Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal wrote this last week, but I've been ruminating on it ever since and I'm curious what your thoughts are:
Jeremiah Wright and Mitt Romney are two of the most important men in Barack Obama's life, and for reasons that transcend the merely personal. His dealings with them are crucial to his relationships, respectively, with God and with his country. He called Wright his "spiritual mentor" and credited him with saving his soul; and Romney stands between him and his professed aspirations not only for himself but for America.
In 20 years in that church, he failed to see the evil side of Wright. In four years of preparing for re-election, he saw Romney only as an ideological stick figure. In short, he misjudged both men utterly. And he blames them for it.
Obama seems to lack the basic emotional skill--surely of enormous importance to any task of political leadership--of accurately sizing up other men, whether they be allies or rivals, and of adjusting his view of them to take account of new information.
We are advisedly gender-specific here, for Obama does not seem to have this particular problem when it comes to dealing with women. As Richard Miniter observes in his new book, "Leading From Behind: The Reluctant President and the Advisors Who Decide for Him," "four strong-minded women, who intertwined their lives with him, were the most formative: his mother, Stanley Ann Dunham; his wife, Michelle LaVaughn Robinson; his mentor, Valerie Jarrett; and his secretary of state, Hillary Clinton."
But when Obama wrote an autobiography, its focus was not on the women who were present in his life but on the man who was absent, and about whom he constructed an elaborate fantasy. Nightmares From Rev. Wright and Mental Pictures of Mitt Romney may be sequels--or sequelae--of "Dreams From My Father."
Obama's problems dealing with men in politics have been legion. Think how ineffectual he has consistently been, both with domestic rivals (Paul Ryan, Eric Cantor) and with foreign allies (Benjamin Netanyahu, Mohamed Morsi). Of course it's not Obama's fault he grew up in a broken home. That doesn't mean America deserves to pay the price for it.
Is this just editorial chair psycho-analysis or is Taranto on to something?
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Jun '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
(The WSJ link is broken, Mollie)
Apr '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
At first I wanted to dismiss it, Obama's incompetence stems from fantasyland ideology and being the poster boy for tokenism. Yet, it makes sense, aside from those who subordinate to him, he seems to be timid with men.
Jun '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Obama has a problem relating to other people, period.
To him, as a supreme narcissist, other people aren't really "people," just people-shaped things that exist only to serve him.
May '10
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Sometimes armchair psycho-analysis is spot-on.
Obama loves to vanquish strawmen in front of adoring crowds. That habit exudes deep insecurity about his manhood. When he's confronted with real opposition from real men, he retreats into peevishness and resentment. (Remember the bottom of the shoe to Bibi? Remember the middle finger to the face while listening to Paul Ryan?)
I've also noticed in photos of his community-organizing days that this ACORN troops seem to be almost all women.
Jul '10
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Well, Barry does where Mom jeans.
Jul '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Interesting. It may help explain his well documented puerile petulance when confronted with authoritative males. Of course, I'm no psychiatrist. I just pretend to be.
Edited on October 9, 2012 at 4:12pmApr '11
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Have always thought that Obama's mother was the real force of shaping his ideology. His father existed much in the tales of his mother. It was her anti-colonialist and communist leanings that formed his world view, her direction of his mentoring towards communist theories and away from the evolving world view of his step-father.
The other women in his life simply are an extention of her belief system.
Jul '11
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
The gendered analysis seems a bit dubious to me as does psychoanalysis in general.
May '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Maybe, maybe not. The problem as I see it, is that Obama is simply unable to get along with anyone - male of female- who does not agree with him ideologically. He's lived in a couple of bubbles his entire life - a far-left wing bubble starting with his mother, moving on to Frank Marshall Davis and on through college and law school into community organizing and on up to his presidential run. The second bubble is the affirmative action bubble he has been ensconced in since infancy. I really doubt that anyone close to him has ever told him that an idea or action of his was stupid. Even now, he surrounds himself with nothing but ideological soulmates and sycophants.
Sure, he disdains Romney probably as much as he disdains Bibi, but he also doesn't get along at all with Angela Merkel who has apparently had the temerity to tell him his stimulus plans are idiotic.
Edited on October 9, 2012 at 4:26pmJun '10
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Obama Can't Name Any ChiSox ("his team") Players?
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xcvbql_obama-can-t-name-any-chisox-players_sport
Jul '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
I think so. It helps to explain why he doesn't like politics and all the negotiating, hand shaking, and schmoozing that go along with it. It also may explain why he is so competitive against people. I've read that he must win at basketball, golf, bowling, etc. It's probably because he fears other men and goes out of his way to beat them to prove his "superiority".
Jan '11
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Well, it is a sign of children from fatherless homes that they don't always know how to handle strong men. They either overreact (with violence) or underreact (with passivity).
But, just to throw the ball back into play ... what does it say about the women around him? Are they using him? Maneuvering vicariously through him?
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Thank you! I think I fixed.
Sep '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
If he must win at bowling I hope he has improved since 2008.
May '10
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
The real question is, "What do you feel about it?" You have one hour to talk and leave a check with the girl on your way out...
All politicians are narcissistic to a degree. You have to be, otherwise you'd never run.
The troubling aspect of Obama is that he doesn't really seem to be in charge - of anything. He is just the vessel for others' ambitions - particularly Valerie Jarrett.
Jun '11
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
Mollie Hemingway, Ed.
James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal wrote this last week, but
I think Taranto's point is incredibly insightful. I would take issue with only one thing: I believe Obama's profound inability to take the measure of people is not limited to men. He does not seem to know how to size anyone up very well. Hence his over-reliance on Valerie Jarrett and his schmoozing with Sandra Fluke (Seriously? The most powerful man in the world wants to align himself with Sandra Fluke??).
My sense is that Obama quickly places people he meets (men and women) into one of two categories -- friend or enemy. There are no other categories.
It is an extraordinarily childish view of the world and the people who inhabit it. And it represents a shockingly shallow level of thinking for the smartest president ever.
Aug '10
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
A lot of men who grow up, without a father who is willing to make sacrifices for their present or future well being, are good at getting around women, and uncomfortable around (even more often hostile toward) men.
Jul '12
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
quodlibet
If he must win at bowling I hope he has improved since 2008. · 36 minutes ago
That's it exactly. In one of the many recent unflattering Obama pieces, I read that he practiced incessantly after losing a bowling match.
Jul '11
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
This is my specific problem with psychoanalytics it predicts two polar behaviors and then chooses between them. You then set the locus for behavior in a detached context, usually childhood. This frees whoever is being analyzed from specific action, usually painfully stupid, in the present. Which, in turn, provides a release from responsibility for the action. You are left with a non-predictive theory on how non-critical responsibility can be placed in the past.
Jan '11
Re: Does Obama Have Trouble Relating To Men?
No argument about the chain of reasoning, but I don't think anyone (at least I don't) is excusing Obama from responsibility. And as Taranto said himself above, "Of course it's not Obama's fault he grew up in a broken home. That doesn't mean America deserves to pay the price for it."