How to spot a narcissist in one easy lesson:

President Barack Obama, the recipient of the most fawning media coverage of any president I have ever seen, is ending his presidency on an ugly and discouraging note.  It seems he believes he was unfairly “vilified” by conservative media and is whining about it.  Jennifer Calfas writes in The Hill:

President Obama said Fox News and conservative media “vilified” him throughout his presidency.

In several interviews with The Atlantic, Obama said he felt more confident about his presidential run in 2008 because he hadn’t been targeted yet by Fox News and conservative commentators like Rush Limbaugh.

“I think I should point out in terms of both my confidence that I could win in ’08 but also the fact that I was lucky and maybe a little bit naive: In 2008 I was never subjected to the kind of concentrated vilification of Fox News, Rush Limbaugh, the whole conservative-media ecosystem, and so as a consequence, even for my first two years as a senator I was polling at 70 percent,” Obama told The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates in an interview published Tuesday.

But, he said, stereotypes about African-American politicians and liberals — "some image of me as trying to take away their stuff and give it to black people, and coddle criminals" — quickly began to take hold.

"You started to see that kind of prism being established towards the end of the 2008 race, particularly once Sarah Palin was the [vice presidential] nominee. And obviously almost immediately after I was elected, it was deployed in full force. And it had an impact in terms of how a large portion of white voters would see me."

The interviews — with parts released over Tuesday and Wednesday — were used in The Atlantic’s cover story, “My President was Black,” published last week.

Ed Lasky aptly remarks:

He never understands it is not about race and conservative media -- it was about his agenda, the liberal agenda and the way they governed. How does one account for the massive GOP wins the past 6 years at all levels of government?

I must also point out that if one searches for vilification of an incoming president, the level of hatred, misinformation, distortion, and outright character assassination directed at President-Elect Trump dwarfs anything Obama was ever on  the receiving  end of.

I remember when late-night comedians complained that Obama was so perfect that there was no humor to be found in his presidency.  I remember when the vast number of photos published with him having a halo became a joke, and when he was pronounced a semi-divine “lightworker” and an “enlightened being.”

(Many, many more examples here)

This was not from one cable channel, some radio shows and websites, but rather from the vast majority of mass media news outlets.  Some of these saw their readerships and viewerships crash and burn as they lost credibility with the public.

Obama’s inability to grant legitimacy to critics reveals his underlying narcissism.

Hat tip: Ed Lasky