Showing posts with label Marty Peretz. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marty Peretz. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Monday, October 5, 2009
Marty Peretz on the President's narcissism.
"What I suspect is that the president is probably a clinical narcissist. This is not necessarily a bad condition if one maintains for oneself what the psychiatrists call an 'optimal margin of illusion,' that is, the margin of hope that allows you to work. But what if his narcissism blinds him to the issues and problems in the world and the inveterate foes of the nation that are not susceptible to his charms?"
Poor Obama! All his life people projected their hopes onto him and he learned how to step up and be a bright clear screen for these projections. What looks like narcissism is, perhaps, the realism that develops when you are immersed in an environment that is so persistently and consistently distorted to give you the feedback that you are magnificently and magically effective through your sheer presence.
The man who voted present and became President is tragically — touchingly — flawed.
ADDED (after an emailed suggestion): We're Always Touched by Your Presence, Dear President.
Poor Obama! All his life people projected their hopes onto him and he learned how to step up and be a bright clear screen for these projections. What looks like narcissism is, perhaps, the realism that develops when you are immersed in an environment that is so persistently and consistently distorted to give you the feedback that you are magnificently and magically effective through your sheer presence.
The man who voted present and became President is tragically — touchingly — flawed.
ADDED (after an emailed suggestion): We're Always Touched by Your Presence, Dear President.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Mickey Kaus leaks a JournoList thread.
We've discussed JournoList here before. (Remember? It seemed to trigger Ezra Klein's bizarre tweet that there were "a lot" of anti-Semitic commenters on my blog.) There are 300 journalists hanging out with each other on the list. Is that a bad thing? Are they coordinating their stories, losing their independence and sharp edge? Well, they aren't so coordinated that they can all keep the list secret, and here's what Mickey got hold of. They seem pretty tedious and unattractive. I don't mind if they keep it private, very private. That said, if there's anything on the JournoList about me — some scurrilous charge of anti-Semitism, perhaps — please pass it on.
ADDED: "The JournoList Sure Has A Lot Of Anti-Semitic Commenters."
ADDED: "The JournoList Sure Has A Lot Of Anti-Semitic Commenters."
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