From the rumor site Gawker:
Is Barack Obama Depressed?
Wouldn't you be? Barack Obama is at the nadir of his political popularity and effectiveness. He has been maneuvered into an economic corner of 9%-plus unemployment by a relentlessly nihilistic Congress. His achievements—killing bin Laden, saving the auto industry at negligible cost—are written off as flukes. Plus all this 9/11 anniversary stuff! We hear the New York Times is looking into whether it's all starting to get to him—like, clinically.
We're told by a source inside the Times that the paper is preparing a story arguing that Obama no longer finds joy in the political back-and-forth, has seemed increasingly listless to associates, and is generally exhibiting the litany of signs that late-night cable commercials will tell you add up to depression. Or maybe Low T.
Either way, the investigation was described to us as taking seriously the notion that Obama may be suffering from a depressive episode. Of course, absent a telltale Wellbutrin prescription or testimony from the man himself, it's really impossible to achieve a reliable diagnosis. And a story like "Obama Appears to Suffer From Depression" can be easily downgraded to "Political Travails Begin to Take Personal Toll on Obama." So the story in question, if it ever comes out, may not end up supporting the depression thesis. But rest assured: There are people at the Times who, based on the paper's reporting, believe Obama is depressed—the kind of depression where, if he weren't the president of the United States, he wouldn't be getting out of bed in the morning.
From his own writings, it seems like he suffered depressive episodes in New York in the 1980s and in Chicago in 2000. But, so little objective empathetic analysis has been applied to what Obama has written that almost nobody has noticed this important aspect of the life of the President of the United States of America.
On the other hand, he's also gotten over depressive episodes. I would imagine that watching the Republican candidates for his job must be a real cheerer-upper.
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49 comments:
"depressed" - ? What a smarmy female way of taking a shot at him. Concern trolling much? Do you watch Oprah, too?
is this a data point for "ulsterman"'s "white house insider"
I don't know; Romney looked pretty good last night. Good as possible on immigration. Enough to depress Obama, I think. I have a feeling Romney would clean up in a debate.
Robert Hume
"I would imagine that watching the Republican candidates for his job must be a real cheerer-upper."
*Are* the Republican candidates that impressively bad? That's not a rhetorical question. I've been pretty embarrassed by the bits of debates I've seen, but then I found myself thinking that this is invariably my reaction to such events. Or maybe these people are indeed especially bad: I just don't know.
It's maybe telling that the office lately seems to attract only damaged people--outsiders of one sort or another, usually with "daddy issues." Increasingly, running for President seems to be a lot like choosing to be a stripper, judging from the makeup of the applicant pool.
Well, your readers know, and foreign intelligence services must have done psychological profiles of him. There must also be CIA employees who think they're Walter C. Langer. They'd read Obama's book and do their analysis just because they can. If they talk at all, then this would be known in the highest Democratic Party circles. They might not talk, thinking blasphemy would be too dangerous. They could frame it as a complement, though, saying that this makes him like Lincoln and Churchill, but it has to be kept quiet because Americans wouldn't understand. Finally, Republican opposition researchers must know, although apparently they've decided that the information can't do them any good. So some people in standard conservative journalism probably know, too, but probably think that writing about it would be self-destructive. And they'd get blamed for stealing your work without citation.
Of course he's depressed!
Wellbutrin (bupropion) prescription would very well help Obama - to date, it is the most effective quit smoking medication. He is still smoking, right?
Other things being equal, I'd rather have a Pres who is sometimes depressed than a Pres who is sometimes manic.
Depressives are in touch with reality.
And don't overlook that first line.
Obama has been "maneuvered" into this situation. And believing in anything other than full-retard progressivism makes one a nihilist!
Steve S. said:
I would imagine that watching the Republican candidates for his job must be a real cheerer-upper.
ROTFL
BTW Where do the REPs keep dredging up these clowns - Palin, Perry, Bachmann, Trump? Is there some sort of twisted politico factory out there, stamping them out like bottle-tops?
