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Palin's Ego Trip
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Does Sarah Palin suffer from narcissistic personality disorder? Michelle Goldberg puts America’s hottest author on the couch.
All politicians may lie, but not all politicians lie like Sarah Palin. Many people in public life lie to avoid getting caught when they do something wrong; call them “I did not have sex with that woman!” lies. Or they mislead about their own experiences and accomplishments, like Hillary Clinton and her untrue tales of dodging bullets in Bosnia.
Palin, however, lies when there’s little to be gained by lying, and she lies when everyone knows the truth. If Bill Clinton were a Palin-style liar, he’d still be insisting that his relationship with Monica Lewinsky was entirely chaste, or he’d claim that he never denied it in the first place. If Hillary Clinton lied like Palin, she’d put the Bosnia anecdote in her next memoir. Palin’s new book, Going Rogue, coupled with her recent media appearances, evinces a dishonesty that seems as much clinical as opportunistic. Maybe Palin really does suffer from narcissistic personality disorder.
“She probably does believe that the basic narrative really is true,” says Bella DePaulo, author of Behind the Door of Deceit: Understanding the Biggest Liars in Our Lives. “And if the specifics of the anecdotes she tells are not so accurate—well, to her, they add up to a bigger truth.”
To be sure, some of the factually incorrect stuff in Going Rogue may be the result of ignorance as much as dishonesty. On page 391, she writes, “Ronald Reagan faced an event worse recession. He showed us how to get out of one. If you want real job growth, cut capital gains taxes and slay the death tax once and for all.” Every assertion in these sentences is untrue. The current recession is far worse than anything Reagan faced. Reagan did not get rid of the estate tax, which Palin calls the “death tax.” And capital gains taxes are lower now than they were during the Reagan administration. But Palin might not be being deliberately misleading; maybe she just doesn’t know any better. The same could be true when she claims that Barack Obama “opposed laws that would protect babies born alive after botched abortions.” Maybe it was ignorance rather than deceit that led Palin to sound off about “death panels” a few months ago.
• Tina Brown: Sarah Drops the Act
• Lee Siegel: Leave Palin Alone
• Shushannah Walshe: Palin’s Katie Couric Myths
• More Daily Beast contributors on Palin’s book tourSurely, though, Palin knew that she told the McCain campaign, in writing, that Bristol was pregnant, and so her story about McCain’s ace investigators digging the information up on their own was a lie. Either she was lying last year, when she told Sean Hannity that before accepting the offer to join the McCain ticket, she’d taken a family vote, or she was lying on Monday, when she told Oprah Winfrey she’d done no such thing. Emails released by former McCain staffers show that she was lying about her eagerness to appear on Saturday Night Live. A number of reporters and bloggers have tirelessly catalogued all this mendacity, particularly Palin nemesis Andrew Sullivan.
The Associated Press fact-checked Palin’s false claims about relying on small donations in her political campaigns, allowing for open, competitive bidding on a natural gas pipeline and avoiding conflicts of interest as Wasilla mayor. (Palin accused the AP of doing “opposition research,” as if any attempt to hold her accountable for her own words must be a partisan plot.) As the Boston Globe reports, there’s overwhelming evidence that Palin is lying when she disavows all responsibility for her infamous $150,000 shopping spree.
Palin is still lying about the notorious Bridge to Nowhere—or, rather, she’s lying when she says that the press was lying about it. She repeats the right-wing myth—debunked by Politico, among others—that a broken teleprompter forced her to wing it during her RNC speech. “By God’s grace I was having a ball, and that broken teleprompter was pretty liberating,” she writes, lying.
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Michelle Goldberg is the author of The Means of Reproduction: Sex, Power and the Future of the World and Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism. She is a senior correspondent for The American Prospect, and her work has appeared in The New Republic, The Nation, the Los Angeles Times, Glamour, and many other publications.
studentoflaw
in two words? hell yes.
CarrieAnn
She's a pathological liar. I know a guy like that. He's so pathological that he'll lie all the time about absolutely anything. Once a friend of his was talking about his new toupee and the pathological liar said: I wear a rug, too. But he doesn't. Palin's that kind of liar -- they just can't stop.
Sajwert
One thing that a lot of people don't realize about pathological liars is the fallout from what they do. My mother was a pathological liar. I learned very early to distrust much of what she said, and found myself even as a small child, trying to verify some of what she told me or what I heard her say. I learned very early never to repeat anything she said, as I was unsure what was and was not the truth.
I see some of my mother's behaviors in Sarah Palin, and if I were her daughter, I would be very careful indeed.
Carver
I was engaged to a raging narcissist who lied about everything. When I got myself beyond the relationship, I realized that the overarching trait of narcissists is their reliance on charm to win people over. In and of itself, there is nothing wrong with charm. But beware those for whom it is their predominant characteristic.
xlntcat
Many Mental and Emotional Disorders are characterized by pathological lying (lying when the truth would be a better story or produce less averse consequences), but Palin definitely exhibits Cluster B traits. Her vindictiveness and alleged paranoia is more associated with Borderline Personality Disorder and the staffs concern with Postpartum Depression and her incoherent resignation speech with the breathlessness could be suggestive of Bi-polar disorder. However, I think they campaign staff might have been trying to account for her cognitive deficits and inability to focus, attend and absorb new information. Typically Major Depressive Disorder wouldn't allow for her "perkiness" when on the campaign stump. Whatever her problem is she is unfit for any office.
diamondgirl
If you want to talk about lying, let's talk about all those involved.
