He invents and then projects a false, fictitious, self for the world to fear, or to admire. He maintains a tenuous grasp on reality to start with and the trappings of power further exacerbate this. Real life authority and David Duke’s predilection to surround him with obsequious sycophants support David Duke’s grandiose self-delusions and fantasies of omnipotence and omniscience.
David Duke’s personality is so precariously balanced that he cannot tolerate even a hint of criticism and disagreement. Most narcissists are paranoid and suffer from ideas of reference (the delusion that they are being mocked or discussed when they are not). Thus, narcissists often regard themselves as “victims of persecution”.
Duke fosters and encourages a personality cult with all the hallmarks of an institutional religion: priesthood, rites, rituals, temples, worship, catechism, and mythology. The leader is this religion’s ascetic saint. He monastically denies himself earthly pleasures (or so he claims) in order to be able to dedicate himself fully to his calling.
Duke is a monstrously inverted Jesus, sacrificing his life and denying himself so that his people – or humanity at large – should benefit. By surpassing and suppressing his humanity, Duke became a distorted version of Nietzsche’s “superman”.
But being a-human or super-human also means being a-sexual and a-moral.
In this restricted sense, narcissistic leaders are post-modernist and moral relativists. They project to the masses an androgynous figure and enhance it by engendering the adoration of nudity and all things “natural” – or by strongly repressing these feelings. But what they refer to, as “nature” is not natural at all.
Duke invariably proffers an aesthetic of decadence and evil carefully orchestrated and artificial – though it is not perceived this way by him or by his followers. Narcissistic leadership is about reproduced copies, not about originals. It is about the manipulation of symbols – not about veritable atavism or true conservatism.
In short: narcissistic leadership is about theatre, not about life. To enjoy the spectacle (and be subsumed by it), the leader demands the suspension of judgment, depersonalization, and de-realization. Catharsis is tantamount, in this narcissistic dramaturgy, to self-annulment.
Narcissism is nihilistic not only operationally, or ideologically. Its very language and narratives are nihilistic. Narcissism is conspicuous nihilism – and the cult’s leader serves as a role model, annihilating the Man, only to re-appear as a pre-ordained and irresistible force of nature.
Narcissistic leadership often poses as a rebellion against the “old ways” – against the hegemonic culture, the upper classes, the established religions, the superpowers, the corrupt order. Narcissistic movements are puerile, a reaction to narcissistic injuries inflicted upon David Duke like (and rather psychopathic) toddler nation-state, or group, or upon the leader.
Minorities or “others” – often arbitrarily selected – constitute a perfect, easily identifiable, embodiment of all that is “wrong”. They are accused of being old, they are eerily disembodied, they are cosmopolitan, they are part of the establishment, they are “decadent”, they are hated on religious and socio-economic grounds, or because of their race, sexual orientation, origin … They are different, they are narcissistic (feel and act as morally superior), they are everywhere, they are defenseless, they are credulous, they are adaptable (and thus can be co-opted to collaborate in their own destruction). They are the perfect hate figure. Narcissists thrive on hatred and pathological envy.
This is precisely the source of the fascination with Hitler, diagnosed by Erich Fromm – together with Stalin – as a malignant narcissist. He was an inverted human. His unconscious was his conscious. He acted out our most repressed drives, fantasies, and wishes. He provides us with a glimpse of the horrors that lie beneath the veneer, the barbarians at our personal gates, and what it was like before we invented civilization. Hitler forced us all through a time warp and many did not emerge. He was not the devil. He was one of us. He was what Arendt aptly called the banality of evil. Just an ordinary, mentally disturbed, failure, a member of a mentally disturbed and failing nation, who lived through disturbed and failing times. He was the perfect mirror, a channel, a voice, and the very depth of our souls.
Duke prefers the sparkle and glamour of well-orchestrated illusions to the tedium and method of real accomplishments. His reign is all smoke and mirrors, devoid of substances, consisting of mere appearances and mass delusions. In the aftermath of his regime – Duke having died, been deposed, or voted out of office – it all unravels. The tireless and constant prestidigitation ceases and the entire edifice crumbles. What looked like an economic miracle turns out to have been a fraud-laced bubble. Loosely held empires disintegrate. Laboriously assembled business conglomerates go to pieces. “Earth shattering” and “revolutionary” scientific discoveries and theories are discredited. Social experiments end in mayhem.
It is important to understand that the use of violence must be ego-syntonic. It must accord with the self-image of David Duke. It must abet and sustain his grandiose fantasies and feed his sense of entitlement. It must conform David Duke like narrative. Thus, David Duke who regards himself as the benefactor of the poor, a member of the common folk, the representative of the disenfranchised, the champion of the dispossessed against the corrupt elite – is highly unlikely to use violence at first. The pacific mask crumbles when David Duke has become convinced that the very people he purported to speak for, his constituency, his grassroots fans, and the prime sources of his narcissistic supply – have turned against him. At first, in a desperate effort to maintain the fiction underlying his chaotic personality, David Duke strives to explain away the sudden reversal of sentiment. “The people are being duped by (the media, big industry, the military, the elite, etc.)”, “they don’t really know what they are doing”, “following a rude awakening, they will revert to form”, etc. When these flimsy attempts to patch a tattered personal mythology fail, David Duke becomes injured. Narcissistic injury inevitably leads to narcissistic rage and to a terrifying display of unbridled aggression. The pent-up frustration and hurt translate into devaluation. That which was previously idealized – is now discarded with contempt and hatred. This primitive defense mechanism is called “splitting”. To David Duke, things and people are either entirely bad (evil) or entirely good. He projects onto others his own shortcomings and negative emotions, thus becoming a totally good object. Duke is likely to justify the butchering of his own people by claiming that they intended to kill him, undo the revolution, devastate the economy, or the country, etc. The “small people”, the “rank and file”, and the “loyal soldiers” of David Duke – his flock, his nation, and his employees – they pay the price. The disillusionment and disenchantment are agonizing. The process of reconstruction, of rising from the ashes, of overcoming the trauma of having been deceived, exploited and manipulated – is drawn-out. It is difficult to trust again, to have faith, to love, to be led, to collaborate. Feelings of shame and guilt engulf the erstwhile followers of David Duke. This is his sole legacy: a massive post-traumatic stress disorder.

