As a matter of principle I am loath to treat political behavior from a medical perspective. But, there comes a time when the evidence is so overwhelming that a medical framework is appropriate. To wit, I have concluded that President Obama suffers from what a psychoanalyst might call "Compulsive State Aggrandizing Disorder" or CSAD for short. Though slow in arriving, this diagnosis was indisputable when I read about the president's recent New York Times interview. In a nutshell, CSAD is a condition whereby everything is twisted so as to justify expanding government regardless of the risks, costs, or likelihood of success. The parallel is compulsive alcoholism or drug addiction -- the addict refused to stop even when it is obvious that the addiction is the path to ruin.

In this interview, Obama expounded about the dangers of growing economic inequality which, said the president, would exacerbate racial tensions, boost unemployment, hinder economic growth, shrink the middle class and indirectly limit the discussion of such pressing issues as trade, climate, and immigration.

It is easy to dismiss these ruminations as off-the-cuff babble from a frustrated president. Wrong. Pushing economic inequality on to the public agenda will only embolden others suffering from CSAD to ramp up their efforts and, make no mistake, they will discover even more alleged horrific consequences of economic inequality and demand billions of dollars of government expansion. Past manifestations of CSAD include pushing government to solve "dangerous" race-related gaps, invisible glass ceilings, and the absence of diversity.

Is CSAD curable? Probably not in its advanced stages (sorry about that, Mr. President) but it can be prevented from infecting millions of others. The preemptive public health measure first requires understanding "economic inequality" and its irrelevance to racial tension, stagnant economic, and other assumed national ills.


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