First the handlers for McCain's campaign have bashed Palin for a year now, and so has the entire Media. How stupid she was, can't read, diva, going rogue, can see Russia from her house, she was never pregnant, etc one lie after another. You fools fall for every one of the lies because you don't like her, for whatever reason. You are not fooling anyone with your bashing, no one is listening that likes her. You are helping her become a very rich women, so I guess she gets the last laugh...As for her book, she gets to respond to those who hate her and have bashed her, did any of you expect them to not lie and say that's not the truth? I think it's great she gets to do it on her terms and her way and it's about time she is free of the restraints and she can tell her version of the truth...
nortonclybourn
How's that natural gas pipeline working out for you?
crypto
Better than the hope and change thing Norton. Just as soon as we get this transparency stuff worked out I'm sure it'll change though.
rvail136
Ditto...this administration has yet to fullfill their "transparency" pledges...don't think they will.
grlfromks
When "her version of the truth" is different than the version told by everyone else and you can continue to believe her, maybe it's time you had a mental health checkup?
crypto
Well for goodness sake. Most of the stuff you have on here is "different" from "the rest. You should go back and read your response to some of the topics. One track mind that many times makes no logical sense at all.
Desertpenguin
If Sarah Palin were found in a motel room with two dead hookers and a suitcase full of cocaine, diamondgirl would say--
"she gets to do it on her terms and her way and it's about time she is free of the restraints..."
crypto
There's gotta be a point in there somewhere or you wouldn't have said it. Try again.
mcasio
diamondgirl, just a quick question: Do you think Palin has ever knowingly lied while in the public spotlight to make herself look good?
mcasio
I guess diamondgirl doesn't want to answer my question. I thought it was a simple one, too.
piktor
casio - Do not complicate diamond's life. As soon as she is asked a pertinent question she suddenly becomes "unavailable".
crypto
Please allow me. Of course she has. It's been done in a way as to "stretch" the truth as politicians do. But apply that to Obama. He has lied from day one, openly, and in your face. He doesn't give a tinker's dam if anybody believes him except maybe his islamic buddies. Gotta be politically correct ya know. You Boma supporters go ahead. Not here. I have no intention to face the east, bow down and pray to some cartoon dufus five times a day. Yeppers, you, Obama, and the right Reverend Wright oughta get along real well.
liberaljesus
Diamondgirl....we know how much you adore and worship this woman but even now you are lying. After the campaign no one from the McCain camp was saying anything. All the chattering was from Sarah. The campaign staffers were only responding to all her baseless lies. Why are you so strident on believing this liar? And what does this say about you? And how do you address the fact that she did indeed quit on Alaska? Are you saying you admire quitters and liars? What truths are you referring to diamondgirl? What has Palin said that is actually true that was previously thought of as a lie?
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diamondgirl
liberal, I never lie, you remember that butt head. You bashers and the Media, want her gone. I believe she will be around for a long time and you can't do a thing about that. So bash away, it's not going to make a difference.
The staffers were attacking her before the campaign was over, low class and despicable. She has every right to respond, it's her word against theirs and I believe her. And so does everyone who is buys her book.
Monk66
"she starts shouting rude, nasty things at people - that's her default right-wing defense."
"liberal, I never lie, you remember that butt head. You bashers and the Media, want her gone."
oaklynne is a psychic.
and DG,
have you ever asked yourself, why has everyone that has spent an extended amount of time with her politically backed away and "bashed" her?
hfb1053
What I get from you is that everyone is lying except Palin. She's the only honest person in this entire endeavor. How can you actually believe that unless you suffer from the same disorder? That would make you sisters-in-kind and I'd imagine you'd like that.
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diamondgirl
Don't even try to spin this to make your point, The media, web sites and any left leaning or self protecting person has been lying for the past year.. I don't care if you like her or believe her. You hate her just because she is a conservative plain and simple and that's the same reason the rest of the left hates her. It won't change her it has energized her into what you see now..
Monk66
The same dumbass we've seen since she's stepped out on to the national stage?
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diamondgirl
Oak-STALKER-Your stalking me again! You should talk nut job
When you get your mental condition taken care of you can have room to talk about someone elses mental wellbeing
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MajorRevisions
d-girl, first off, I am not making her rich. I have not bought her book of fiction nor do I have plans to. I surprised that Palin didn't blame he co-author, Lynn Vincent, for the "lies". Having seen the book in a store, I found it intersting that she didn't even credit Vincent on the cover so it looked as if Palin wrote it herself. I do agree with you though that now "she can tell her version of the truth...". The fact that someone is fact checking her statements, how dare they question anything she says.
By the way, it is so bad that I read that even Fox "news" is fact checking Palin now.
diamondgirl
Major, I don't care if anyone fact checks her book even Fox, its not going to change the minds of those that like her, but what the Media should be doing is fact checking the Health Care Bill for how it's going to screw anyone old and young alike. Instead of wasting time on Palin's book.
As for Palin, people who bash her keep her story alive, because those who agree with her become outraged and want more, the book, speeches, interview, and politician. all of which comes with $$$$$$
Monk66
yeah major.
check the facts.
palin is omniscient.
she decides what the facts are and aren't.
and DG is her Jesus
Snertly
Diamondgirl makes me think Sarah gave Bristol a job.
dbro0009
my lord diamond girl. WHO let you out of your padded cell?
