You Sad, Bro? Gawker Claims That NYT Reporters Working On A Story About The President's... Clinical Depression

I don't believe it. Gawker and the rest of these are trashy link-bait. They caveat this, saying the story could just wind up something like "Strains of Office Take Toll on President," your standard issue Man at a Crossroads piece, without mentioning depression.

But they say they know for a fact that reporters believe the depression angle, even if they don't print that.

Either way, Gawker's covered, aren't they? All we know is that there is probably a "President Takes Little Joy In Duty" story.

But, I can't really resist, so:

We hear the New York Times is looking into whether it's all starting to get to him—like, clinically.

We're told by a source inside the Times that the paper is preparing a story arguing that Obama no longer finds joy in the political back-and-forth, has seemed increasingly listless to associates, and is generally exhibiting the litany of signs that late-night cable commercials will tell you add up to depression.

...

So the story in question, if it ever comes out, may not end up supporting the depression thesis. But rest assured: There are people at the Times who, based on the paper's reporting, believe Obama is depressed—the kind of depression where, if he weren't the president of the United States, he wouldn't be getting out of bed in the morning.

I could understand if he were depressed. He didn't seem to have a very realistic idea of his own capabilities, or the capabilities, even, of the office of the presidency; he seemed to think that everything would just work out, and he'd move from success to success, adoration to adoration.

Obviously that has not been the case. And perhaps he's getting, as we've often speculated, his first cold splash of welcome to the real world.

And as we've also discussed, that would be sort of a scary thing.

posted by Ace at 10:24 AM

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