My earlier post is hung up, but wanted to just point out that narcissistic personality disorder and borderline personality disorder are part of the same cluster (cluster B), along with anti-social personality disorder in the DSM diagnostic manual because they share similar features, most notably a lack of empathy, and there can be considerable overlap in presentation. Cluster B personalities are over-represented in the fields of politics and banking, so if she is someone with cluster B traits, she will feel very much at home in DC.

Thank you for pointing that out. People throw the term "narcissist" out all the time in reference to Palin, but it could be more serious than that. We could really be talking about someone with more than just an overly developed ego here. She appears to have some classic NPD traits: Believes she deserves recognition and glory without commensurate achievement; Unable to empathize with others or modify her behavior to protect others (Bristol's pregnancy was merely a speed bump on her way to national attention); most frightening of all her "narcissistic rage," which has been repeatedly demonstrated in her obsessive and vindictive efforts to destroy the lives or careers of people who have crossed her--frequently totally out proportion to the actual slight. Several sources close to her have noted that she does not like to be around people who are smarter than she is--the one area where her fragile self-image is displayed. I think she has shown us all very clearly that not only is she not presidential material, she is very possibly dangerously narcissistic--imagine if she decides to apply her obsessive narcissistic rage to a rogue country who she perceives has slighted her. I also think people are underestimating the manipulative skills of people like this and mistakenly believe her incompetence will be her undoing. She has had a taste of national celebrity now and she believes it is her birthright. She won't quietly go away. She would rather completely destroy the party than give up the spotlight.

An argument could be made that there are a lot of people with personality disorders in the government, so why should she be singled out? I think it is because, probably due to her inexperience, she lacks the finesse and skills most troubled politicians develop to make them more acceptable to the public. Part of this lack of finesse means she has been very foolish and ham-fisted in how she engages in governance and the public record now documents that she clearly has a penchant for abusing her power and making the lives of people around her miserable. If that's what the Republicans decide they want, more power to 'em.

Read this on a blog somewhere and think it's fitting: Supreme confidence not backed by demonstrable knowledge or ability is not a sign of great leadership. It is a sign of mental illness.

Unfortunately, we haven't heard the last of Sarah Palin. I don't think she's stupid. I do think she's crazy - clinically delusional - and a religious fanatic who will choose the twisted tenets of her beliefs over rational thought every time. Willful ignorance in the face of hard fact is how a certain type of religious zealot operates. And that's why she appeals to the Religious Right, who have taken over and destroyed what used to be the Republican Party.

After this election, in the interests of truth-in-labeling, the GOP should just rename itself the Fundamentalist Christian Party. (Separation of Church and State only when they can use it to hurt their opposition!) The moderates - what's left of them - can then try to re-form a Republican Party that they and their forebears would recognize.