Basketball Jones

[H2O Man]

Recently some people opined that Kyrsten Sinema has a narcissistic personality disorder. I think that she has some narcissistic features, but that there is an alternative way of viewing her that may shed light on what we are witnessing. I would like to start by noting that, in the relatively brief period that I've been aware of her, there was nothing that made me think she could be trusted.

Thus, rather than define her in the context of boxing, I will opt for basketball, for some of the concepts of developmental psychology can be understood with this team sport. As we know, develomental psychology focuses on the physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development of the individual. Initially it was the study of the growth of children and youth, although in more recent times, it includes focus on the aging process.

We shall start at the stage found in junior high schools. If we think of boys or girls junior high school basketball teams, we know that when a team has the ball, there is not a great deal of passing. At this stage of development, most kids want to shoot the ball. There may be one or two that experience anxiety on the court in front of the audience. But most of them are focused exclusively on being the star.

On high school teams, both boys and girls have generally grown to understand that it is a team sport, and that passing the ball is a better option than forcing a bad shot. Now, I could go on and on, and talk about coaches that mistake themselves for being of the quality of the best college coaches, and how their yelling at junior and/or senior high players relates to a lack of understanding of developmental psychology. But I'll spare you -- this time.

Kyrsten can thus be understood to have not progressed on important levels beyond the junior high level. This is not to say that she is not intelligent, or even that she does not have some impressive sports accomplishments. But never team sports.

Now, most politicians in DC have a positive opinion of themselves, including many who should not have. One has to think they can do their job very well. I remember when Jesse Jackson was running for president in the 1980s. A reporter made a snarky comment about his having a siperiority complex. Jesse asked if someone with an inferiority complex should be president? I think Nixon documented why not.

Rather than viewing Kyrsten as having a full-blown narcissistic personality disorder, I see her as a junior high school basketball player. She is stuck in the early teen level where boys and girls try to be the center of attention. She has traded party affiliation more frequently than a young teen changes odd outfits in an attempt to get attention. She fancies herself the "free agent" of the Senate, rather than having loyalty to a team. And she will find that there is a price to pay for that.