"Obama, is what we call, a TCK—A Third Culture Kid. TCK’s grow up as the children of missionaries, or as military brats, or as the children of businessmen. It means that you grew up during your early developmental years in a culture outside of your parents’ home culture." - Christopher Galtenberg

"TCK’s are usually unable to view the world in a simplistic dualistic way. On the contrary, they are usually over-achievers, get advanced degrees, and are infinitely curious about the world. They can accentuate different facets of their personality and experiences based on who they are talking to—and it’s not fake. This is the reason Obama really could connect and appreciate rural farmers in Illinois, fit in with the Harvard crowd, and work as an effective community organizer in Chicago’s South Side. Obama is the classic TCK. This is why he represents the new America so well—he is post-racial, globalized, and a great example of America’s own Third Cultural nature. It also helps to explain why he is so loathed by provincial Middle America." - Christopher Galtenberg

In other words, Obama is a sociopathic chameleon who will take on whatever shape suits the purposes of his neoconservative and neoliberal masters in the military-industrial complex, Wall Street, the Israel lobby, etc. :) Seriously, I took a look at the emotional, shallow and petty defenses of Obama supporters in response to Cornel West's remarks, and despaired for the future of the Democratic Party. Obama supporters mentioned not a single policy issue of substance -- the Afghanistan War, the Afpak War, the Global War on Terror, torture, expanding assaults on civil liberties, abuses by major Wall Street players like Goldman Sachs, the continuing collapse of the middle class, etc. They seem to have a schoolgirl crush on Obama. Foreign policy and domestic economic policy interest them not in the least. As I mentioned earlier, there is nothing to suggest that Democrats overall are smarter than Republicans. And many Democrats seem to be as mired down in narrow identity politics as Republicans. - Sean McBride

Mm, your first sentence feels a lot more like a political construction than an accurate description (not sure if the smiley was meant to negate :) I do agree about Obama sycophantism. - Christopher Galtenberg

Chris -- there has been quite a bit of serious academic research into the field of "elite sociopaths" -- highly successful people who are glib, charming and thoroughly manipulative and dishonest. They tend to be very likable, like Obama, and convey an aura of convincing sincerity. Absolutely nothing they say can be trusted -- there is usually a major mismatch between their words and actions. The bottom line is that Obama has extended and expanded on the neoconservative policies that he promised to reverse. Few Obama supporters are able to deal with this reality in a rational way. - Sean McBride