“He that falls in love with himself will have no rivals.” –Benjamin Franklin, 1758

Paraphrasing the ancient Chinese warrior Sun Tzu: To defeat your opponent you must know your opponent and know yourself.

If our generation of Patriots is to succeed in our mandate to extend the blessings of American Liberty to our posterity, then we must both know the depth of our devotion to Liberty and understand its enemies. Indeed, we must fully comprehend those adversaries beyond topical categorization by political and other affiliations.

Our nation was founded by Patriots who devoted their lives, fortunes and sacred honor to Liberty for all. They truly understood the nature of “public service” as opposed to “self service,” the former defined as the giving of oneself for the greater good as opposed to the latter defined as the taking for oneself to the detriment of anyone or anything else.

In our Republican context of governance, the spirit of public service was and remains essential for the advancement of Liberty, while the consequence of self-service has always been irrevocably linked to tyranny.

Our generation of Patriots understands this distinction, and we are steadfast in our fidelity to the higher calling of Liberty. However, this fraternity of dedicated Patriots has always been, and will likely always be, in the minority – which is to say we must each resolve to give our all. As Samuel Adams wrote, “Let us consider, brethren, we are struggling for our best birthrights and inheritance… Let us disappoint the Men who are raising themselves on the ruin of this Country.”

In the generations since our founding, Liberty has suffered excessive insult by the rise of men who, under the banner of “public service,” are motivated principally by self service – and the greater the drive toward self service, the greater the threat to Liberty.

Recent history records the ascension of politicians who were incontrovertibly motivated by self service masquerading as public service – Ted Kennedy, Bill Clinton, Albert Gore, John Kerry and John Edwards, to name a few. All of these men share tragic family histories, which indelibly imprinted them from birth. Each also has a common diagnosis for his behavior: Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD).

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Understanding this pathology is key to defeating our opponents who manifest it.

By definition, narcissists are deeply insecure and, consequently, have an unrelenting need to be admired by others. Their low self-esteem is often imprinted from early childhood, and for many it is associated with ineffective fathering or worse, parental abandonment. Narcissists have a grandiose sense of self and of entitlement, and they have an excessive dependence upon others for self-definition and self-esteem regulation. Though they may project an image of great confidence, it is nothing more than arrogance pretending to be confidence in a cover-up of their insecurity.

I certainly would not suggest that all children with tragic family histories are destined to develop NPD. But executive offices in both the private and public sector are frequently occupied by those driven by narcissistic pathology, those whose motivation to achieve is characterized by a lust for power and avarice, rooted in broken self esteem and the resulting obsessive need to be accepted by others.

The most malignant form of narcissism is accompanied by intelligence and charisma, which enables the deception of others in order to secure positions of power and influence.

No executive in American history has provided a more textbook archetypal case study of Narcissistic Personality Disorder than Barack Hussein Obama, who embodied the pathology of the Left and successfully deceived the masses with his intelligence and charisma. Notably, he unwittingly outlined this deception in his second autobiographical book, “The Audacity of Hope,” writing, “I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views.”

Like all narcissists, however, Obama’s life is a lie.

To confirm that assertion, one needs look no further than his official White House biography, which begins, “His story is the American story – values from the heartland, a middle-class upbringing in a strong family…” There is no doubt that Obama wanted, and indeed deserved, that upbringing, but to assert that he had it could not be further from the truth.

And to further confirm the audacity of Obama’s narcissism, we need only examine his adulteration of the official White House Historical Association biographies of prior presidents, where Obama has inserted his name and some related “achievement” into the historic narratives of presidents dating back to Calvin Coolidge.

For example, the “Did You Know?” section at the end of Coolidge’s bio has been altered to read, “On Feb. 22, 1924 Calvin Coolidge became the first president to make a public radio address to the American people. President Coolidge later helped create the Federal Radio Commission, which has now evolved to become the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). President Obama became the first president to hold virtual gatherings and town halls using Twitter, Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.”

See if you can spot the impostor in these other presidential bios:

“On August 14, 1935, President Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act. Today the Obama Administration continues to protect seniors and ensure Social Security will be there for future generations.”

“President John F. Kennedy famously suggested the American people: ‘Ask what you can do for your country.’ In 1961, the Peace Corps was created, facilitating service among citizens working toward peace in developing countries. In 2011, President Obama celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps with a Presidential Proclamation.”

“In 1973, Richard Nixon created The President’s Export Council, which was expanded and reconstituted under President Jimmy Carter in 1979. Today the PEC continues to work towards reaching President Obama’s goal of doubling the nation’s exports by 2014’s end.”

“President Reagan designated Martin Luther King Jr. Day a national holiday; today the Obama Administration honors this tradition, with the First and Second Families participating in service projects on this day. In a June 28, 1985 speech Reagan called for a fairer tax code, one where a multi-millionaire did not have a lower tax rate than his secretary. Today, President Obama is calling for the same with the Buffett Rule.”

“In 2002, President George W. Bush’s State of the Union was the first to be live broadcast on the Internet. In 2011 and 2012, President Obama’s State of the Union speeches were available in an enhanced live stream version that featured infographics, charts and data side-by-side in real time with the President’s speech.”

Of this audacious adulteration, Ronald Reagan’s former Attorney General, Ed Meese, concludes, “What they have done is to spoil the integrity of the historical narrative.”

Obama framed his tenure in office as “public service.” But he is pathologically incapable of serving the public ahead of himself. In order to spoil the integrity of his narrative, we must fully understand his unmitigated narcissism and thoroughly expose the grave threat that his self-interest poses to Essential Liberty.