Obama is Black, and so no one can write about his problems, the way no one can really write about Serena Williams threatening a line judge at the US Open in what amounts to a roid rage or McEnroe impersonation.
My guess is that while Ulsterman's insiders are fake (what kind of insider gives info to a blogger -- that's not the definition of an insider) they are panicking, realizing that they got the real world equivalent of Morgan Freeman (the guy marrying his step-grand-daughter) not the movie role itself. Romney looks good, is reasonably good on immigration, and has no daddy issues AFAIK. He might be boring and bland, but is well vetted, no surprises, can't be worse than Obama.
Killing bin Laden? OK. But GM has hardly been "saved," (current US market share around 20%, historical best, around 50%), and the deal was a rotten one for US taxpayers (http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/05/gms-profits-are-still-a-huge-net-loss-for-taxpayers/238795/). Is that the best that this administration can do? A terrible economy, continuing useless wars in Iraq and Afghanistan plus a new one in Libya, no job creation, persistently high unemployment, energy prices at record highs, his base deserting him, the Republican attack dogs straining at the leashes... is it no wonder that the poor dahling is feeling blue?
He has been maneuvered into an economic corner of 9%-plus unemployment by a relentlessly nihilistic Congress
Can we expect anything intelligent after that gem?
Maybe the hundreds of millions spent on vacations is just his wife trying to cheer him up?
Good thing Joe Biden is there to pick up the slack with doling out a quarter of the GDP.
George W. Bush was depressed too in his second term, but who cared? But since Obama is depressed, it must like Jesus agonizing before the Crucifixion. I mean liberals see Obama as the new messiah, misunderstood and/or hated by all the non-believing naysayers.
"Nobody knows the trouble I seen, nobody knows but Jesus."
I don't think Obama's going from impressive to depressive but from inflated to deflated.
Monday's Republican debate was depressing. I just dislike Romney -- I think he'll say anything he can get away with to get elected. And yet I ended up convinced that Romney was the best of the bunch. He's clearly smarter than the others, and since I'm no fan of Tea Party economics, a fair amount of his insincerity would end up cutting my way. Still, what a downer! I may end up voting for Obama again. But it would be so nice to have an intelligent and sincerely nationalist Republican to vote for!
Call me naive, but I really do think that Romney would give a shot in the arm to the economy if for no other reason that people know he knows something about business. He wouldn't wage war on the principles of capitalism (like Obama)and that in and of itself changes people's behavior and confidence in the economy.
Obama and libs love to fancy themselves as Robin Hoods; they see themselves attacking capitalist pigs when they are actually attacking capitalism itself.
That is why Barry, like his friends, (finger wagging like the Pakistani restauranteur in Seinfeld) "a baad man...a vvery, vvery baaaad man."
Obama is depressed than angry. Well, no wonder so many white people are devoted to(and voted for)him. The suffering Negro is one of the big holy tropes of American liberalism. MLK played that card well too. But then there came the ANGRY BLACKS. But Obama, instead of showing anger, feels... depressed. Uncle Tom's Oval Office.
"Call me naive, but I really do think that Romney would give a shot in the arm to the economy if for no other reason that people know he knows something about business."
A shot in the arm is not we need, especially if it's more Wall Street heroin. George W. Bush was also a businessman.. and guess what!!!
I don't know about Obama, but Krugman sounds positively goofy, perhaps ready to leap from a bridge.
Nobody Knows
Obama did not save the US auto industry. He saved the UAW's pension plan.
These people haven't noticed that this guy spends about half his time on vacation or recreational activities? Even though he's president, he himself basically disappears for weeks at a time except for a 'statement' or two where he just reads something or when he speaks to some super friendly crowd like at a fundraiser?
Actually I'm surprised that among the 'allied' western governments someone hasn't made a comment somewhere about what a lightweight he is. Sit him next jokers to David Cameron, Angela Merkel and Sarkozy and the precious is the littlest guy in the room!
The Onion already reported on this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9k_nAbsNfI
Welbutrin is very subtle in its effects; this is why it also has few side effects. If he's seriously depressed, I imagine he'll need more.
