Whose Hotline Is It, Anyway?

In the days since Hillary Clinton conceded the Democratic nomination for president to Barack Obama, the National Clearinghouse of Women's Crisis Hotlines (NCWCH) has had to substantially increase the number of hotline staffers catering to traumatized women. A spokesman attributes this directly to Hillary's falling by the wayside as a candidate: "You have to understand that women all over the country have identified so closely with Hillary Clinton in this campaign that they are literally incapable of separating her fate from their own. So her apparent rejection by the Democrats is seen, by them, as a personal rejection -- not just an affront, but a profound denial of their validity, and even existence, as human beings. Hence, those with self-destructive tendencies have been thrust into a crisis mode, and many of them are calling our hotlines. Our concern is that there are many more who are even more at risk, but are too depressed to even call. We're hoping to locate some of them through voter lists and lists of Hillary volunteers, and intervene before it's too late." A recent study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology sheds further light on this phenomenon. It seems that people with low "ego strength" and low self confidence tend to attach themselves, psychologically, to people who seem to be all-powerful, and seem to be able to get away with anything. This "failed ego syndrome" leads certain individuals to become, for example, rabid supporters of a candidate, zealous campaign workers, and tireless advocates of a given politician. The problems arise when the person they attach themselves to turns out not to be all-powerful. According to Jeremy Lipschitz, a psychologist in Baltimore, MD: "The individual in question sees the failure of 'their' candidate as a threat to their very existence -- a metaphysical threat, if you will. Their low self-esteem led them to put all their eggs in one basket, if you will, and then the basket broke. So they wind up having an existential crisis. And yes, serious intervention may be required." Another researcher identifies this as related to what is called identity submergence, or IS. "The person subordinates their identity so completely to that of Bill and/or Hillary Clinton that they literally can't distinguish between setbacks to the Clintons and setbacks to themselves." This has led, for example, to a number of arrests and incarcerations of individuals during the Bill Clinton administration, who only thought they were supporting him and his presidency, only to find that they had been first exploited, then betrayed and abandoned. And yet they never lost hope, and never turned against their idols. When asked if the Hillary Clinton campaign had unfairly exploited these victims of the IS syndome, a spokesman said "It depends on what your definition of IS is."

Observation: It is widely recognized that the various toadies, hangers-on, and "friends of Bill" over the years have been people with not only low self-esteem, but very little to offer as individuals, hence their tendency to cast their lot entirely with the Clintons, in an attempt to at least reap some reflected glory. Hillary's campaign is only the most recent example of this phenomenon, but we can expect to see it happening again, as long as the Clintons remain in the public sphere.

The same organization, i.e. NCWCH, has more discreetly alerted its members to the possiblity of an increase of crisis cases based on the fact that Bill Clinton is now unemployed. "We're not saying he's a danger to the community", a spokesman indicated, "only that our members need to maintain a bit more vigilance than usual. Time will tell whether Mr. Clinton's newfound 'freedom' constitutes a serious moral hazard to the women of America." Apparently this alert was directed primarily at agencies serving white women. Questions as to why this might be were not responded to, but one bit of insight was offered by Koniesha Williams, a food service employee in the building that houses the NCWCH: "Dat gal Monica, she say he got a thang like a 'thumb'. Hoo-ee. No way dis girl gonna put up wif any o' dat mess. He try comin' round and playin' the fool wif me, I kick his ass." Ms. Williams' fellow food service employees seemed to unanimously agree with her assessment.

Further bulletins to follow, as the need arises.