It had the effect of maintaining Ceaucescu in a bubble, the kind of hermetic world where he assumed everyone loved him and his prowess as a hunter was indisputable. It was a delusion. Such a delusion that when the end came, he was a confused old man who was genuinely astonished that his loving subjects wanted him executed.
And so it was that Tessa Jowell was similarly maintained in a bubble of warmth and joy when she was scheduled to go on a meet and greet at a motorway services.
Click to Enlarge.
This is from a very revealing piece in The Mail, which I was alerted to via the Spectator.
The same piece contains an interesting insight into the bonhomie and lighter side (not) of the Prime Mentalist, with the startling claim that he is "Bonkers".
Heaven forbid these idiots ever stray into reality.
As an addition to this post, here is a definition of Hebephrenic Schizophrenia:
A form of schizophrenia in which affective changes are prominent, delusions and hallucinations fleeting and fragmentary, behaviour irresponsible and unpredictable, and mannerisms common. The mood is shallow and inappropirate and often accompanied by giggling or self-satisfied, self-absorbed smiling, or by a lofty manner, grimaces, mannerisms, pranks, hypochondriacal complaints, and reiterated phrases. Thought is disorganized and speech rambling and incoherent. There is a tendency to remain solitary, and behaviour seems empty of purpose and feeling. This form of schizphrenia usually starts between the ages of 15 and 25 years and tends to have a poor prognosis because of the rapid development of "negative" symptoms, particularly flattening of affect and loss of volition.
In addition, disturbances of affect and volition, and thought disorder are usually prominent. Hallucinations and delusions may be present but are not usually prominent. Drive and determination are lost and goals abandoned, so that the patient's behaviour becomes characteristically aimless and empty of purpose. A superficial and manneristic preoccupation with religion, philosophy, and other abstract themes may add to the listener's difficulty in following the train of thought.
(http://counsellingresource.com/distress/schizophrenia/icd/hebephrenic.html)
Do you know, I don't think there is one word of that definition that could not reasonably be applied to Gordon Brown, as presented and reported. I particularly recall the Dan Hannan Video, (there is a brief cutaway towards the end) in this respect and Brown's own disastrous You Tube appearance.
9 comments:
That's a scary article in the Mail WW.
I know we mock Gordon but we quietly hope that he isn't really certifiable as we depend on him to lead the country. That article confirms that he is indeed bonkers. Even Douglas Alexander doesn't think much of him and he's a thoroughly odious creature himself.
Schizophrenia would explain a lot. His lack of empathy and inability to mix and socialise. Plus his smiling at innapropriate times during interviews would confirm this diagnosis. I have a relative with this illness so have had time to study it over many years. Medication helps but isn't always successful.
Oh and I see the Sunset Times is also having a go at him about helicopters for Afghanistan again. Maybe there will be another coup !
I don't quietly hope. These various diagnoses have their uses I suppose - but they are only more than labels if they predict something which has yet to be observed. The flattening of affect symptom won't do for Brown. He's seething constantly and volcanic frequently. Also his determination to become and stay PM, the conspiring and the undermining, don't fit with the aimlessness suggested by the schizophrenic diagnosis, however directioneless his Premiership iteslf has been in terms of ciherent policy.
I still tend to agree with Simon Heffer who suggested Aspergers some time ago. There's s strong elementof narcissisms subsumed by that word which underlines, if it's correct, that Brown will never change, will always blame others never himself, and will use anything - anything - as a means to make himself look good. The problem with his syndrome, given his purpose, is that he won't be told - he will rely only on what he himself thinks makes himself look good. And what he thinks looks good just looks more and more ghastly, squalid and deranged to the rest of us.
I think it is very difficult to get a proper diagnosis from this position, and even shrinks can get it wrong. All I will say is that I observed Aspergers adults at very close quarters, over several months, and belive me, they were never as "mental" as GB, even though they were all in a secure unit. We used to take them down the pub and you would never know. In fact, most of them were quite charming. I cannot say the same about Brown.
WWW
It is the same in autocratic big corporations, usually where the entrepreneur has developed from a rag and bone shop to mightiness.
I worked when young for a US company which owned a very big distillery built in Scotland from second hand equipment shipped in from the States.
Engineering wise it was a bloody mess because he had "designed" the layout himself from photographs and maps. He never ever visited the site.
The old man retreated into nigh insanity a la Howard Hughes and communicated from his office via a telex and telephone calls, sometimes during the night.
When he died, it took about 4 years to find out what the company was actually doing where and how.
A series of offices were found with people in it who had done nothing in those four years except clock on and off and take their pay cheque.
He was told only what the people around him thought he wanted to hear and nothing about reality. They were frightened of him, his rages and his absolute control he exercised over their lives.
Anyway he died and the heavens fell in to the extent that the company is no ore.
A bit like when Stalin ran the USSR and the period after he died when no one knew what to do.
The real culprit is not Brown as he IS mentally ill but, the people who surround him and accept what he says and does. They take their pay cheques and cover their "hoons" with stored memos.
WW,
True, it does seem unfair on people with Aspergers to compare Brown to them.
Maybe an old-fashioned diagnosis would be best. How about, 'Brown is a blundering, self-obsessed, thoroughly nasty piece of work'?
Jim, it begs the question, what happened to good old fashioned wickedness?
We tend not to call people wicked these days because society demands we make an excuse for them, such as a poor social background or some unresolved "issues". Well, I had a fairly shit background, if comfortable one, and I don't go around being beastly to people. In the end, people are responsible for their own actions.
You are of course right bugger, and the howard hughes analogy is spot on. I read his biography years ago and it was clear he surrounded himself with yes men, just as Brown has. Anybody with a shred of decency left long ago.
The blogosphere has been running with this for a couple of years. Is it only now that the MSM have picked up on it?
Or have the symptoms worsened?
Or have they cottoned on to the fact that the emperor has no clothes?
Dave
It is the endgame. There is no benefit to anyone, except the madman, in covering up and not saying the self evident.
The jackals are circling.
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