His MO reminds me a whole lot of a former close friend of mine. Total narcissist, sociopath. Sure, he knows how to play at empathy, and is very charismatic, but I know that in his heart it's not genuine, he's just doing it to manipulate a situation to his favor. He would screw over his own mother if it's in his interest. In fact, he has a number of times.

He is the perfect example of deification of the self.

Diogenes: He is the perfect example of deification of the self.

If only Ayn Rand were around to see her archetype/give him a beej.

"When I smoked pot it was illegal, but not immoral..."

Which pretty much sums up his philosophy. For me, but not for thee...

Sounds about right.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Hare Checklist:

The two factors

Factor 1: Personality "Aggressive narcissism"
Glibness/superficial charm
Grandiose sense of self-worth
Pathological lying
Cunning/manipulative
Lack of remorse or guilt
Shallow affect (genuine emotion is short-lived and egocentric)
Callousness; lack of empathy
Failure to accept responsibility for own actions

Factor 2: Case history "Socially deviant lifestyle".
Need for stimulation/proneness to boredom
Parasitic lifestyle
Poor behavioral control
Lack of realistic long-term goals
Impulsivity
Irresponsibility
Juvenile delinquency
Early behavior problems
Revocation of conditional release

Traits not correlated with either factor
Promiscuous sexual behavior
Many short-term marital relationships
Criminal versatility
Acquired behavioural sociopathy/sociological conditioning

Sound like anyone we know?

Sounds like most politicians nowadays

sweetmelissa31: Diogenes: He is the perfect example of deification of the self.

If only Ayn Rand were around to see her archetype/give him a beej.

I don't think he's killed enough dudes to get ol' Ayn wet.

sorry just gagged a little after typing that

NowhereMon:
Sound like anyone we know?

mom? that you?

Diogenes: He is the perfect example of deification of the self.

problem is - Gingrich isn't alone in that. I run into more and more people who just don't seem to give a damn about anyone other than themselves. are there really that many shallow self centered people in this country? Or am I just unlucky enough to meet every NBPD patient in central Pennsylvania?

Weaver95: Diogenes: He is the perfect example of deification of the self.

problem is - Gingrich isn't alone in that. I run into more and more people who just don't seem to give a damn about anyone other than themselves. are there really that many shallow self centered people in this country? Or am I just unlucky enough to meet every NBPD patient in central Pennsylvania?

No, I think it's an increasing problem. As evidenced by how even unconsciously, people operate in the world as if they were the only person that existed. Unaware of how their actions affect others, and not interested in knowing. And arrogantly defiant when called out on it. Rampant lack of accountability, lashing out and projecting their failures on others.

Boy, I"m really depressed now :-(

NowhereMon: Sound like anyone we know?

Sounds like everyone I know. That description is about as useful as a fortune cookie.

I think it's pretty obvious you need to have some sort of serious mental aberration to run for POTUS in the first place

/or at least a major personality disorder

Diogenes: Weaver95: Diogenes: He is the perfect example of deification of the self.

problem is - Gingrich isn't alone in that. I run into more and more people who just don't seem to give a damn about anyone other than themselves. are there really that many shallow self centered people in this country? Or am I just unlucky enough to meet every NBPD patient in central Pennsylvania?

No, I think it's an increasing problem. As evidenced by how even unconsciously, people operate in the world as if they were the only person that existed. Unaware of how their actions affect others, and not interested in knowing. And arrogantly defiant when called out on it. Rampant lack of accountability, lashing out and projecting their failures on others.

Boy, I"m really depressed now :-(

well..ok, but if its an increasing problem then what's causing it?

Fkuoride and chem trails weaver95.. Fluoride and chemtrails

Weaver95: well..ok, but if its an increasing problem then what's causing it?

I don't want to threadjack, but as with most things there's no singular cause. Poor parenting/parental involvement. Too little real interaction with real people. All that pussification of America stuff (losing is bad for self-esteem, etc.). Lack of real, tangible challenges to overcome.

Diogenes: Weaver95: well..ok, but if its an increasing problem then what's causing it?

I don't want to threadjack, but as with most things there's no singular cause. Poor parenting/parental involvement. Too little real interaction with real people. All that pussification of America stuff (losing is bad for self-esteem, etc.). Lack of real, tangible challenges to overcome.

I do think that certain jobs tend to attract sociopathic and/or narcissitic personality types. Gingrich seems to be a guy with deep seated psychological issues but because he's in a job where he's expected to be a self centered asshole and rewarded for behaving like an unmitigated dickhole I guess that's only reinforced his particular mental disorder.

Weaver95: Diogenes: Weaver95: well..ok, but if its an increasing problem then what's causing it?

I don't want to threadjack, but as with most things there's no singular cause. Poor parenting/parental involvement. Too little real interaction with real people. All that pussification of America stuff (losing is bad for self-esteem, etc.). Lack of real, tangible challenges to overcome.

I do think that certain jobs tend to attract sociopathic and/or narcissitic personality types. Gingrich seems to be a guy with deep seated psychological issues but because he's in a job where he's expected to be a self centered asshole and rewarded for behaving like an unmitigated dickhole I guess that's only reinforced his particular mental disorder.

