Allan, I think your “armchair” diagnosis is spot-on. I’d venture to say that when you open up the DSM-IV, they’ve got Lisa’s headshot beside the description/criteria of “narcissistic personality disorder”.

The really scary thing is that, based on the way a lot of parents are “raising” their spawn these days, we have a lot of Lisa clones to look forward to in the future. Possible etiological factors in NPD?
–Overindulgence and overvaluation by parents
–Valued by parents as a means to regulate their own self-esteem
–Excessive admiration that is never balanced with realistic feedback
–Unpredictable or unreliable caregiving from parents
–Severe emotional abuse in childhood
–Being praised for perceived exceptional looks or talents by adults
–Excessive praise for good behaviors in childhood

These are the kids to whom we are passing along massive national debt, plus responsibility for the aging Baby Boomers (myself included)? It doesn’t look like a pleasant retirement’s in my future. Or, for that matter, any form of retirement. Aside from the obligatory dirt nap, of course.

Had to laugh at your Obama fireside scenario, and chose number 2 as to Lisa’s state of mind (although I believe that Lisa’s cheese has been in short supply for a long time). Unfortunately, I think that there is monumental overcrowding in that shallow gene pool. Let’s face it: when a nation’s perception of how things work in the world is based largely on today’s ceaseless diet of “reality” television, and critical thinking is virtually extinct, the “fireside” scenario doesn’t seem so improbable. I know that I’ve cleared my calendar so as to be available for the live televised coverage of Lisa receiving the 11th hour phone call from the White House while Rahm Emanuel and Tim Geithner are outside her front door with balloons and an oversized cardboard check.