Politicians and stockbrokers share many of the same characteristics as criminal psychopaths. The only difference is that career high-flyers usually stay within the law. Some could be defined as "successful psychopaths", according to Lisa Marshall, a psychologist at Glasgow's Caledonian University.
In a three-year research project that involved interviewing 105 long- term offenders in Scottish prisons, she discovered that upbringing appeared to be an important factor in whether a child became a psychopath, as well as genetic make-up.
To discover which offenders were psychopaths she questioned them and compared their answers to a widely used list of 20 characteristics of a psychopath, the annual conference
Serial killers and politicians share traits
Psychopathy is a personality disorder manifested in people who use a mixture of charm, manipulation, intimidation, and occasionally violence to control others, in order to satisfy their own selfish needs. Although the concept of psychopathy has been known for centuries, the FBI leads the world in the research effort to develop a series of assessment tools, to evaluate the personality traits and behaviors attributable to psychopaths.
Interpersonal traits include glibness, superficial charm, a grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, and the manipulation of others. The affective traits include a lack of remorse and/or guilt, shallow affect, a lack of empathy, and failure to accept responsibility. The lifestyle behaviors include stimulation-seeking behavior, impulsivity, irresponsibility, parasitic orientation, and a lack of realistic life goals...
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A Tale of Politicians & Psychopaths
When I was in gradeschool, decades ago, we learned about government and politics. George Washington was a famous politician because he supposedly was incapable of telling a lie. "I cannot tell a lie. It was I who cut down the cherry tree." Abraham Lincoln was famous for ending slavery, an unpopular position at the time which caused the Civil War, but nonetheless was the high moral road to take.
It wasn't until I was in mid-life that the truth about politicians really hit me.
I lived in a small community in [redacted], Connecticut and worked in a small office building where Viewzone had a two room suite. The basement was occupied by an up-coming local politician who also ran an insurance business. The party affiliation isn't important -- that's not what this story is about. This particular politician started out as a Selectman but has since moved up the political ladder to the State level and, as far as I know, his future looks bright.
One evening I was working on a story and stayed late in the office to use the computer. At some point I heard someone scream and moan. It continued for almost an hour, reaching a crescendo and then diminution. Curious, I watched the politician leave with a redhead. His wife was a brunette.
This happened a couple of times a week, for many weeks. The redhead was replaced by blonds and raven hair, sometimes older and sometimes younger.
One night I was working late and someone knocked on the office door. It was my biker friend, "Big Jim." Jim saw my lights and told me he was going to a strip club in Hartford and bent my arm to come with him and stop being a "workaholic."
After several beers Jim made us sit on the "runway" and flashed a ten dollar bill at one of the dancers. She eagerly strutted her body in front of us and Big Jim was having the time of his life. Then, framed by two legs in fishnet stockings, I looked into the darkness of the bar to a small booth and made eye-contact with this same politician who was groping a scantly clad blond. His wife was a brunette.
Embarrassed to be there myself, I acknowledged our glances with a smile and raised my bottle of Rolling Rock. Minutes later a waitress brought us a half-dozen of the same, "Compliments of that man... huh? Well he was sitting right over there." He was gone.
A week later there was another late knock on the office door. It was him. He asked me to come down to his office. There, spread over the desk that was the source of the moans and groans he had a collection of charge card slips. I could see that he had circled some entries for bars, clubs and motels. His voice trembled, "The other night didn't happen. You didn't see me and you don't know anything about my personal life. Right?"
He was correct. It was none of my business what he did. I agreed and we shook hands.
Shortly after that I was speaking with a waiter friend named Duane. Duane worked at the local country club and told me about a very unusual dinner he had served which involved this certain town Selectman. He said all the "movers and shakers" were there, from Washington DC and other states. He said that they decided to back the Selectman because he "looked the part" and was "very cooperative" with their goals. He told me to keep an eye on this man because "Someday, who knows, he might even be president."
Years, no, decades have passed and I have moved all over the globe. I recently spoke with Big Jim and reminded him of that night in the strip club. I wondered what ever happened to the politician. He laughed. It seems he was doing well -- a Senator now -- and had recently gained the support of ultra-conservative Christians and had sponsored bills to "strengthen the family and marriage."...
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