EVERYONE stop picking on this poor lady for not giving up on heroes of her ideology. that's like picking on a child for not wanting to believe santa isn't real
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yankeechamp2009
DIAMONDGIRL SAYS: If you want to talk about lying, let's talk about all those involved. First the handlers for McCain's campaign have bashed Palin for a year now, and so has the entire Media. How stupid she was, can't read, diva, going rogue, can see Russia from her house, she was never pregnant, etc one lie after another. You fools fall for every one of the lies because you don't like her, for whatever reason.@@@@@ FIRST OF ALL, THE MCCAIN HANDLERS "BASHED" SARAH BECAUSE SHE STARTED TO DO THINGS ON HER OWN WITHOUT CONSULTING WITH MCCAIN. WHEN MCCAIN WANTED TO PULL OUT OF CAMPAIGNING IN MICHIGAN BECAUSE HE FELT HE WOULDN'T WIN THAT STATE, SHE WENT AHEAD AND CAMPAIGNED IN GRAND RAPIDS WITH HER HUSBAND. THAT COSTS MONEY. SHE USED THE CAMPAIGN FUNDS WITHOUT TOUCHING BASE WITH MCCAIN. ON ANOTHER OCCASION SHE STARTED TO GO AROUND MENTIONING A DINNER THAT OBAMA HAD WITH RASHID KHALIDI, AN ALLEGED OFFICIAL OF THE P.L.O. AND HOW OBAMA WAS NOW AFFILIATED WITH THE P.L.O. WHAT PALIN DIDN'T KNOW WAS THAT MCCAIN DONATED $488,000 TO KHALIDI. SO HOW DID THAT MAKE MCCAIN LOOK NOW? HAD SARAH DISCUSSED THIS WITH MCCAIN BEFORE OPENING HER BIG MOUTH, MCCAIN WOULD'VE TOLD HER NOT TO MENTION THIS DINNER BECAUSE IT WOULD BACK FIRE, AND IT DID. OTHER THAN THAT, CUT YOUR CRAP BECAUSE NOONE MENTIONS THIS. AS FAR AS HER BEING STUPID, CAN'T READ, ETC...THOSE ARE JOKES THAT ARE MADE BY TV TALK SHOW HOSTS AND NOONE "BELIEVES IT" AS YOU SAY. SEE THE PROBLEM WITH YOU RIGHT WINGERS IS THAT YOU THINK BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE EVERY LITTLE CRAP YOU HEAR FROM FOX, YOU THINK THE DEMS ARE JUST AS STUPID. THE FACT ABOUT HER NOT READING SHE DID IT ALL TO HERSELF IN THAT KATIE COURIC INTERVIEW. KATIE DID NOT THROW A TRICK QUESTION IN ASKING PALIN WHAT NEWSPAPERS SHE READS FOR CHRISTS SAKE. IS THAT WHAT YOU BELIEVE???
NOONE FALLS FOR ANY "LIES". WE KNOW SHE'S NOT ALL STUPID IF SHE KNOWS HOW FOOL YOU RIGHT WINGERS USING JOE THE PLUMBER AS SOME MASCOT TO CONVINCE YOU THAT OBAMA IS A TERRORIST AND A MARXIST.
THAT BIG SCENARIO SHE CREATED REGARDING DAVID LETTERMAN WE NOW KNOW WAS A BIG FAKE. SHE JUST WANTED TO SCRUTINIZE CBS BECAUSE OF HER KATIE COURIC INTERVIEW. SHE WRITES ABOUT IT IN HER BOOK ON HOW SHE ACTUALLY THINKS SHE AND MCCAIN LOST BECAUSE OF KATIE COURIC. IF PALIN CANT NAME THE NAMESOF ANY NEWSPAPERS, HOW IS THIS KATIE'S FAULT??? BUT OBVIOUSLY SHE IS MAD AND WHEN LETTERMAN MADE THAT JOKE, SHE USED IT AS HER OPPORTUNITY TO DISCREDIT CBS. SO THAT WHOLE SCENE WAS A LIE. ON TOP OF THAT, IF SHE WAS REALLY OFFENDED ON JOKES MADE ON HER DAUGHTER, THEN WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO INCLUDE ON HER BOOK THAT BRISTOL WAS SEXUALLY ACTIVE WAY BEFORE GETTING PREGNANT?? NOT ONLY DOES SHE MENTION THIS IN HER BOOK, SHE TELLS BARBARA WALTERS AND OPRAH WINFREY THIS. DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A WOMAN WHO IS REALLY MAD ABOUT A JOKE WHEN SHE HERSELF TRASHES HER OWN DAUGHTER? GIMME A BREAK. BARBARA AND OPRAH ARE TWO DEMOCRATIC SUPPORTERS. SO THE DEMOCRATS AREN'T BASHING HER REGARDLESS OF WHAT POISON FOX TELLS YOU. SHE HERSELF IS VOLUNTEERING THIS INFORMATION..
SO U HAVE IT ALL WRONG.
