Victim #1: McCain, John
Victim #2: Graham, Lindsey
Victim #3: Ryan, Paul
Victim #4: Romney, Willard
In the upcoming DSM V-TR, the diagnostic manual from the American Psychiatric Association, a new personality disorder is being added to its list of mental conditions which require treatment.
Personality Disorders, (PD) such as Paranoid, Schizoid, Antisocial, Histrionic, Borderline, and Obsessive-Cumpulsive, should not be confused with Mood Disorders (of which Depression is the most common). The hallmark criteria for a PD involve cognition - how one perceives events and other people; affectivity - the range, intenisty and appropriateness of an emotional response; interpersonal functioning - how one relates with others; and, impulse control - the ability to function, act and react properly under the circumstances.
Personality disorders can be long standing, and often lead to significant distress and impairment in social, professional, occupational and other important areas of functioning.
Unique among Personality Disorders is PESD, a relatively new diagnosis, limited to members of the GOP, particularly those who are heavily involved in politics or who have recently run for higher office.
Cognition problems cause sufferers to blame others and to concoct ridiculous excuses for one's own failings. Take ex-gov Romney, for example. His silver-plated childhood and current millionaire's existence normally would not cause a sufferer to have a complete absence of empathy or understanding of other people's plights. Recall how he bragged that he was also unemployed, when confronted with sad, hungry Iowans intent on finding a job. His initial 47% comment is precisely the kind of cognitive difficulties a PESD sufferer has. The idea that those who voted against him did so because of "free stuff" bribes promised by a president clearly explains his cognitive defects so prevalent in PESD sufferers. Whatever riches Mitt has will never be enough, not when the "little people" simply want a fair shake. For PESD sufferers, wealth represents a zero sum equation. If anyone else has some benefit or asset, Romney's sole goal is to take it away and keep it for himself. Using Bain to rape, then bankrupt companies, while firing thousands of people and stealing their pensions and benefits, was the only source of joy in his relatively worthless and pathetic existence. It is because his Cognition is so warped that he will permanently afflicted, eventually becoming a quivering blob of flesh, yelling, "I bought that office. It was mine! IT WAS MINE!"
Affectivity is best explained by example. Take Senator John McCain, a double victim of PESD. His perception of America and Americans has been completely and permanently warped by his loss in 2008 "to that boy" and clearly worsened by his opponent's even larger victory on November 6. He consistently bears grudges and is completely unforgiving of insults, injuries and perceived slights.
PESD sufferers tend to concentrate on irrelevant events, and tend to assign blame to those who, often unknowingly, the sufferer believes insulted or attacked him. In the case of the Senator, his fixation on Benghazi and his aim of bringing down a presidency (and a future secretary of state) is solely based on this personality disorder. The fact that reality, truth, and historical events which were far worse (see Rice, Condi, and weapons of mass destruction), have absolutely no impact on his perception of the President is a perfect example of how damaging PESD can be to its sufferers.
Interpersonal functioning becomes quite problematic in PESD sufferers. In the case of Lindsey Graham, his inability to compromise, treat unassailable facts as true, and to concoct scenarios of fault or negligence in others, shows how poorly people like the senator can play with others. PESD sufferers tend to say one thing, then do another. Frequently, they accuse others of the very wrongdoing or problems which afflict them. An easy way to spot this sort of PESD sufferer is to insert someone like Graham into a room full of people, then see how long before Graham's presence causes the room to empty.
Impulse control PESD sufferers have little or no impulse control. Paul Ryan is a prime example of this facet. Despite repeated warnings and strongly phrased memos from party leaders, explaining that race and class wars had to stop, Ryan could not help himself when he blamed "urban dwellers" (translation: black, hispanic, poor, gay, lesbian, liberal) for voting against him. There are many other examples of Ryan's inappropriate words or actions, and as time passes, and the magnitude of his loss becomes even more obvious, watch for his impulse control to worsen.
I'm not a psychologist or psychiatrist, but as Pastor Agnostic in the Church of Ineffable Stupidity, my long range diagnoses are at least as accurate as ex-Senator Frist's were some years back.