President Obama thinks we should take comfort because "I want what's best for the country"

Washington Examiner:

In his new interview with CBS, President Obama refers to the "troublesome" talk and "vitriol" of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. "Keep in mind that there have been periods in American history where this kind of vitriol comes out," Obama says. "It happens often when you've got an economy that is making people more anxious, and people are feeling like there is a lot of change that needs to take place. But that's not the vast majority of Americans. I think the vast majority of Americans know that we're trying hard, that I want what's best for the country."

On what basis would anyone conclude that President Obama "want(s) what is best for the country?"

In general, political leaders don't spend a lot of time pondering what is "best." The best is an abstraction. No one knows how to determine what is best on a broad scale. If we have to find what's best, we split the issue into small parts that are measurable.

We do, however, have a substitute for best, one that works well enough over the long term to have lasted. We ask, what do most Americans want?

On the question of handing the American medical system over to the government the question was asked and answered many times. What a majority or plurality said repeatedly was that they did not want Obmacare to be enacted.

What was Obama's response? He ignored alternative reforms, such as creation of a nationwide market for health insurance, a surefire way to increase competition and reduce prices. He ignored alternative proposals for dealing with the uninsured and for tort reform. Then he used borrowed money to bribe members of Congress to vote for Obamacare. Had he not done that, Obamacare may have been defeated.

From all appearances, Obama had one objective in mind above all others; he wanted a sweeping reform that would become a monument to his conspicuous compassion and governing skill.

To borrow a phrase from Rush Limbaugh, Obama has "governed against the wishes of the American people."

In recent weeks, Obama also has indicated that he will revive efforts in Congress to enact constraints on fossil fuels. This despite the well known facts that the science that fueled global warming alarmism has been thoroughly discredited and carbon trading markets are sending signals that the game is over.

If a cap and trade system were enacted, U.S. exporters would lose customers in foreign markets because of price disadvantages.

How do diminishing exports, and further losses of manufacturing jobs, provide evidence that Obama wants "what's best for the country."

My guess is that Obama believes he still enjoys the blind faith and trust that many Americans extended during the campaign, when, without anything in his record that a normal person would consider an accomplishment, he presented himself for the highest office.

That would comport with what I believe is his most salient characteristic - his narcissism. Narcissists select the evidence they choose to believe. If CBS's poll shows that only 44 percent support Obama now,  that might affect Obama's behavior if he actually believes it to be true.

If he chooses not to believe it's true, he might dismiss it as casually as he dismisses all those polls that show a plurality or majority of Americans think he is on the wrong course.