AND I WENT INTO THE MAYO CLINIC'S WEBSITE AND LOOKED UP N.P.D. AND BOY DOES SARAH HAVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS:
Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:
Believing that you're better than others
Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
Exaggerating your achievements or talents
Expecting constant praise and admiration
Believing that you're special and acting accordingly
Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings
Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
Taking advantage of others
Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
Being jealous of others
Believing that others are jealous of you
Trouble keeping healthy relationships
Setting unrealistic goals
Being easily hurt and rejected
Having a fragile self-esteem
Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS006 52/DSECTION=symptoms
yankeechamp2009
DIAMONDGIRL SAYS: If you want to talk about lying, let's talk about all those involved. First the handlers for McCain's campaign have bashed Palin for a year now, and so has the entire Media. How stupid she was, can't read, diva, going rogue, can see Russia from her house, she was never pregnant, etc one lie after another. You fools fall for every one of the lies because you don't like her, for whatever reason.@@@@@ FIRST OF ALL, THE MCCAIN HANDLERS "BASHED" SARAH BECAUSE SHE STARTED TO DO THINGS ON HER OWN WITHOUT CONSULTING WITH MCCAIN. WHEN MCCAIN WANTED TO PULL OUT OF CAMPAIGNING IN MICHIGAN BECAUSE HE FELT HE WOULDN'T WIN THAT STATE, SHE WENT AHEAD AND CAMPAIGNED IN GRAND RAPIDS WITH HER HUSBAND. THAT COSTS MONEY. SHE USED THE CAMPAIGN FUNDS WITHOUT TOUCHING BASE WITH MCCAIN. ON ANOTHER OCCASION SHE STARTED TO GO AROUND MENTIONING A DINNER THAT OBAMA HAD WITH RASHID KHALIDI, AN ALLEGED OFFICIAL OF THE P.L.O. AND HOW OBAMA WAS NOW AFFILIATED WITH THE P.L.O. WHAT PALIN DIDN'T KNOW WAS THAT MCCAIN DONATED $488,000 TO KHALIDI. SO HOW DID THAT MAKE MCCAIN LOOK NOW? HAD SARAH DISCUSSED THIS WITH MCCAIN BEFORE OPENING HER BIG MOUTH, MCCAIN WOULD'VE TOLD HER NOT TO MENTION THIS DINNER BECAUSE IT WOULD BACK FIRE, AND IT DID. OTHER THAN THAT, CUT YOUR CRAP BECAUSE NOONE MENTIONS THIS. AS FAR AS HER BEING STUPID, CAN'T READ, ETC...THOSE ARE JOKES THAT ARE MADE BY TV TALK SHOW HOSTS AND NOONE "BELIEVES IT" AS YOU SAY. SEE THE PROBLEM WITH YOU RIGHT WINGERS IS THAT YOU THINK BECAUSE YOU BELIEVE EVERY LITTLE CRAP YOU HEAR FROM FOX, YOU THINK THE DEMS ARE JUST AS STUPID. THE FACT ABOUT HER NOT READING SHE DID IT ALL TO HERSELF IN THAT KATIE COURIC INTERVIEW. KATIE DID NOT THROW A TRICK QUESTION IN ASKING PALIN WHAT NEWSPAPERS SHE READS FOR CHRISTS SAKE. IS THAT WHAT YOU BELIEVE???
NOONE FALLS FOR ANY "LIES". WE KNOW SHE'S NOT ALL STUPID IF SHE KNOWS HOW FOOL YOU RIGHT WINGERS USING JOE THE PLUMBER AS SOME MASCOT TO CONVINCE YOU THAT OBAMA IS A TERRORIST AND A MARXIST.
THAT BIG SCENARIO SHE CREATED REGARDING DAVID LETTERMAN WE NOW KNOW WAS A BIG FAKE. SHE JUST WANTED TO SCRUTINIZE CBS BECAUSE OF HER KATIE COURIC INTERVIEW. SHE WRITES ABOUT IT IN HER BOOK ON HOW SHE ACTUALLY THINKS SHE AND MCCAIN LOST BECAUSE OF KATIE COURIC. IF PALIN CANT NAME THE NAMESOF ANY NEWSPAPERS, HOW IS THIS KATIE'S FAULT??? BUT OBVIOUSLY SHE IS MAD AND WHEN LETTERMAN MADE THAT JOKE, SHE USED IT AS HER OPPORTUNITY TO DISCREDIT CBS. SO THAT WHOLE SCENE WAS A LIE. ON TOP OF THAT, IF SHE WAS REALLY OFFENDED ON JOKES MADE ON HER DAUGHTER, THEN WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO INCLUDE ON HER BOOK THAT BRISTOL WAS SEXUALLY ACTIVE WAY BEFORE GETTING PREGNANT?? NOT ONLY DOES SHE MENTION THIS IN HER BOOK, SHE TELLS BARBARA WALTERS AND OPRAH WINFREY THIS. DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A WOMAN WHO IS REALLY MAD ABOUT A JOKE WHEN SHE HERSELF TRASHES HER OWN DAUGHTER? GIMME A BREAK. BARBARA AND OPRAH ARE TWO DEMOCRATIC SUPPORTERS. SO THE DEMOCRATS AREN'T BASHING HER REGARDLESS OF WHAT POISON FOX TELLS YOU. SHE HERSELF IS VOLUNTEERING THIS INFORMATION..
SO U HAVE IT ALL WRONG.
AND I WENT INTO THE MAYO CLINIC'S WEBSITE AND LOOKED UP N.P.D. AND BOY DOES SARAH HAVE ALL THE SYMPTOMS:
Narcissistic personality disorder symptoms may include:
Believing that you're better than others
Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
Exaggerating your achievements or talents
Expecting constant praise and admiration
Believing that you're special and acting accordingly
Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings
Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
Taking advantage of others
Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
Being jealous of others
Believing that others are jealous of you
Trouble keeping healthy relationships
Setting unrealistic goals
Being easily hurt and rejected
Having a fragile self-esteem
Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
**THE ONLY ONE THAT PROBABLY DOES NOT APPLY TO HER IS THE ONE ABOUT KEEPING HEALTHY RELATIONSHIPS. ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN REPRTED THAT HER AND TODD ALMOST DIVORCED..BUT THIS HASNT BEEN PROVEN SO WE CAN LEAVE THAT OUT.
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/narcissistic-personality-disorder/DS006 52/DSECTION=symptoms
gameon
You just described every politician in washington, numbnuts.
