Shrink Wonders: Was Obama Sexually Abused?

Joy Tiz

©2010

 A spot in my brain, something
That may be squeezed out, like a
Watermelon seed between
Two fingers.
Pop takes another shot, neat,
Points out the same amber
Stain on his shorts that I’ve got on mine, and
Makes me smell his smell, coming.

-Barack Obama

Recently exhumed by Jack Cashill, the cryptographic poem, titled “Pop” written by a young Obama gives us some insight into his relationship with father figure and mentor, Frank Marshall Davis.  Cashill postulates that “Pop” was actually written by Davis. 

Davis, it should be recalled was communist, poet, alcoholic, sexual deviant, and fomenter of racial hatred.   Davis also proudly proclaimed himself bisexual, a voyeur  and exhibitionist who wished he’d had two penises. 

Cashill:

• In fact, ‘Pop’ hints at both a blood relationship between the two men and a sexual one. The very name of the poem implies paternity, and in the poem the young man uses reflections and mirrors to show a physical resemblance between himself and the old man.
• As to a possible sexual relationship between Obama and the admittedly bisexual Davis, the poem offers some intriguing evidence: ‘Pop … points out the same amber/ Stain on his shorts that I’ve got on mine, and/ Makes me smell his smell, coming/ From me.’
• It is impossible to confirm that Davis either sired Obama or sexually abused him, but this imagery does at the least reek of some unsavory boundary violation.

Little Barry was often left with Grandpa Stanley to be treated to visits with the fetid Frank Marshall Davis at a time when normal little American boys were busy with Little League rather than making up pornographic limericks to entertain the “adults.” 

At last, a psychotherapist raises the issue of the possibility of sexual abuse of Obama by Davis.  Obama certainly isn’t psychologically normal.  As Robin of Berkley  notes:

Obama is flat when passion is needed; he’s aggressive when savvy is required. What’s most worrisome is that Obama doesn’t even realize that his behavior is inappropriate.

 Perhaps the commonly accepted diagnosis of Obama as having Narcissistic Personality Disorder is too simple. 

 Robin hypothesizes that narcissism doesn’t adequately cover all of Obama’s symptoms.

When children experience overwhelming trauma, they protect themselves as best they can with a variety of defense mechanisms.  There is no question that life for little Barry was traumatic, full of chaos and abandonment, as well as genuine fear.  The adults in his life betrayed him and taught him hate and mistrust. 

In a lifetime of associations with plainly unsavory characters, poet and pornographer, Frank Marshall Davis ranks among the least savory of the lot.   Dear Grandpa Stanley, blessed with an inordinate amount of free time thanks to his wife’s hard work; a man Obama has described as having a “complete inability to discipline his appetites.” (The Audacity of Hope, Page 203) enjoyed whiling away the hours with Davis, drinking and smoking pot. Davis was an open supporter of the Soviet Union and his influence on Obama is hard to overlook. 

The poet also admitted to writing a pornographic novel under the pseudonym of Bob Greene in which the protagonist seduces a 13 year old girl. Davis claimed he had changed names and identities but the novel was based on actual experiences. To clarify the depth of Marshall’s perversion: he actually believed sex with a 13 year old child would be in the child’s best interests. He graciously spared her the sting of rejection and made certain her earliest sexual experiences would be with the maestro himself, according to Toby Harnden in the Telegraph.

Robin of Berkley:

Obama’s family tree is replete with the unbalanced. His maternal great-grandmother committed suicide. His grandfather, Stanley Dunham, was particularly unhinged: He was expelled from high school for punching his principal; named his daughter Stanley because he wanted a boy; and exposed young Barry to not just drunken trash talk, but unrestricted visits with alleged pedophile Frank Marshall Davis (who might or might not be Obama’s biological father). Barack Sr. was an abusive, alcoholic bigamist.

Robin concurs that Obama was seriously traumatized in childhood:  “His mother disregarded his basic needs, dragged him all over the place, and ultimately abandoned him.”

She drills down to the core issue—was Obama sexually abused as a child?

But I think there may be something even more insidious in his family background. While I can’t prove it, the degree of Obama’s disconnect reminds me of my sexually abused clients.

With serious sexual abuse, the brain chemistry may change. The child dissociates — that is, disconnects from his being — in order to cope. Many adult survivors still dissociate, from occasional trances to the most extreme cases of multiple personality disorder.

 We likely will never know all of the details of each meeting between Obama and Davis over the years.  Obama himself may not have entirely accurate recollections; such is the nature of extreme experiences in childhood.  The very best we can say is that his grandfather failed to provide a healthy role model for the impressionable child.  Exposing a child to race hating, communist ideology, along with all manners of sexual perversion, is child abuse and can be expected to have a lasting influence.