I have been told by a few people that my usual description of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker as a sociopath is a bit harsh.
They may be right. I just noticed a tweet from our extremist governor and it makes me think the more likely diagnosis if he were to agree to a psychiatric evaluation might be narcissistic personality disorder:
Here's the tweet (Matt is his son):
Here is a list of symptoms associated with narcissistic personality disorder:
A person with narcissistic personality disorder may:
React to criticism with rage, shame, or humiliation
Take advantage of other people to achieve his or her own goals
Have excessive feelings of self-importance
Exaggerate achievements and talents
Be preoccupied with fantasies of success, power, beauty, intelligence, or ideal love
Have unreasonable expectations of favorable treatment
Need constant attention and admiration
Disregard the feelings of others, and have little ability to feel empathy
Have obsessive self-interest
Pursue mainly selfish goals
Except for the first item on the list, that describes the Governor quite accurately. He doesn't seem to react to criticism, at least publicly, with rage, shame, or humiliation, but those other symptoms are spot on.
Today's tweet is a perfect example. Who cares what he ate for breakfast? And why would he embarrass his son like that? And who except a comedian thinks it's appropriate to use a reference to Lent in such a cavalier way?
Governor Walker has a habit of combining religious references with reports of the food he eats, especially regarding his visits to a Milwaukee-area deli to pick up hot ham and rolls after church. It's actually become something of a joke that he repeats a variation of the hot ham tweet nearly every Sunday. I interpret them as "Hey Mommy, I went to church, and I'm going to eat my ham like a good little boy."
But a reference to Lent (a holy period leading up to the commemoration of the suffering and resurrection of Christ) because he skipped the chocolate sauce on his banana waffles? Clearly he doesn't understand Lent, or the concept of suffering, or that some Christians, especially Catholics, might be offended by his tweet. It's hard to even know if he meant it seriously or as a poor attempt at humor.
It could be worse, I suppose. He could be tweeting about his bowel movements.
And he wants to run for President in 2016.