T1Brit
It may be true - or it may be that she is one of the new type of ultra cynical politician who has adopted a strategy of total amoral flexibility towards the truth. It has always been said by unethical players that what people believe to be true is more important than what is actually true - but with modern media and the attention span and ethical standards of the modern media consumer, it becomes possible to mount a serious war against any truth that you wish to erase or discredit - This is reenforced by the type of relativism that has infected modern thought - where all views are equallt valid - where even science itself is regarded as an 'opinion'. In such a climate - it is possible to sway a vast number of weak-minded people to see the truth as you wish. look at the right wing media - it is a war on truth - perception is all. if you shout it loud enough and on the right media outlets - IT BECOMES THE TRUTH
nortonclybourn
But her behavior isn't purposeful. It's erratic, impulsive, self-destructive. If she was sitting down and planning things out, she would not be constantly defeating herself.
keepakeeper43
Sarah will say whatever it takes to continue her delusion that her selection by McCain that thrust her into the national scene had something to do with achievement or ability.
She will say anything to continue her delusion that she can somehow be elected President of the United States.
Most Republicans are crapping their pants at the thought of her candidacy. They know she is unelectable.
They know her candidacy means a lock for Obama.
However, what are they gonna do?
Their party is a junk heap.
They have nobody.
Run!Sarah!Run!
jefcheez
In all seriousness--Sarah Palin is mentally ill. It is the only way to explain the chronic lying, the grandiosity, the egocentricity, the completely inappropriate expectations regarding anything having to do with herself. (What, no VP concession speech before the entire nation on election night? Just because it's never been done before?)
Really, who IS this woman? Narcissistic Personality Disorder just about nails it.
ponykeg
And what is it with the royal "we" all the time? Definitely more evidence of grandiosity and egocentricity...
djnFLA
Michele Goldberg has it totally wrong. Palin is refreshingly honest, which is why so many Americans connect with her.
If you want to analyze a person with Narcissistic personality disorder, one need only look to the White House, because President Obama is a classic case. His campaign was controlled, it manipulated the public, and Obama ran as a moderate when he in truth is radically left...Where as Sarah Palin-what you see is what you get. As far as lies, the Stimulus Bill is a good example!
mcasio
I was hoping you could elaborate on a few points:
1. Do you think that Palin has knowingly lied while in the public spotlight to make herself look better?
2. What specific parts of the stimulus bill are lies?
section9
1. Sure she has. Every politician does that. The problem with you Lefties is that you think the Con Man you elected HASN'T LIED TO YOU. In fact, not only has Obama lied to you, he's taken your milk money. How's Don't Ask, Don't Tell working out for you? Shoot, Obama lied through his teeth when he said that Health Care reform was going to be a transparent process. That went out the window months ago. He didn't even bother to keep that promise. That's because he knew that you lemmings wouldn't care if he lied to you or not. You were just fanboys.
2. ACORN funding. The pork stuffed in for the Dept. of Education? I mean, if you are going to do the New Deal, do the New Freaking Deal, not this Song and Dance act. At least FDR knew what the heck he was doing. Obama was merely exchanging the Bush Piglets for his piglets. You poor members of the Obamajugend haven't figured that out yet.
Third Bush Term. That was the Change You Voted For.
And you sit there banging on your keyboards about Palin while she's not the one driving the country into the ditch.
Jesus, what Clydes. The man is getting laughed at by the Chinese because they know he is a con man and you people think that PALIN is some huge threat to the Republic.
Reality Based Community my butt!
yankeechamp2009
section9 The problem with you Lefties is that you think the Con Man you elected HASN'T LIED TO YOU. In fact, not only has Obama lied to you, he's taken your milk money. How's Don't Ask, Don't Tell working out for you? //////// HEY GENIUS, "DONT ASK DONT TELL" HAS TO DO WITH THE MILITARY AND HOMOSEXUALS. IT ALLOWS GAYS TO ENLIST IN THE MILITARY WITHOUT ANYONE HAVING TO KNOW LOL.
CASE CLOSED. YOU PROVED WHAT A FOX MORON U ARE.
mcasio
section9,
It seems, based on your arguments, that you were equally disappointed in the lemmings who put Bush in office for two terms. Would it be fair to say, then, that you have an issue with the general voting population and its tendency to elect con men and frauds into political positions, on both sides of the aisle?
trisha08
Refreshingly honest? Well, O.K., then. I see we have a true believer here.
The number of lies in her book and recent media tour are astounding.
Have you actually checked the facts to see if Saint Sarah is refreshingly honest, or are you taking her at her word? The Stimulus Bill? Palin was for it before she was against it. It's on video.....look it up.
