Nelson’s diagnosis of the great Narcissus more helpful to Liberals than Hewson
John Hewson offers his diagnosis of the Liberals in The Age, December 6:
A directionless, self-obsessed rabble …
One of the hardest things in life is to see yourself as others see you — not how you want them to see you. Voters are living a reality that our politicians just can’t seem to grasp.
Not hard to see how others see Hewson? Michael Janda, ABC News, May 8:
John Hewson — who famously lost the “unlosable” 1993 election …
Hewson sees a clear message for Tony Abbott. The Age, December 6:
Wasn’t there also a clear message to Tony Abbott, who won his preselection by a few votes when there was no other candidate, as a significant percentage of the room just didn’t vote?
Hewson has a small problem with numbers. Bevan Shields, TheSydney Morning Herald, September 17:
Tony Abbott secured 68 per cent support in his … preselection … (and of 100 preselectors only) two lodged informal votes.
How did Libs lose Wentworth, Hewson wonders. The Age, December 6:
How and why did the party lose Wentworth, an iconic Liberal seat? This loss can’t be dismissed as an atypical seat.
Er, with Hewson’s help? Anne Davies, Guardian Australia, October 10:
The former Liberal leader John Hewson has called on voters in his former seat of Wentworth to … vote against the Liberals. He suggested it might take “a drubbing” in the by-election on 20 October to force the party … to respond to “the urgent challenge” of climate change.
And Malcolm Turnbull’s help came a little late, too. Brighette Ryan, The Australian, December 6:
Malcolm Turnbull has finally campaigned for Dave Sharma, seven weeks after the crucial Wentworth by-election.
If it has in fact come. Anna Caldwell, The Daily Telegraph, December 6:
Malcolm Turnbull has refused to comment on whether he would be endorsing Wentworth hopeful Dave Sharma in the Liberal candidate’s second looming fight for the (seat) next year. The question was put to Mr Turnbull last night … “I would not like to answer that,” Mr Turnbull (said).
So what the heck is Malcolm up to? Henry Lynch, The Daily Telegraph, December 6:
(Turnbull’s refusal to endorse Sharma) capped off a week in which … (he) wreaked havoc for his party, despite previously lashing interfering former leaders as “miserable ghosts” … Mr Turnbull … drew the annual Christmas raffle. Prizes included books by Gough Whitlam and Paul Keating … One senior NSW Liberal said yesterday of Mr Turnbull: “Everyone in the Liberal Party, both moderate and conservative, (is) wondering what the heck he is up to.”
Remember Dr Nelson’s diagnosis? Peter Hartcher, The Sydney Morning Herald, August 29, 2009:
Says (former Liberal opposition leader Brendan) Nelson: “He’s got narcissistic personality disorder.”
And if you criticise a narcissist? Steven Berglas, Forbes, May 21, 2012:
When you criticise a narcissist — regardless of how accurate you are — you run the risk of … becoming the target of “narcissistic rage”.
What is narcissistic rage? Preston Ni, Psychology Today, July 8:
Narcissistic rage … (is the) intense anger … a narcissist experiences (when he suffers) a setback … which shatters his … illusions of grandiosity, entitlement, and superiority … (and is expressed in) intense outbursts and sudden fits of anger … simmering resentment, icy silence, deliberate neglect or cutting sarcasm … It is usually unreasonable, disproportional and cuttingly aggressive …