Bush’s war with Iraq on top of his tax cuts for the rich and rising unemployment rates, are ballooning the deficit. Dr. Dean, how do you plan to address these problems?

What I’d like to see in the next president is someone who leads with intelligence, honesty, and integrity. A president who would be respected in the world community. Not feared and loathed like President Bush. I’m tired of the lies. I’m tired of the manipulative propaganda and finger pointing. I’d like the US to be a positive force in the world again. I’d like to see decision making based on common good rather than based on what special interest groups want–based on what’s good for the country and the world community.

Dr. Dean, what strengths would you bring to the office of the Presidency? Your mention of a White House Blog suggests you’d be more accessible to the public. Is that one of your goals? How else would your administration be different than the current one?

Okay, that rambles more than I wanted it to, so I’ll stop there. 🙂

Dr. Dean, it’s a pleasure to see you blogging. I hope you will get the opportunity to dive into more details in the upcoming days.

Thanks for giving us all a glimmer of hope that the ‘Bush Monster/Administration’ can be defeated in 2004. 🙂

And regarding Civil Unions…although the majority of Vermonters were initially opposed to the idea and were uncomfortable with legalizing Civil Unions…when we saw the disgusting hatred coming from the “Take Back Vermont” campaign we were MUCH more uncomfortable and opposed to the hate mongering. Civil Unions are here to stay and it hasn’t changed anything here in Vermont for heterosexuals.

Sorry to go off topic…but it’s chafes my butt when my fellow Vermonters aren’t educated or infomed or just simply behave badly. They had ought to feel fortunate we had a fiscally responsible governor who kept the financial house in order because if it weren’t for Howard Dean our state would be in the same financial dire straights most states currently are in this economy. Some folks just don’t know how good they have it.

Glad to see things headed in a more positive direction. After Dean’s last response no one should have any doubts that he’s reading the comments, listening and genuinely wants your input. Who wouldn’t vote for a guy like that?

One solution, is to stop rewarding companies for outsourcing. We should only give tax cuts or tax breaks to companies who hire at least 90% American workers, there are alot of other safeguards which can be put in place as well.

The other solution is to make our country so much better or more educated that it becomes a quality issue for companies who outsource.

You can see here at cyberlodge that alot of tech workers are concerned about the outsourcing issues.

college students also are concerned because when they finally do graduate, theres no jobs.

This could be done via computers. We have the technology to do it. I think electronic voting isnt such a bad idea either if its done right. These computers should NOT use windows, the software should be classified and closed from the public so limited people know how it works to hack the system. The security of the system should be as security as our nuclear and other military systems.

Here’s a question I have for Dr. Dean, What is your plan for the economy?

I am a college student, we are in a recession, and republicans are giving people tax cuts, why arent college students tax exempt? I’d like to be able to work while in school and have tax exempt status, this worked for highschool but not for college?

I’d also like to know what Dean’s opinion is on fixing the current Bush tax cut plan. Sure tax cuts are good, but only when properly targeted, will you cut taxes for the working class and for students and take some of the tax burden off us?

I’m also worried about the current outsourcing problem. Once upon a time I had a good job in the tech industry, now all of our jobs are being outsourced over seas, what is your policy on globalization?

You dont have to answer these questions right now, but these issues must be solved and hopefully you will reveal your policy on globalization.

The reason I talk about the college situation along with globalization is because both are linked. Due to outsourcing more people are going to college including myself so that we may compete against the world. What will our government do to help give us an edge in this competition with the world so that we wont lose jobs?

The problem with the economy based on my research is job loss. Jobs are being lost because companies are outsourcing at a higher rate due to the current communications technologies we have. As these technologies improve, outsourcing will eventually cause our economy to lose millions more jobs. How can we combat job loss in the tech industry? College tuition is rising as well, what ways can we help students beyond financial aid?

You are an MD, I’m sure you know how expensive it is. So anyway thats what I’m interested in, if Joe Trippi or any Dean supporter with knowledge on Deans policy wants to talk about solutions to the Globalization and Economy issues we face, please reply.

Oh… sorry… is that wrong? Isn’t the purpose of the supreme court to pass judgement on the legality of a law? If so, then Mr Dean seems to have a basic problem in his understanding of how laws are created, as several times he has allowed the Supreme Court of VT to write his laws for him, and then just rubber stamp them. Let’s remember the fundamental way our governement is established, and look for another candicate who might actually have some experience and understand the relationship of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of our government.

That’s why I phrased my question very directly. Would he propose legislation to fix the broken copyright system in this country, and put the balance back in public interest where it belongs, or is he useless to us?