In 1835 Psychiatrist, Dr. Pritchard coined the phrase “moral insanity” to describe an individual in whom “the moral and active principles of the mind are strongly perverted and depraved” making him/her “incapable—of conducting himself with decency and propriety in the business of life.”
In 1952 the American Psychiatric Association put a different name to this already identified disorder. They called it “antisocial personality”. They defined it as follows: “This term refers to chronically antisocial individuals who are always in trouble, profiting neither from experience or punishment, and maintaining no real loyalties to any person, group, or code. They are frequently callused and hedonistic showing marked emotional immaturity, with lack of sense of responsibility, lack of judgment, and an ability to rationalize their behavior so that it appears warranted, reasonable, and justified.”
Antisocial personality is a form of sociopathic personality disturbance which, is shortened to the single noun, “sociopath”. There are eleven symptoms of antisocial personality disorder and one may be a sociopath without manifestation of all of the symptoms.
The sociopath is a complex individual that is generally amoral, but requires all with whom he/she deals to adhere to a strict code of morality, especially in dealings with the sociopath themselves. All roads lead to the sociopath. Everyone with whom he/she deals is required to keep their commitments to him/her, however, he/she is not required to keep their commitments to anyone. The playing field is always tilted toward him/her and, in their mind, this is the way it should be.
The Sociopath is generally an intelligent individual who uses such intelligence to rationalize why rules or laws do not apply to him/her. They display a defective conscience, in that he/she does not understand, feel or accept ethical standards even though they glibly assert comprehension. Sociopaths are congenial users of people, exploiting those who willingly, eagerly want to do their bidding. They are engaging, a canny “button pusher” who quickly identifies the people whom they may manipulate and plays upon their weaknesses or appetites. The Sociopath acts out his/her tensions without anxiety and feels no sense of guilt for aggressive behavior. He/she has a shallow emotional life with no sense of devotion, gratitude, or loyalty. This is often accompanied by a promiscuous, irresponsible and impersonal sex life.
The Sociopath cannot discern truth from fiction. He/she makes promises that will never keep, and often lies even when there is no need to be untruthful and detection is certain. He/she will make up stories to benefit their ego. He/she is self-defeating and often frustrates his/her own schemes with actions that produce failure when success seems imminent. Social restrictions, regulations, mores do not apply to the Sociopath. To a sociopath, these are “dumb” concepts that were constituted by an authority he/she rejects as “stupid”.
The Sociopath lives for the pleasure of the moment, often allowing such pleasure to shunt aside self-professed long-range goals. Even though the Sociopath gives the impression of reliability, he/she actually shrugs off responsibility to his/her job, his/her family and his/her friends. The sociopath is a master of obfuscation, will ask loyal supporters to lie, and will as easily leave them to fend for themselves if discovered. After all, such people are expendable, and will be subverted to protect the boss. The Sociopath will sacrifice friends and family, if necessary, to protect or enrich him/herself. When an aide has become ineffective, they will be cut off and cast aside as “no longer useful”. Finally a Sociopath never seems to learn from experience; he/she does not profit from mistakes; blames others for disasters entirely due to his/her own making; and persists in bad conduct even when he/she promises to change.
I recognized these traits in Bill Clinton prior to his election in 1992 and Hillary Rodham Clinton in early 2006. They have met all or almost all of the elements. Bill’s conduct, from the time he set foot in the White House has been consistent and Hillary’s conduct became noticeable when she opposed Obama for nomination. It is not amazing that they have a cadre of supporters. The ability of the Sociopath to mesmerize and manipulate their entourage is one of their distinguishing features. The world has, unfortunately, an abundance of sociopaths. Some, such as Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton are adept at maintaining a front, using intelligence and glibness to dazzle their constituents. They are so good, in fact that many otherwise smart people believing that Kenneth Starr and the “Republican Conspiracy” or the FBI and Donald Trump are the problem rather than the result of a pattern of behavior initiated by the Sociopath themselves.
Bill Clinton displays all of the classic behavior traits of a Sociopath. The Starr report demonstrated a pattern of conduct by Bill Clinton dating from Whitewater to the present that fits the mold precisely. We already know of events in the early life of Bill Clinton that meet the criteria. Marijuana, the draft, Jennifer Flowers, Monica Lewinsky, all wrapped in lies. Hillary is little better with her participation in Whitewater, the Rose Law Firm, the private email server, lies told to the FBI and the public, and the cover-up of her health issues,
Bill was is not the first Sociopath to hold the office of president. I hope he was the last.. Our country cannot withstand more than one such person every 24 years.
Tags: Bill Clinton Hillary Clinton President Barack Obama
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