If Barack Obama is depressed, I know the man who could provide some counseling. He's a nationally acclaimed doctor. He's known Barack personally for decades. He's treated many lost souls before. Best of all, he's located near the city of Chicago, so he can pay our president a home visit.
Presenting to you........... Dr. Jeremiah Wright!
LOL! "the one" single handedly saved save the US auto industry according to this retard.
back in reality, it's never been in worse shape. the united states LOST billions of dollars turning general motors into government motors, F_ing creditors, and forcing them into building the volt, a big money loser. chrysler is simply gone, a foreign company now changing hands every decade. and ford took zero dollars from washington.
ford just announced plans to open a 1 billion dollar engineering plant and factory, to employ 5000 people. in india.
the lucky discovery of osama bin laden would seem to remain obama's only major success, and even that is forever clouded in the weirdest, most obtuse set of circumstances perhaps ever. The whole "Dumped the body in the ocean" fiacsco has to easily be the most preposterous thing a united states president has ever done.
he's still gotten a totally free ride on that nearly certain counterfeit birth certificate they presented. not a single expert looking to check that out? LOL.
obama is given SUCH a free ride that pakistan was caught red handed hiding bin laden while taking billions of dollars from the US and pretending it had no idea. for years. and the president of the united states did
NOTHING.
some foreign shithole stole tens of billions of dollars from the US while hiding public enemy number 1 and the commander in chief DIDN'T DO A THING!
AND NOBODY OBJECTED!
washington didn't even reduce their foreign aid by a full 1 billion dollars a year!
meanwhile, obama presided over the first downgrade of US credit in the history of the nation. how about that one for obama talking points!
"Those AAA credit ratings I inherited were Bush's fault."
it brings teh lulz!
"saved the auto industry"!!! I guess he also had a significant hand in the invention of oxygen as well.
Romney looked pretty good last night. Good as possible on immigration
What does that mean? Knowing Romney's background, my conviction is that he is an open fencer all the way. He wants an open labor market like most finance types, and like many Mormons he sees Mexican immigrants as a rich source of potential converts. He may talk the talk now, but he will be worse than Obama on this issue.
I disagree with Whiskey that Mitt
Romney has no daddy issues.
Mitt's father George was a self-made man who grew up poor, was the governor of a larger state for a longer time, was the CEO of a larger company (American Motors vs. Bain consultants), was a manlier and more forceful man than Mitt, was a better salesman than Mitt, and probably always considered Mitt to be a wimp.
Many people who have seen both of them in action would conclude that Mitt will never be the man his father was.
Mitt Romney is Republicans' best chance ever to have a nominee with a good chance to win, who's excellent on the immigration issue. Yet many seem to be looking to lose with Gardasil Perry and his Texas twang. Why? Because Romney's Mormon? Because he's smart? Because he said he was pro-choice to get elected in Mass.?
Here's the dog that didn't bark aspect: Remember how we would be treated every year to the 'the President has just had his annual physical...he passed with flying colors', etc.? Every President I can remember (back to LBJ) went through this annual run through his colon. But can anyone recall this for Obama? I don't remember hearing of one--have I just missed it, or is this a something?
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2010/03/01/doctors-advice-obama-kick-cigarette-habit/
The President didn't have a physical until just over a year in office, and it seems that it was his first since 2007. It appears that he's slightly overdue for another.
"spends half his time on vacation"
Interesting observation. The recent retreat to "Martha's Vineyard" was on its face very
politically detrimental at a time when the economic sufferings of many of Americans were growing worse and wider. There is some hint of suggestion that his mother, Stanley(lee) Ann Dunham Obama, may have had atypical mood swings, also. And Ann's paternal grandmother committed suicide at age 26. For some people , one lasting effect of heavy use of marijuana is recurrent and exaggerted depression. There is clear indication that he smoked the heavy weed with both hands during most of his high school years and into some of his college years. He appears never to have released even terse summaries of his health records. I don't know if he's depressed, but he makes me feel blue.
