I went through the usual laundry list of emotions: Am I depressed? (A
little, but that's not it.) Worried, scared? (Yes, but who isn't?)
Angry? (Very, but that's still not what's bugging me.)
It took a conversation with a conservative friend, Nancy, for me to
pinpoint the feeling. Nancy told me that a Jewish co-worker, a staunch
Obama supporter, was feeling "shell-shocked" by Obama's vilifying
Israel.
Bingo. That's what it is: stunned,
shell-shocked, traumatized.
But it's not PTSD -- post-traumatic
stress disorder -- because then Obama would be ancient history. It's
trauma happening right here, right now, at lightning speed.
Trauma means witnessing something that humans are not designed to
see, a horror that is more than the self can absorb. The brutality of
war, a gruesome crime scene, the sudden death of a loved one. Or the
evil that unfolds through unchecked power yielded by megalomaniacs.
For me, trauma was that cloudless November day,
years ago, when I exited an Oakland restaurant at noon and soon
thereafter, lay prone on the concrete,
bloody and broken.
Just moments before, I had looked into the eyes of a man who didn't
know that I was human, or who knew but didn't care. I saw something
sinister in him, but I ignored my gut. I was still steeped in liberal
political correctness and didn't want to appear racially insensitive.
When I see what Obama is doing to this country, how he is treating
its citizens, I'm reminded of the man who mugged me. I think that both
are constitutionally incapable of seeing our humanity. And each day that
Obama is in office, he communicates this same deadly message to the
masses -- that opponents are not human.
This would explain the burgeoning of
hate
and even
violence
towards those who deign to disagree. And why Tea Party members and
conservatives are being targeted, as well as entire countries like
Israel.
And this would illuminate why Obama is
unfazed while the economy crashes. And why he cavalierly demonizes
Israel, putting millions of Israelis at risk. And it explains why Obama
mocks conservatives who are legitimately worried about this
administration's violating fundamental rights.
But how could Obama see us? Did anyone in his childhood ever see
him?
Did little Barry's needs factor into his mother's decision to shlep
him to Indonesia to live with her and her alcoholic second husband? And
how much maternal love was on display when she dragged him back home to
Hawaii and then abandoned him for good?
Did Obama's humanity matter to Grandpa Stanley and Frank Marshall
Davis when they sat around drinking, talking trash talk about women, and
telling dirty jokes to the discomfited little Barry?
What was Stanley thinking, giving Barry over to Davis, an alleged
pedophile and Communist, for mentoring? And did Davis do the most
unspeakable act of violation and dehumanization to Barry, as the teenage
Obama hints at in the poem, "Pop"?
Pop takes another shot, neat,
Points out the same amber
Stain on his shorts that I've got on mine, and
Makes me smell his smell, coming
From me; he switches channels, recites an old poem. . .
Asks for a hug, as I shrink. . .
For someone to survive a difficult childhood intact, he needs at least
one person to see his humanity. It's best if the person is a close
relative, but a child can endure with the help of someone else. An
attentive coach, counselor, neighbor, or teacher can work wonders.
Who mirrored Obama's humanity back to him? Who looked into the young
Barry's eyes and reflected back the man he was meant to be? Who honored
and cherished the human being inside?
I'll tell you who -- no one. His family groomed him and sculpted
him. They projected onto him who they wanted him to be. In later years,
other egotistical father figures, like Rev. Wright and Bill Ayers,
scripted his Messiah-like role.
But was there someone who loved and honored Obama for who he was?
No.
And that's why Obama cannot see you or me. He cannot respond to the
pain and suffering he is inflicting. He may, in fact, derive
satisfaction by the act of revenge.
Years ago, I came face to face with a man who also didn't know that
I existed. He had no qualms about injuring me and leaving me lying
wounded in the middle of the street.
I wasn't a person to him. I was nothing. This is where all evil
begins: the dehumanizing of another.
From what I have seen this last year, Obama shows no ability to walk
in another person's shoes. This would require empathy and sensitivity,
traits that are nowhere to be found.
Frankly, every time I see Obama, I catch a glimpse of the man who
mugged me.
And that, to me, is the true danger
and horror and shock of Barack.
A frequent AT contributor, Robin is a recovering liberal and
a psychotherapist in Berkeley.