace both wold seem absurd; but maybe not.
loopyloo305
May 3, 2011
You were wanting to know how to post video in wordpress 1.hit HTML on top of your post, after you have embeded the code and written what you want 2. click on close tags from the menu at the top of the box. 3. save your draft(always even if they tell you that there is a more recent auto-save) 4. preview the post 5. if everything looks alright, publish, if not start over! The thing is that wordpress will not let you post everything that you want, some things you just have to link to. Lots of the things from youtube can’t be posted. most of the stuff on vimeo can, but not all. It’s basically trial and error for me. If you want to upload a video it is the same as uploading a photo. Hope that helps a little. Patricia
loopyloo305
May 3, 2011
PS be sure and click on visual on your next post after you post a video, I for get sometimes and lose stuff that way.
Conservatives on Fire
May 3, 2011
Thank you, Patricia, for taking the time to try to alleviate my ignorance. I just did a practice post and IT WORKED!!! This has been frustrating me for six moths now. I owe you big time. Thanks again.
loopyloo305
May 3, 2011
I am glad that it helped and you are welcome!
loopyloo305
May 3, 2011
ps: I don’t know how to do a pingback, do you, by any chance?
Conservatives on Fire
May 3, 2011
Not a clue. When I link other bloggers, they always seem to know so I haven’t yet tried to do a ping back. Sorry.
loopyloo305
May 3, 2011
That’s okay! I think that for a 59 year old that just learned to operate a computer a few years ago, I am learning fairly well. It’s often a trial and error process with the error being on top a lot of the time! LOL(I know that stands for laugh out loud, but it is one of the very few that I know).