yankeechamp2009
I'LL BACK UP YOUR POST TRISHA WITH A FACTCHECK I FOUND:
The Associated Press got an advance copy of Sarah Palin's book, Going Rogue, and assigned eleven reporters, apparently, to try to find errors in it. The eleven collaborated on an article titled "FACT CHECK: Palin's book goes rogue on some facts." In fact, though, the AP's catalogue of alleged errors--six in total--is thin at best. The AP starts with this one: PALIN: Says she made frugality a point when traveling on state business as Alaska governor, asking "only" for reasonably priced rooms and not "often" going for the "high-end, robe-and-slippers" hotels. THE FACTS: Although she usually opted for less-pricey hotels while governor, Palin and daughter Bristol stayed five days and four nights at the $707.29-per-night Essex House luxury hotel (robes and slippers come standard) for a five-hour women's leadership conference in New York in October 2007. With air fare, the cost to Alaska was well over $3,000. This is frankly pathetic. Palin says she didn't "often" stay at high-end hotels, and the AP counters by saying she did, once. Yes, that's why she said "not often" rather than "never." What is indisputable is that Palin sold the Governor's private jet and flew commercial, thereby saving the taxpayers a large amount of money and qualifying her as a frugal traveler. The rest are about as lame. Here is another: PALIN: Rails against taxpayer-financed bailouts, which she attributes to Obama. She recounts telling daughter Bristol that to succeed in business, "you'll have to be brave enough to fail." THE FACTS: Palin is blurring Obama's stimulus plan--a $787 billion package of tax cuts, state aid, social programs and government contracts--and the federal bailout that President George W. Bush signed. Palin's views on bailouts appeared to evolve as John McCain's vice presidential running mate. In September 2008, she said "taxpayers cannot be looked to" to bail out Wall Street. The next month, she praised McCain for being "instrumental in bringing folks together" to pass the $700 billion bailout. After that, she said "it is a time of crisis and government did have to step in." The AP doesn't quote Palin, so it's hard to say whether she "blurs" the bailouts or not. But by the AP's own account, Palin has consistently opposed bailouts, except that during the Presidential campaign, she loyally supported McCain's position on the initial TARP program. That's what a Vice-Presidential candidate is supposed to do, and this is not a "fact-check." This one, I simply don't believe: PALIN: Welcomes last year's Supreme Court decision deciding punitive damages for victims of the nation's largest oil spill tragedy, the Exxon Valdez disaster, stating it had taken 20 years to achieve victory. As governor, she says, she'd had the state argue in favor of the victims, and she says the court's ruling went "in favor of the people." THE FACTS: That response is at odds with her reaction at the time to the ruling, which resolved the case by reducing punitive damages for victims to $500 million from $2.5 billion. Palin said then she was "extremely disappointed" and it was "tragic" so many fishermen and families put their lives on hold waiting for the decision. Again, the AP doesn't quote Palin but rather asks us to take their word for the fact that Palin "welcomes" the Supreme Court's Exxon Valdez decision in her book as a "ruling [that] went 'in favor of the people.'" I would bet that the AP is mischaracterizing what Palin says in her book. She criticized the Supreme Court's decision at the time, as did most Alaskans, and cited it as a Supreme Court decision with which she disagreed in the Katie Couric interview. I seriously doubt that she contradicts that position in her book, although I wouldn't doubt that she called the verdict against Exxon (which was slashed by the Supreme Court) as a decision "in favor of the people." It appears to be a tribute to the factual accuracy of Palin's book that eleven hostile AP reporters can't come up with anything better than this. It's funny how the press fact-checks some things but not others. Here is just one of thousands of examples one could cite: John Kerry, arguing for the cap-and-tax bill that he co-sponsored with Barbara Boxer (these are two of the least intelligent legislators of modern times, by the way), claimed that "over the last eight years, emissions in the United States of America in greenhouse gases went up four times faster than in the 1990s." This is a typical example of a "fact" that John Kerry just made up. In fact, carbon emissions rose much faster in the 1990s than over the last eight years:
keepakeeper43
@djnFLA
You're blanket generalizations are so flawed. They require too much time to answer.
Obama won by a landslide. Sarah revealed herself as a victim of everything and everybody from Alaska to McCain.
Obama is trying to deal with enormous problems that he inherited.
Palin is a quitter.
She is a dissembling, pathetic clown.
She is desperately trying to manipulate the public to see her as "refreshingly honest".
You are falling for it.
Big surprise.
crypto
Look Dweebs. At some point you're gonna have to admit that you screwed up by putting this turkey in the white house. So don't be so dumb and keep going further and further out on a limb. Although you'd like to, you can't blame Bush forever. Stand up. Bush is gone for almost 18 months if you count the lame duck time. Obama is here and he hasn't a clue where we are going. He is depending on these crooks in congress and all these other crooks he hired to tell him what to do. He is failing fast, you know it, and some of you need to begin admitting it.
yankeechamp2009
djnFLA Michele Goldberg has it totally wrong. Palin is refreshingly honest, which is why so many Americans connect with her.///////// ARE YOU SERIOUS?? LETS SEE HOW HONEST PALIN IS BECAUSE OBVIOUSLY YOU ARE LOST IN FOX WORLD.
WITH ONLY TWO MONTHS LEFT IN THE ELECTION, PALIN SPENT IT CALLING OBAMA A PAL AROUND TERRORIST, A MARXIST, AND FOUND SOME SCHMUCK ON THE STREET CALLED "JOE THE PLUMBER" AS HER MASCOT TO CONVINCE RETARDS LIKE YOU THAT OBAMA WAS RUINING HIS LIFE.
AND WHAT HAPPENED?? WE SOON FOUND OUT THAT JOE PLUMBER OWED THOUSANDS IN COLLECTION DEBTS (ALTHOUGH HE CLAIMED TO HAVE $250,000 TO BUY A BUSINESS THAT OBAMA WAS GOING TO DESTROY), HE HAS NO PLUMBING LICENSE, NEVER TOOK AN APPRENTICE COURSE, BASICALLY HE WAS A HIRED PIECE OF SH*T DIRTBAG USED TO FOOL RACISTS AND IDIOTS.
SHE CLAIMED THAT OBAMA WAS A P.L.O. SOLDIER BECAUSE OF A DINNER HE HAD WITH RASHID KHALIDI 10 F**KING YEARS AGO. THAT KICKED HER RIGHT IN THE "YOU BETCHA" WHEN IT TURNS OUT THAT JOHN MCCAIN DONATED $488,000 TO THE SAME GUY KHALIDI THAT OBAMA, MR P.L.O. SOLDIER, HAD A FREAKING MEAL WITH.
