Diana Henriques has written a book about Bernie Madoff,
The Wizard of Lies. When viewed as a singular personality, his 50 year loving marriage, his family life, his impeccable taste and fastidious grooming one can be quite compassionate.. As a therapist for many years, I can truthfully say, if you listen carefully you can identify with anyone. Even those who have done heinous crimes can, if they talk honestly with you, make you sympathetic to whatever was behind their actions. Sometimes their behaviors are based on greed, lack of choices, inability to find other solutions for their drives, inability to incorporate the damage they will do or have done to others as a reality.
Paul Ryan is another good example. He is apparently taken by the propaganda from the Heritage Foundation, or perhaps visions of what his career might become if he is successful in pleasing the powers backing him. It seems he has been completely out of touch with the destruction his plan would be to so many people in the future, especially seniors today and their descendants in future years.
While he may be very bright, I believe the downfall of many intelligent people is their inability to look ahead at consequences. The sense of Russian Roulette being that they will not be caught with the one out of six chances, either the cruelty of their plans or the debit side of them to others.
I'm quite sure that Paul Ryan would not equate his plan to the Ponzi scheme of Madoff, but the damage to people who join him is just as devastating to individuals or groups who believe the spin given. One must note that the tide has turned at the Town Hall meetings; voters are no longer remaining in ignorance and apathetic. Obama has allowed the populace to recognize their own power and begin, finally, to use it. He is wise in to wanting them to look on him as some sort of Messiah sent to rescue us all while we passively sit back and criticize him as though we could do a better job..
