Rod Blagojevich

There's been a lot of discussion about whether former Illinois Governor Blagojevich is a sociopath. People assert that he must be crazy to attempt to sell former United States Senator and President Elect Obama's senate seat to the highest bidder when he knew that he was being monitored for possible corruption. According to one pundit:

He described what would now be called a “sociopath,” a modern-day term for the older “psychopath.” It’s a complex, hard-to-treat ailment, and “anti-social” is the key phrase here.

Among the prominent traits of one so afflicted is the absence of any sense of guilt or shame. Empathy is unknown. The truth may be told, but only when it serves the often bizarre purposes of the teller. Never for its own sake.

The governor’s astonishing dare — Go ahead and tap my phones — brings to mind the much more normal Gary Hart’s “Follow me.” (They did.) It is explained by the sociopath’s absolute conviction that he is somehow immune from being caught.

This appears to be connected to the sociopath’s trait of confusing his lies with reality. Unable to distinguish between the two, he proceeds on his brazen way, willing, like Richard Widmark in “Kiss of Death,” to push a wheel-chaired old lady down a flight of stairs to gain his purposes.

Gaylin reminds us that sociopaths are not always obvious misfits, as evidenced by their being found, for example, running major institutions. Often they have the acting skills of award-winning thespians, can exhibit great charm (though not in this case) and can fool even experts.

I disagree that a sociopath would never tell the truth for the truth's sake. I think a sociopath would tell the truth whenever it wasn't worth it to attempt a lie. And I don't believe that the majority of sociopaths are out committing violent crimes like pushing wheel chair-bound old women down the stairs. Sociopaths are unique, interesting, and scary enough without embellishing.

People hear or read about extremes of sociopathic behavior and assume it's true of all sociopaths. This is as ridiculous as saying black people sink in water, all Catholic priests are molesters, homeless people are addicts, lawyers are liars, doctors have god complexes, teachers "teach" because they can't "do," pharmacists couldn't get into medical school, women and Asians are terrible drivers, politicians are corrupt, danseurs are gay, Muslims are terrorists, etc. Members of those groups may or not be more likely to show those traits than nonmembers, but that doesn't mean that the definition of lawyer should include "liar," the definition of Muslim should include "terrorist," etc. Likewise, sociopaths may be over-represented in prisons, but that doesn't mean the definition of sociopath should include "criminal."

That said, I'm not refusing to accept Governor Blagojevich as a fellow sociopath. It's just that I wish people wouldn't always assume that whenever someone does something "bad," it must be because they're a sociopath (or vice versa).

The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary: men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.

-- Joseph Conrad