Dear Miss Dash

Recently on a campaign stop in Ohio, Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton said the views of the Republican presidential candidates regarding women's health were extremists and out of touch with the modern world.  "Now, extreme views about women, we expect that from some of the terrorist groups," Mrs. Clinton said.  "We expect that from people who don't want to live in the modern world.  But it's a little hard to take coming from Republicans who want to be president of the United States."(1)

That remark prompted Stacey Dash, actress and Fox News daytime talk show Outnumbered panelist, to say Hillary Clinton is a sociopath.  In her blog entry, Miss Dash used a dictionary definition to label Mrs. Clinton, "a person with psychopathic personality whose behavior is antisocial and who lacks a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience."(2)  Miss Dash implies Mrs. Clinton lacks empathy/remorse because she's pro-choice and supports Planned Parenthood, therefore Mrs. Clinton is a sociopath.

Furthermore, Miss Dash says, "Anyone who can describe candidates who want to stop the butchering of babies to terrorists who kill babies is simply wrong, messed up, and a liar.  She's definitely a criminal.  We already know that.  What's left to find out is how long she'll spend behind bars, not behind the desk in the oval office."(3)

Granted Mrs. Clinton used loaded language to characterize her Republican opponents.  Miss Dash could have said Mrs. Clinton was irresponsible.  Instead she responded in kind, name calling.

Under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, Miss Dash can argue she has a right to express her opinion, but without facts to support her claim Mrs. Clinton is a sociopath, her views are erroneous opinions.

If Miss Dash is going to label Mrs. Clinton a sociopath, she'll need stronger proof than a dictionary.  I've read a few books on the subject of sociopaths and Mrs. Clinton's position on Planned Parenthood and abortion rights is not proof she's a sociopath.       

First, there's a distinction between psychopath and sociopath, they are not interchangeable.  Psychopathic behavior is linked to brain function (nature).  Sociopathic behavior is linked to upbringing (nurture).  Some monsters are born, others are created.   

Second, Miss Dash focused on one dictionary characteristic, lacking remorse and ignored antisocial behavior.

Third, Sociopaths have 20 characteristics.  I won't go into detail on each characteristic, just enough to prove Mrs. Clinton is not a sociopath.(4)

According to psychiatrist J.M. MacDonald, early childhood signs of sociopathic behavior are bed-wetting, torturing small animals and setting fires.  Sociopaths exhibit early behavioral problems, becoming juvenile delinquents, committing robberies and assaults.

I can hear the chorus, she's a Clinton and Clinton's excel at covering up their crimes.  Just because we can't find proof Hillary was an arsonist, killed small animals and wet the bed until she went to college doesn't mean she didn't do it.

Sorry conspiracy theorists, Hillary is a sociopath because I cannot prove Hillary is not a sociopath is an ad ignoratium fallacious argument.

Shallow effect is another sociopathic characteristic.  A sociopath is able to express emotion, but "the feelings and emotions are rather limited in strength and depth of feeling."(5)  If you believe Mrs. Clinton is a sociopath, it follows she's incapable of loving her daughter Chelsea.

Sociopaths have grandiose sense of self-worth.(6)  Hillary haters will argue running for president is an example of grandiose self-worth and it would be if Mrs. Clinton was a high school dropout who was unable to keep several menial jobs, but in the first Republican presidential debate Florida Senator Marco Rubio attested Mrs. Clinton has a formidable resume.  Sociopaths lack the discipline to forge Mrs. Clinton's career.

Sociopaths don't have realistic long term goals.(7)  Hillary haters will argue she rose on the coattails of her husband President Bill Clinton.  Without him, she's just another lawyer.  Regardless of how she got to this point in her life, Mrs. Clinton is not unqualified to be president.

Speaking of President Bill Clinton, sociopaths are unable to sustain long term relationships.(8)  The Clintons have been married for 40 years.

Miss dash is a Republican pro-lifer who opposes Planned Parenthood's abortion practices, fetal tissue research and any Democratic candidate for president, especially the front-runner Hillary Clinton.  It's not surprising Miss Dash would hurl a loaded term at Mrs. Clinton, but the use of the word sociopath lacked knowledgeable justification.

Unfortunately it's a common political tactic to label an opponent with a loaded word because words are easier to remember than policy positions.  Real estate developer Donald Trump catapulted to the top of the GOP field using this strategy.  Instead of explaining the policy implications of illegal immigration, Mr. Trump labeled undocumented Mexican immigrants criminals, rapists and drug dealers.

In politics you label your opponent before they label themselves.  Contrary to popular thought, President Nixon started the phenomenon and President Reagan's presidential campaigns perfected the tactic.  It's not enough to defeat Democrats, their ideology must be annihilated.  Language is a means to that end.  For a generation Republicans branded Democrats and liberalism as pro-criminal, anti-family, anti-capitalism, anti-religion and a threat to the American way of life.

American political campaigns have degenerated into blood sport, each side preemptively hurling epithets.  Mrs. Clinton didn't help the process by using the word terrorist in a stump speech, but Miss Dash branding Hillary Clinton a sociopath and a criminal is not the solution.  Reckless labeling and ad hominem attacks mutilates our political culture, producing a lost generation of cynics who abtain from the political process.



1- "Hillary Clinton Likens Republican Views on Women to Those of Terror Groups," Alan Rappeport, New York Times, August 27, 2015.
2- "Why I Called Hillary Clinton a Sociopath on Outnumbered," Stacey Dash, August 28, 2015.
3- "Why I Called Hillary Clinton a Sociopath on Outnumbered," Stacey Dash, August 28, 2015.
4 - The Psychopath Whisperer, Kent A. Kiehl, PhD, Crown Publishers, New York, 2014, pages 46-47.           
5- The Psychopath Whisperer, Kent A. Kiehl, PhD, Crown Publishers, New York, 2014, page 62.
6- The Psychopath Whisperer, Kent A. Kiehl, PhD, Crown Publishers, New York, 2014, page 53.
7- The Psychopath Whisperer, Kent A. Kiehl, PhD, Crown Publishers, New York, 2014, page 70.
8- The Psychopath Whisperer, Kent A. Kiehl, PhD, Crown Publishers, New York, 2014, page 73.