Obama's Psychodrama

Remember when George W. Bush was president, and armchair liberal psychologists spilled tons of digital ink claiming his current actions were really about his father, his college days, his National Guard service, or his own insecurities?

But now that we have a president who is actually acting in a somewhat bizarre and disconnected manner, all the amateur shrinks seem to have disappeared. Too bad, because Barack Obama certainly could use one right about now.

Peter Wehner gives it a good try, though:

Obama, having presided over what at this stage must qualify as among the most inept presidencies in American history, is complaining because he’s being held accountable.

What is fairly astonishing in all this is the utter lack of self-awareness by the president. A jolting collision is occurring between his own self-conception (Obama views himself as a world-historical figure and Great Man) and the multiple and multiplying failures of his presidency. Obama appears incapable of processing the truth or coming to grips with reality. And so he’s spinning tales day after day, including his fantastic (and thoroughly discredited) claim that “Since I’ve been president, federal spending has risen at the lowest pace in nearly 60 years.”

Obama has now entered a world all his own. It’s a world where up is down, hot is cold, north is south, and Barack Obama is fiscally responsible and blameless.

In its own way, it’s a fascinating psychodrama that’s unfolding. Given that there are still 146 days until the election, it’s hard to imagine where the president will eventually end up.


Personally, I find it more terrifying than fascinating.  Like being in the back seat of a car traveling down a steep, twisting road, only to realize it is being driven by a delusional drunken driver...