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My narcissism is better than yours

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Look, we all do it. We hurl about terms like psychopath and narcissist with reckless abandon and almost always without fully understanding the nature of the terms and the subtlety and nuance that goes into a clinical diagnosis.

Former PM Kevin Rudd was labelled “a psychopath” by former MP Steve Gibbons, and “a psychopathic narcissist” by former NSW premier Kristina Keneally. Peter Garrett ratcheted it up a notch by calling Rudd “a megalomaniac”. And that’s just the diagnoses from within Rudd’s own party. Why, the man must be a veritable walking copy of the psychiatric bible, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.

It is arguably true that Canberra is a magnet for narcissists of various stripes. In fact, anyone who wants to get into the caper knows that getting elected to parliament involves a bevy of posters featuring their name and smiling face being nailed to lampposts and wedged in front gardens all over their home suburb. It has to be more satisfying than looking in the mirror for hours.

The trouble is, once these narcissists get to Canberra, they find themselves outgunned by bigger, badder, more vain, more hollow, more manipulative narcissists. Interacting with narcissists more narcissistic than they are must be a real blow to their bloated egos.

Full column here.

669 Comments

  • Mac says:

    Sometimes politicians arrange photo ops that are clever, make a point and reinforce their talking point of the day. Other times it’s only when they see the ink on the page that they slap their forehead and say, “Why the hell did I agree to that?”

    To see the corpulent figure of George Christensen holding a cane in a sugarcane plantation on the front page of The Oz has made my day. He’s got a contrived, dour look on his face that seems to be saying, “Sugar! Bloody sugar! Look what it leads to!”

  • Carl on the Coast says:

    Yes, its’ instructive to note for some on here, that present day Russians look down their noses on Marxism and dismiss it as being an unfortunate, distasteful, short-lived experiment and a mere blip in their otherwise +700 years of glorious history.

    It’s also appropriate that the remnants of those cast in bronze during that short infamous period are being systematically collected and bundled off to an obscure suburban park for probable future recycling.

    Much the same as the present day CC prophets of doom will ultimately be I suspect. Metaphorically, of course.

  • Carl on the Coast says:

    On the matter of name calling on here and the pious accusation of “stealing blog space”, I seem to recall the complainant’s charge sheet described the accused as being “a snotnosed horses arse”.

    Talk about the potty calling the kettle black!

  • BASSMAN says:

    SOUTHS:-well it looks like I am going to shed many many tears this season…a disaster. Looks like Inglis has not got over his 2 year knee injury. I said to my Mrs Tedesco is the one they will need to watch. Wis’d I had not spoken!

    Sad Cafe

    • Jack The Insider says:

      The Rabbits suffered badly from injury not just to the big fella, Bassman. Such a long season, they could easily turn it around. The Tigers were very good. A fit Tedesco could push them into contention.

      • Carl on the Coast says:

        Yes Jack, at one stage the Rabbits were a “hare’s breath” away from a big defeat, but to their credit they rallied towards the end.

        An omen that may be witnessed in another sphere of activity perhaps? Or just wishful thinking?

  • Jean Baptiste says:

    “X” Is that you Ray?

  • Peter Pan says:

    Oh dear, oh dear more power cuts in SA this weekend.

    • John O'Hagan says:

      This time apparently caused by a fire lit by an exploding transformer at a gas-fired station. Reliability problems? Or was it just the weather this time? Does the answer depend on the power source?

  • G Wizz says:

    Heard this blog runs a tipping comp at ESPN and tried to join but was asked for a password. How do I join? Where can I get a password?

    • Gryzly says:

      Which comp. G? I have not looked at the AFL for this season yet but will do so soon. In the meantime try 532111

      • G Wizz says:

        Thanks Gryzly. The comp is the Insiders Mob, AFL, but espn seem to have locked me out now. They acknowledged my registration and sent me a confirming email but I can’t login. May be my VPN causing it. I have to turn it off to access this blog, the AFL and NRL and some other sites too. Could also be taking a bit of time for my registration to filter through the system. Thanks for the password, I’ll try it again tomorrow.

  • BASSMAN says:

    JackSprat says:
    MARCH 1, 2017 AT 7:02 PMsmoke says:
    MARCH 1, 2017 AT 10:55 PMckSprat says:
    MARCH 2, 2017 AT 8:17 PM Dismayed says:
    MARCH 3, 2017 AT 9:14 AM

    Why I just lurrrrvee The Oz at times

    2011 http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/alp-best-manager-of-money-history-shows/story-fn59niix-1226056371414

    I am presently having a huge blue with a bloke who emails me on debt. He swears by Simon Benson’s figures from The Daily Telegraph (Gulp) when I send him the exact figures from the government’s own web site he will not believe them. He says Benson is correct. Can you believe this? The bloke will just not accept the governments’ own figures only The Daily Telegraph’s. This is what we are up against. He also does not understand ‘the deficit’ and the difference between net and gross debt and ‘projected’ debt. Benson at one point says Labor will have a debt of $800billion. Of course no references to back this up.

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