05/11/16

Times Article on Ben Rhodes Exposes White House Contempt for the Press and Public

By: Roger Aronoff | Accuracy in Media

Ben Rhodes

A recent article by David Samuels for the New York Times Magazine demonstrates how President Obama and his Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes have been exploiting the media’s willingness to repeat and promote the Obama administration narrative of the day. In the interview Rhodes irreverently nicknames the foreign policy establishment “the Blob” and states that most reporters the administration deals with on foreign affairs are only 27 years old and know nothing. The Blob includes not only top media people, but also “Hillary Clinton, Robert Gates and other Iraq war promoters from both parties who now whine incessantly about the collapse of the American security order in Europe and the Middle East.”

Carlos Lozada of The Washington Post describes the Times’ piece as so sycophantic that it has become “gross” through excess chumminess, hypocrisy and absurdity. For example, Lozada writes, “It is the blindness of a writer who declares that Rhodes is ‘not an egotist’ while offering countless examples of that subject’s gargantuan self-regard, and not bothering to note the contradiction.”

Michael Grunwald has also criticized Samuels in an article for Politico. His point is that Samuels is a hawk who opposed the Iran deal, and ignored the nuances in the Rhodes/Obama foreign policy, which Grunwald clearly finds admirable.

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05/11/16

A Matter of Principle – a Note from a Constitutional Conservative

By: Terresa Monroe-Hamilton

Founding Fathers

Many of my readers have noticed that suddenly I am no longer with the USA Transnational Report and that I have departed the Watcher’s Council. I felt I should let you know what is going on and to assure you that I am going nowhere and am in the fight for the long haul.

I’ve spent much of the last couple of weeks mulling over events related to my stance on Donald Trump.

I am appalled at the rancor and abusive tenor of some of the remarks that have come my way, as well as what amounts to slander of the character of a good and decent man, a fighter who has, quite literally, given up everything to save the country he has adopted as his new home – Trevor Loudon. I find this unconscionable.

I really cannot stand idly by as capricious accusations impugn the foremost researcher and subject matter expert on topics relating to communist and socialist subversion and corruption of our system of government, while a vile, unprincipled, arrogant, ego-maniacal narcissist is held up as the nation’s “last best hope” after a campaign devoid of any ethical foundation, fraught with pandering and unironic contradictory promises, espousing positions exactly opposite those he has spent decades and hundreds of thousands of dollars supporting, offering not so much as a pivot point or epiphany to account for his positional gymnastics.

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05/11/16

Narcissist of Appearance vs. Narcissist of Substance

By: Sam Vaknin | Gulag Bound

Why do some narcissists end up being over-achievers, pillars of the community, and accomplished professionals – while their brethren fade into obscurity, having done little of note with their lives?

There seem to be two types of narcissists: those who derive ample narcissistic supply from mere appearances (“Potemkin narcissists”) and those whose narcissistic supply consists of doing substantial deeds, of acting as change-agents, of making a difference, and of creating and producing things of value. The former type aim for celebrity (defined as “being famous for being famous”) and the fostering and promulgation of an “empty brand” (name recognition without commensurate real-life accomplishments). In contradistinction, narcissists of substance strive for meaningful careers, albeit in the limelight.

We find Potemkin narcissists with empty brands in politics (the “Being There Syndrome” manifested in the likes of Obama, Palin, and Putin); in the media (where, for example, compulsively self-promoting physicists like Kaku or even Hawking are worshiped as transformative geniuses even though they are credited with a mere single, esoteric, and marginal contribution to physics, decades ago) in business (e.g. Donald Trump, or the infamous “empty suits”) and in entertainment (Paris Hilton, the Kardashians).

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