SHE CAUSES A BIG NATIONAL SCENE ABOUT A JOKE DAVE LETTERMAN MADE ON HER DAUGHTER WHICH SHE FOUND TO BE OFFENSIVE BUT NOW IN HER OWN BOOK SHE BASICALLY CALLS HER DAUGHTER A TRAMP AND EVEN TELLS THIS TO TWO DEMOCRAT SUPPORTERS BARBARA WALTERS AND OPRAH WINFREY. . OH YEA SHE IS SO HONEST. THE ONLY THING THAT WAS REALLY PISSING HER OFF ABOUT THAT LETTERMAN JOKE WAS THAT CBS DID NOT DROP IN ITS RATINGS. SHE CREATED THAT BIG SCENARIO BECAUSE SHE WANTED TO GET BACK AT COURIC AND CBS FOR HER NOT KNOWING THE NAMES OF A NEWSPAPER. AND SHE MAKES THAT LOUD AND CLEAR IN HER BOOK WHEN SHE BLAMES COURIC FOR THE ELECTION LOSS. IF PALIN DOESNT KNOW THE NAMES OF ANY NEWSPAPERS, HOW IS THAT KATIE'S FAULT?
IT EXPLAINS WHY SHE NEVER RAMPAGED ON THE OTHER COMICS WHO JOKED ON HER DAUGHTER ESPECIALLY THE CONAN O'BRIEN JOKE--> Saturday night, Sarah Palin is going to drop the first puck at the Philadelphia Flyers' hockey game. Then Palin will spend the rest of the game trying to keep the hockey players out of her daughter's penalty box.--conan o'brien. DO U KNOW WHO PALIN TOOK TO THAT GAME?? HER 7 YEAR OLD PIPER. SO WAIT A MINUTE. PALIN DRAWS NATIONAL GRIEF BECAUSE LETTERMAN MADE A JOKE ON BRISTOL, BUT IT WAS WILLOW AT THE GAME WHO IS 14, BUT A JOKE ON A 7 YEAR OLD BEING GANG-RAPED BY THE PHILADELPHIA FLYERS IS ACCEPTABLE?? IF COURIC WORKED FOR NBC, THEN IT WOULD'VE BEEN CONAN O'BRIEN BEING TRASHED. SO WHO IS SHE FOOLING EXCEPT THE LOW IQ'D AIRHEADS LIKE YOU WHO SWEARS SHE IS SO HONEST??
SHE CALLS OBAMA'S HEALTH PLAN A DEATH PANEL WHEN LAST YEAR SHE SUPPORTED THE SAME EXACT PLAN. --> WHEREAS, Healthcare Decisions Day is designed to raise public awareness of the need to plan ahead for healthcare decisions, related to end of life care and medical decision-making whenever patients are unable to speak for themselves and to encourage the specific use of advance directives to communicate these important healthcare decisions. WHEREAS, in Alaska, Alaska Statute 13.52 provides the specifics of the advance directives law and offers a model form for patient use.
I, Sarah Palin, Governor of the state of Alaska, do hereby proclaim April 16, 2008, as:
Healthcare Decisions Day in Alaska, and I call this observance to the attention of all our citizens.
Dated: April 16, 2008
BUT NOW IT'S A DEATH PANEL. YEA SHE IS SO HONEST.
gameon
Wow ,time to take your pills bud.Your last point is off base completely,making decisions for people who are physically incapable is not the same as making decisions for healthy people which obama is pushing.Get your facts straight before you call people liars.Rambling stupidity doesn't make a solid argument
tomforcomm
i love Michelle Goldberg....djinFLA however suffers from the same condition as the lovely Sara from Alaska
bobbiewick
Dr. Ford was quite right when he declined to diagnose a person lhe has not seen professionally.
Personality Theory is a load of harmful crap -- a cash cow for the shrink industry -- based on criteria that belong in a
Cosmo Quiz -- and not in a serious discussion of mental health.
And tinpot , armchair psychiatrists -- including bloggers, editors, in-laws, and flame warriors -- who engage in it to vent their own problems with hostility are garbage.
hfb1053
And from what professional standpoint do you preach your diagnosis of personality disorder?
bobbiewick
I do not "diagnose" personality disorder, because it is not science.
It is merely a plaything for revolting, hostile people who like to use it as a means of insulting others .
If you are one of those people, I feel sorry for everybody in your ambit -- I'm sure that people who know you -- "friends" is probably not an accurate descriptor of these poor people -- would love to tell you where to stuff your DSM.
Personality theory is no more valid as a psychiatric tool than astrology.
Snertly
I think Bobbie's a scientologist.
bobbiewick
And I think "Snertly" is a troll.
This user is no longer registered.
bobbiewick
It's fair game to call her a liar and a fool. It's not fair game to diagnose her. It's unethical for doctors, and it's unethical for reporters and bloggers, too.
This user is no longer registered.
Fang1944
Do you supposed Reagan had this, also? The man who never distinguished between events in the movies and real events, who said over and over that trees pollute more than cars, who pretended in public that he was with the troops who liberated the death camps?
Or was it just Alzheimer's?
beachbeanb
I have to agree with the above poster who said " Run Sarah Run" because my sane mind says there is NO way in hell she could be elected....but in the quite recesses of my mind and nightmares...wonder if she did get elected. These people that hang on her every word and drool over her - they terrify me. I know they are a very small portion of the population but stranger things have happened .... the thought of her with any more power than she already has is ...well I can't even say it.
Allguns
Why so much hate, the left is screaming for her head, Why? They say she's a lier, a self promoting narcissistic person, then they try to drudge up everything they can to try to dismantle her, Why?
Its funny that of all the politicians in the last election she was the hardest hit, was over vetted by the media and demonized by the left. Why?
The reason are simple and more truthful, they are scared of her. If Obama had been vetted half as hard as Palin he would be back in Chicago looking for a community to organize.
All of her haters don't want you to look at their own man, Obama, so they scream hey look at her she's the devil. This bait and switch is just that and nothing more.