"Nobody's saying he's not the Magic Negro any more."
Heh, you take me for a moby? That's rich. I just hate to see an upstanding realistic type of guy stoop to the pop psychologizing of the left.
But I guess the meme's going around now. Let's see if anyone goes for it!
I thought Obama's speech on jobs was a pretty good performance -- strong and upbeat. In that sense he didn't seem depressed.
How Obama can fix the economy: say everyone is entitled to a house like this and put people to work bulding it. With what money? Print it or borrow it; deficit spending works; so says Nobel prize winning Paul Krugman.
"Heh, you take me for a moby?"
Nope, not taking you for anything, leaving you as I found you.
"I just hate to see an upstanding realistic type of guy stoop to the pop psychologizing of the left."
Relax and stop with the hate already. When Steve stoops, he stoops to conquer.
Well, I can relate! Poor guy... It's tough to be a kid who everyone says has a bright future, sorta, kinda care about getting a good education, spend a good chunk of your free time self-indulging, and then... get blamed for things over which you have very limited influence, find out that you really didn't know crap, and come to realize that, no matter what your job is being made to look like on TV, in reality the only true power you have is to ruin someone's day because you're nothing more than a government employee who's been hired to fill a spot.
He seems to be employing my former coping techniques already: excessive exercise and a dog. Is he having regular sex? The NYT should investigate. If they find out that the president goes without, I hear the NYT readers were eager to oblige just a few year ago.
What does that mean? Knowing Romney's background, my conviction is that he is an open fencer all the way. He wants an open labor market like most finance types, and like many Mormons he sees Mexican immigrants as a rich source of potential converts. He may talk the talk now, but he will be worse than Obama on this issue.
No, actually, my sense is that Romney seems to at least listen to people fed up with out-of-control immigration. Perry, on the other hand, as Vdare will tell you, is GWB redux. So on immigration, I'd pick Romney.
Incidentally, I'd also pick Romney over Bachmann, who is rabidly pro-Israel and not more interventionist merely because our Iraq and Afghanistan adventures have obviously bankrupted the country. Same with Palin, who in addition to being bad on foreign policy, is also bad on immigration.
If Ron Paul gets artificially sidelined *again*, I'd go with Romney.
Yeah apparently he is going to stump for the jobs bill every day for the foreseeable future. It is a good way to deal with the depression story.
AZT side effects?
"spends half his time on vacation"
"...makes me feel blue"
BHO's biography, to the extent it is actually known, is replete with instances of failure to meet deadlines, etc. Some of this may be just an indication of a basically narcissistic ME-ism.
But the more likley bet is that is signifies what a mood roller-coaster the guy is on.
He seems to be losing the will to govern. Not surprising really - how can the reality of running a country that is on skid row, when you know you're not qualified to do it, and you know everyone else knows it too, compare with the dizzying rush of campaigning for, and winning, the presidency? Must be the ultimate comedown, and passing the halfway point of your term, and realising that rather than ending in recognition of your triumph, history in fact cares about you not at all and is rolling relentlessly on, must be particularly miserable.
If I were Obama I'd be tempted to say "you know what, screw this", not stand for a second term and go off and do something fun instead.
Re Londoner "He seems to be losing the will to govern.."
I heard a coffee house conjecture that the President's wilting, if there be such, is perhaps a function of his narcissism and its relationship to his mother. His
"Obamacare" is his own monumnet to this relationship and to himself. It certainly appears imperiled. And trying to be faithful to Momma's world view and ending up a one term president would also be a hammer blow to one's narcissism. He has that "Oedipal casualty" look.
It is not unlikely that any unusual mood swings, especially depressive,
would have been noted in his cumulative folder by one or more of his teachers in Hawaii in his high school years. He appears determined not to release even heavily redacated copies of such records.
Years ago, a Langley spin off company announced the invention of a valid "voice stress analyzer" aimed to help in lie detection. Whether this technology ever really cleared the runway, is unknown to me. If there by now is some proven efficacy for such purpose, it might also be
standardized to assist in estimating whether a speaker is depressed.
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