The cult of personality (disorder)

In the endless quest to sell magazines, this deliberately provocative Newsweek cover is creating some buzz today.

The Mittster told CBS this morning, he "doesn't care what the media says.." Guessing that's probably not true.

Haven't read the article, but I was just musing about Mitt's social ineptitude last night. In reviewing all the bizarre rhetorical gaffes he's made over the course of this campaign, it strikes me this is a man who never emotionally matured beyond teenage anxiety. His apparent need to establish his status and superiority by tearing down others borders on complusion.

Thinking particularly of his huge breach in disclosing his meeting with MI6, I see a guy who is still desperately trying to impress the cool kids in prep school who never fully accepted him into their inner circle. Not sure I'd classify that as wimpy, but it certainly suggests an innate insecurity that won't serve us well should he somehow manage to gain the Oval Office.

Update: Robert O'Brien, a foreign policy adviser for Romney, responded to the Newsweek cover:

...The fact is that Mitt Romney is a steely-nerved businessman, who has turned around failed companies, the corruption-plagued 2002 Olympic Winter Games and an almost-bankrupt Massachusetts – against all odds in each case. Moreover, he has raised a great family with his wife, Ann.

Steely-nerved businessman? Don't believe I've ever seen Rmoney's predatory business practices described in quite that way.

[Cross posted at Balloon Juice.]

[More posts daily at the Detroit News.]