Gingrich is in IT?

He is amoral. There isn't any right or wrong, there isn't any conservative or liberal. There's only what will work best for.....................

Fill in the blank with just about any politician

MaudlinMutantMollusk: Gingrich is in IT?

hey! IT folks aren't born sociopaths (that's the accounting department). we're just cynical bastards who know end users exist only to screw up our systems and then complain about it when we fix their issues.

The picture of Clinton is not pertinent. Clinton has done more for humanity than Gingrich could ever dream of doing. In fact, it would never enter Gingrich's mind TO do anything beneficent.

It is true that the lion's share of Clinton's good works were after he left office, but that is often the case with former presidents, at least Democratic ones. Clinton, Carter...they get into humanitarianism. Bush, Bush...they get into speaking fees and conservative think tanks like Carlyle.

Weaver95: MaudlinMutantMollusk: Gingrich is in IT?

hey! IT folks aren't born sociopaths (that's the accounting department). we're just cynical bastards who know end users exist only to screw up our systems and then complain about it when we fix their issues.

If government was ran buy all IT folks it would be cold, rational(minus discussions of Vi vs Emacs or KDE vs Gnome), and efficient. Things would derail when that girl in food service smiled at us tho

Weaver95: MaudlinMutantMollusk: Gingrich is in IT?

hey! IT folks aren't born sociopaths (that's the accounting department). we're just cynical bastards who know end users exist only to screw up our systems and then complain about it when we fix their issues.

When do I get to be an IT sociopath? We're so driven by customer satisfaction surveys we have to treat even the most wrong, demanding, unreasonable drama queens like they're gods. It drives all the wrong behavior. It's the 80/20 rule -- I end up spending 80 percent of my time on the 20 least severe/productive issues. And I get the best surveys where I did little and the solution was researchable, and the worst ones when I've busted my ass. They are not a reflection of my real value.

/end threadjack
//begin jack daniels
///g'night, y'all

tnpir: Newt, in other words, is like every other 14 year old girl on Facebook doing anything and everything to draw attention to themselves.

ya know...I can totally see Gingrich lip synching Katy Perry songs on youtube.

Red Shirt Blues: Fill in the blank with just about any politician

That's what I was going to mention.

AdolfOliverPanties: The picture of Clinton is not pertinent. Clinton has done more for humanity than Gingrich could ever dream of doing. In fact, it would never enter Gingrich's mind TO do anything beneficent.

It is true that the lion's share of Clinton's good works were after he left office, but that is often the case with former presidents, at least Democratic ones. Clinton, Carter...they get into humanitarianism. Bush, Bush...they get into speaking fees and conservative think tanks like Carlyle.

Bush II:
15 billion while in office to combat aids (mostly to Africa).
Established, at the time, in 2008 the largest marine sanctuary in the Pacific.

Red Shirt Blues: Bush II:
15 billion while in office to combat aids (mostly to Africa).
Established, at the time, in 2008 the largest marine sanctuary in the Pacific.


Two things: How much of that 15 billion went towards abstinence education? And, cool thing about the marine thing. What has he done since leaving office? That was what my main point was.

AdolfOliverPanties: Red Shirt Blues: Bush II:
15 billion while in office to combat aids (mostly to Africa).
Established, at the time, in 2008 the largest marine sanctuary in the Pacific.


Two things: How much of that 15 billion went towards abstinence education? And, cool thing about the marine thing. What has he done since leaving office? That was what my main point was.

I don't know the answer to how much went to abstinence education. I searched but I couldn't find any numbers. Here is a pretty fair look at it from the New York Times. Link (new window)

Since leaving office, along with Bill Clinton, he started the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund to raise contributions for the earthquake victims and reconstruction.

Red Shirt Blues: Bush II:
15 billion while in office to combat aids (mostly to Africa).
Established, at the time, in 2008 the largest marine sanctuary in the Pacific.

Also the whole Medicare Part D thing. Would have helped if he'd funded it properly though.

ShawnDoc: Medicare Part D

YEAH........maybe it could. Do we really need 11 carrier battle groups?

Red Shirt Blues: ShawnDoc: Medicare Part D

YEAH........maybe it could. Do we really need 11 carrier battle groups?

hmm....completely fund affordable health care for every citizen in the country OR build 2 more carrier battle groups....

decisions/decisions...

Red Shirt Blues: He is amoral. There isn't any right or wrong, there isn't any conservative or liberal. There's only what will work best for.....................

Fill in the blank with just about any politician


Funny you bring up Clinton since Newt was cheating on one of his wives while pushing forward the investigation to impeach Bill over the Lewinsky affair. You inadvertently made a great point supporting the headline.

Newt's response to his ex-wife when she asked how he could reconcile asking for a divorce because of an affair with another woman and speaking days later about family values to a Republican women's group. His answer? "People want to hear what I have to say. It doesn't matter what I do."

That fkr's even nuttier than I thought.

shower_in_my_socks: Newt's response to his ex-wife when she asked how he could reconcile asking for a divorce because of an affair with another woman and speaking days later about family values to a Republican women's group. His answer? "People want to hear what I have to say. It doesn't matter what I do."

So... he's a legitimate sociopath?