If you want to see a narcissistic personality just look at Obama, Pelosi and Reid. You might have to wait for them to climb down from their high horses to see them, but anyone who has the attitude that I'm going to save you from yourselves whether you like it or not might be in line for a narcissist award.
If you want to be fair put Obama under the same microscope and see if he doesn't fail to measure up, because the people know that he lied to get where he is, has been on a continuing self promoting world wide tour, and has yet to fulfill his pledges and promises that got him elected.
In the end the haters will still hate but Palin will have the last laugh, and she's laughing all the way to the bank.
liberaljesus
Who's screaming for her head? Another strawman argument there allguns. And if money equates goodness then all the drug lords and mafia kingpins must be like totally rightious man!
varmint
Let see you put Obama under a microscope. Here, I''ll start by putting Palin under the scope. Let's start at the beginning. Every newspaper in Alaska says that Palin championed the construction of the bridge that became the "Bridge to nowhere" in running for governor. In October 2006, when asked, "Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?", she answered: "Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. It was only when the state congress killed the construction that she fell silent. Then out of the blue when picked by McCain she stands before crowd after crowd and tells them she said "Thanks but no thanks" to the bridge. Which the crowd loved. Now to borrow from Michelle "This level of dishonesty, much of it utterly gratuitous, is remarkable even by the degraded standards of our cynical political culture."
To me the worst thing is that Palin found a loop-hole where she could keep all the money already allotted to the project, and spend it elsewhere, by building the road that would go up to waters edge. So now there's a $26 million dollar road to well.. nowhere. And I'll add for measure that for every dollar Alaskans pay in federal taxes they get back over $1.20. They don't pay State taxes and they get a stimulus check from the State from taxes they take from the oil companies.. which one could say is Socialistic.
I could keep this up all day but I'm off to work so if by chance there is a reply others can maybe keep this going. Or not. Also I could care less if Palin makes money off any of this. That's America. But the idea of her as an honest political need to be erased.
yankeechamp2009
ALLGUNS, MIGHT I REMIND YOU THAT SARAH THIS WEEK VOLUNTEERED TWO INTERVIEWS WITH BARBARA WALTERS AND OPRAH WINFREY. TWO TALK SHOW HOSTS THAT ARE VIEWED BY HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF AMERICAN VIEWERS EVERY DAY ON "THE VIEW" AND "OPRAH SHOW". SHE SPEAKS FREELY ABOUT HER DAUGHTER BEING SEXUALLY ACTIVE WAY BEFORE BEING PREGNANT. YET SHE PRETENDS TO BE SO UPSET WHEN DAVE LETTERMAN MADE A JOKE ON HER DAUGHTER. SHE TRASHES MCCAIN WHERE AS IF IT WERENT FOR MCCAIN IN THE FIRST PLACE, SHE'D BE A NOBODY. SHE BLAMES KATIE COURIC FOR THE LOSS OF THE ELECTION AS IF KATIE ASKED HER TRICK QUESTIONS. I DONT THINK ASKING SOMEONE WHAT NEWSPAPERS THEY READ IS A TRICK QUESTION. SO CUT THE CRAP. NOONE TALKS ABOUT THIS WOMAN UNLESS SHE STARTS HER SHIT. AND SHE WOULDNT BE GIVING INTERVIEWS TO LEFT WING SUPPORTERS IF SHE WAS REALLY UPSET ABOUT THE "LIB MEDIA" BASHING HER.
THATS LIKE DAVE LETTERMAN VOLUNTEERING AN INTERVIEW WITH SEAN HANNITY THEN WE TURN AROUND AND SAY THAT FOX BASHES OBAMA. EVEN THOUGH THEY DO, BUT WE WOULD LOOK STUPID SAYING THAT IF OBAMA VOLUNTEERS HIMSELF TO FOX INTERVIEWS.
RockyMissouri
Yankeechamp!!! - Thank you!! You are doing a stellar job. I totally agree with EVERY word. I also am interested in what Alaskans think of Palin.
I follow Shannyn Moores' show in Alaska on my iPhone-and I really enjoy reading ALL of the comments (and there are many) The MAJORITY of Alaskans, it seems, see through Sarah Palin and they are amazed that she has gone so far,on so little!
trisha08
Spot on correct. Look even further (beyond lying) at the symptoms of NPD.
They describe Palin exactly.....being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, and prestige, self-centeredness, god complex They feel victimized, blame others, sense of entitlement, a pervasive pattern of grandiosity, need for admiration, and a lack of empathy.
She is a sick women, and the fact that she has this group of "followers" that defend her no matter what facts are presented...is quite scary. Think Jim Jones, he too had a God complex which led to a group of people drinking kool-aid in the jungle.
jssfive
I am confused by this essay. Somehow the inference seems that Palin's lying is worse than Bill Clinton's lying because Bill Clinton would now tell the truth since he's been found out but Palin continues to lie even though she knows we all know she's lying. This difference makes Clinton a psychologically healthy liar while Palin exhibits a possible pathology and somehow this excuses Clinton while condemning Palin? Yeah, not sure I get this.
Whether or not Palin is lying, knows it, doesn't know it, cares about it, doesn't care about it seems irrelevant to me. Since when did honesty become a prerequisite for holding public office? If we tossed out all of the grievous liars we'd be down about 90% of our elected leaders. I'll not comment about whether this is a good or bad thing, I will simply say that it continues to be outlandish for anyone who IS psychologically healthy to think this woman is qualified to be president.
RockyMissouri
Clinton lied to cover adulterous behavior, Palin lies for NO REASON!! She BLAMES OTHERS for HER failures!! Creationism belongs in church, not in school. SCIENCE is what is taught in proper schools. This is fundamental, NOT fundamentalist!
Thank you.
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