All over the world celebrations are breaking out: our dear friend and long-time Confluencian, BostonBoomer successfully defended her PHD dissertation yesterday!
BostonBoomer is one of the original commenters and authors here at The Confluence – she’s made nearly 16,000 comments and authored over 160 posts. From her first post (I want a President who is tough as nails and really knows her stuff!) we loved her writing. And time after time she’s proved how much she deserved our attention:
From witty snark:
Once More to the Fainting Couch
Kid Oakland has had another terrible shock that has sent him reeling once again to the fainting couch. Poor dear. Just a little over a week ago, Kid was making noises about working on some kind of rapproachment with Clinton supporters in the hopes that we would come around and accept Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee. But that’s all water under the bridge now that Hillary Clinton has dared to mention Obama’s latest faux pas.
As we all know by now, Barack was trying to explain to a group of wealthy San Francisco voters why he can’t seem to make any headway with small-town Pennsylvania voters, and he came out with this beauty:
It’s not surprising, then, they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.
Oops!
. . . heartfelt emotion:
An Open Letter to Hillary Clinton
Dear Hillary,
I hope you don’t mind if I use your first name. I feel I’ve gotten to know you during this primary campaign. I’ve observed your performances in the debates with admiration. I’ve been amazed by your calm, composed demeanor as you handled a disrespecful and misogynistic media. I’ve marveled at your graceful treatment of a far less qualified opponent who has treated you and your supporters with shocking disdain. In short, I have developed a deep level of respect and admiration for you. You are a remarkable and accomplished woman, and you would be a great President for our country. I simply can’t give up on my dream of a Hillary Clinton presidency.
This morning the corporate media is filled with obituaries for your campaign. They have been writing you off since New Hampshire, and now they think they really smell blood in the water. They can’t wait to declare your campaign dead and rally around the weaker candidate. Their goal all along has been to get the foolish DNC to pick a sacrifical lamb who will go down to ignominious defeat to the Republicans once again. And it appears that the Democratic “leadership” is poised to let it happen.
Or seriously analytical:
What is Wrong with Barack Obama?
Well, in the first place he is incredibly arrogant, haughty, full-of-himself, and entitled. He appears to have almost no empathy for other people and he is very good at using them as long as he wants something from them and then throwing them under the bus when he no longer needs them. For starters, just ask Rev. Wright, Rev., Pfleger, the members of Trinity United Church of Christ, “former” advisors Samantha Power and Austen Goolsbee, Jim Johnson (former VP committe member), whoever created the “Great Possum Seal,” the “progressive” bloggers who supported him unstintingly for months, and his own grandmother. In fact Obama has added a new cliche to the American vernacular, “He (or she) wasn’t the person I once knew.”
A number of Conflucians have noted in comments that Obama is highly narcissistic. I’d say that’s an understatement. In fact, I would argue that he suffers from Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD). Personality disorders are enduring patterns in the way a someone perceives the world, relates to other people, and reacts to events. These behaviors are dysfunctional and affect a person’s functioning in many aspects of life.
NOTE: Approximately 75% of people diagnosed with NPD are men. Therefore, for the sake of convenience, I will refer to the narcissist as “he” and the narcissist’s partner as “she.”
Although people with NPD act haughty and entitled, on an unconscious level, they may actually have doubts about their own abilities, competence, and loveability. Because of this unconscious lack of self-esteem, they constantly need to see their own uniqueness and greatness reflected in the eyes of other people. They expect the people in their lives to provide them with what Sam Vankin calls “narcissistic supply,” meaning unstinting attention, admiration, and praise. People with NPD are often highly sensitive to criticism and they hate to lose. They may become enraged when they don’t get the admiration they expect or when they fail to live up to the high opinion they have of themselves. Because they envy people who are more successful than they are, they frequently believe that people are just as envious of them.
A Refuge
There have been very few days around here when we haven’t seen her for at least a few minutes. And you’d be amazed to know how often she’s working for you when she doesn’t seem to be around. It may not be obvious to the casual visitor but, keeping this site free of trolls isn’t an easy task. There have been times when it seemed like we were deleting as many comments as we kept. And, yes — BostonBoomer is a part of the administrative team that made The Confluence the refuge we relied on during the traumatic primary season.
BostonBoomer Day at The Confluence
Contribute to the BostonBoomer PHD Gift Fund
Now, it seems that all those times she stepped aside for an afternoon or a day to “work on her dissertation” she actually did. After her successful presentation yesterday she’s Doctor BostonBoomer! BB, we’re unimaginably proud and happy for you.
In honor of the occasion, Riverdaughter has created Bostonboomer’s PhD Fund through PayPal. Let’s celebrate together.
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