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Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Blagojevich a textbook sociopath, Part II

Monday's NY Times provided more evidence of Blago's sociopathy in a front page article entitled, "Two Sides of a Troubled Governor, Sinking Deeper." (Funny how often sociopaths are described as "troubled," when in reality they're far more troubling than troubled. As a matter of fact they're generally nothing but trouble -- not that that fact troubles them.)

All quotes are from the Times article:

"In 1996, John Fritchey, a Democrat who shared a campaign office with Mr. Blagojevich, was told that his stepfather had suffered a serious stroke. He walked over to Mr. Blagojevich, who was making fund-raising calls, and shared the news. 'He proceeded to tell me that he was sorry, and then, in the next breath, he asked me if I could talk to my family about contributing money to his campaign,' recalled Mr. Fritchey. 'To do that, and in such a nonchalant manner, didn't strike me as something a normal person would do'."

No, it's not something a nonsociopath would do. But for a sociopath, it's perfectly normal behavior. They are not capable of any real regard for other human beings, and thus have zero empathy or sympathy.

"Long before this, he disagreed over a casino with Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago; he irked Michael Madigan, the powerful Democratic state speaker, over the budget; and he infuriated just about every legislator by staying put in Chicago (rather than moving his family to the Governor's Mansion in Springfield). His penchant for promoting his headline-grabbing proposals....on television, rather than in the quieter halls of Springfield, also won him no friends. 'Rod reveled in fighting with members of the General Assembly,' said Representative Tom Cross."

As stated in Part I, sociopaths thirst for battle.

"Even with approval ratings that had sunk to 13% as details of the federal investigation into his administration had seeped out over the past three years, Mr. Blagojevich.....still spoke in his recorded conversations in the past six weeks of the possibility of remaking his political future and running for President, perhaps in 2016."

This is pretty much the height of narcissistic self-delusion.

Blago also treated employees extremely cavalierly. He "erupts in fury for failings as mundane as neglecting to have at hand at all times his preferred black Paul Mitchell hairbrush."

Ah, the hair. Please refer to http://justnotsaid.blogspot.com/2008/12/political-hair-styles.html.

"'God forbid you make a mistake,' said one longtime former employee. In December 2003, the employee recalled, Mr. Blagojevich flew into a rage because he thought he was late for a holiday tree-lighting ceremony in Springfield, and his two young daughters -- who were visiting with Santa Claus in the parlor of the Governor's Mansion -- did not have their shoes on yet. 'You're trying to sabotage my career!' the employee recalled Mr. Blagojevich screaming at staff members, as he charged into the parlor. 'You're the worst'!"

These last two comments might have been more accurate had Blago been speaking to himself.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wonder how Rod Blagojevich is doing in prison? Literally, what these people do can be quite mind boggling. Blagojevich was definitely a character, not a boring macandidaturen in the least. I enjoy reading your posts about sociopaths, having learned so much more about them.

-birdie

John Craig said...

Birdie --
Thank you. Yes, Blagojevich doesn't get much publicity these days. Once people disappear into jail, that tends to happen. I'm sure we'll hear about him again when he's released.