BAGnewsNotes

Bill Frist, Volcano

''It was, of course, a heinous and dishonest thing to do.  And I was totally schizoid about the entire matter. By day, I was little Billy Frist, the boy who lived on Bowling Avenue in Nashville and had decided to become a doctor because of his gentle father and a dog named Scratchy. By night, I was Dr. William Harrison Frist, future cardiothoracic surgeon, who was not going to let a few sentiments about cute, furry little creatures stand in the way of his career. In short, I was going a little crazy.''

--From Bill Frist's 1989 memoir concerning his capturing, killing and dissecting of cats

A day after Harry Reid pulled a surprise parlimentary maneuver throwing the Senate into closed door session to deal with the Iraq intelligence scandal, much of the following talk had to do with Bill Frist's reaction. Perhaps previous Majority Leaders would have also been angry, but it's hard to imagine anyone else having taken it like "a personal slap in the face."

In a series of recent posts on Bill Frist (link), I have begun to draw out the personality of the Tennessee Senator.  In the last entry, I looked at Frist's relationship to his family (which he likes to refer to as his "foundation of life") and just how much (or little) of his attention they really enjoy.

It's interesting, in explaining the cat killing, how Frist himself brings up the "schizoid" label.  (Basically, the term relates to someone who is not only incapable of deeper relationships with others, but has difficulty interpreting social cues and conventions.)  In the first post in this series, The BAG was trying on a number of different characterizations to explain Frist's psychology.  (Or, psychopathology.)  In the discussion thread, part of the conversation led to whether Frist was more schizoid or narcissistic.

Following up on the second entry (in which Frist seems to show more partiality to his dogs than his wife and kids), I want to look at the family theme from a different angle, trying to appreciate just how narcissistic and socially disabled the Senator really is.

Bill Frist, Family Man

In my last Frist post, I proposed to undertake an "informal inquiry" into the personality of Tennessee's junior Senator.  Specifically, the BAG was hoping to use available photographs to sharpen the understanding of who Frist is, and how he operates.

In that previous entry, I presented a photo of Frist walking into his spanking new office on his first day as Senate Majority Leader.  Prominently displayed on the credenza was a framed black-and-white portrait of Frist himself, smiling, with fist on chin.

The discussion accompanying that post offered an impressive example of lay psychology, offering several possible diagnostic labels for Frist (narcissist; robot/schizoid; autistic; medical school-induced post traumatic stress syndrome) as well as a discussion of the ethics and viability of this kind of speculation.

(As I follow the photographic trail, I just hope the effort remains relevant -- or even, sheds some understanding -- as Frist becomes consumed with legal and ethical problems related to suspicious stock trading.)

Anyway, you're probably wondering what's with the dogs?

In assessing character, an obvious factor to look at is how a person regards his family.  In Frist's case, he refers to them -- his wife, Karyn, and his three teenage sons, Harrison, Jonathan and Bryan -- as his "foundation in life."

At last count, there were 47 separate albums in the photo section of Frist's Senatorial website.  All told, these folders contain about 419 photos -- if I counted right.  (... By the way, I'm guessing that this is a record for the number of on-line pictures of himself one Senator has offered to his constituents.)

In any case, one of these folders is dedicated to family.  That album, labeled  "Frist Family Photos" is 28th on the list, and contains two photos (or .48% of the total).  As shown above, the first image is dedicated to the family dogs.  The second shot -- which is probably eight or nine years old by now -- shows a run-of-the-mill snapshot of the immediate Frist clan taken from afar in what looks like a back yard.

For a man who has been through two Senate campaigns; has spent 11 years in the Senate; has attended who knows how many award ceremonies, dinners, prayer functions, commemorations, funerals; has spent most of the last year touting himself for POTUS; and apparently oversees even the most minute detail of his public presentation, I'm just wondering where is the photo documentation to support this man's self-avowed Christian conservative family values?

I don't know about you, but if I was part of the Frist family and this was my primary basis for evaluating the Senator's compassion for his "foundation of life," the dogs don't come out half-bad.

(images: First Senatorial Website. Photo Gallery.)

The BAG Opens Its Frist Investigation

Since I began analyzing news images, one thing I've been interested in is the ability to do investigative work primarily through visual analysis.  For lack of a better term (at least, at this point) you might call it: "forensic photojournalistic research."

A current target I have in mind for this kind of inquiry is Bill Frist.  In my mind, he (like Bush) is one of those figures who somehow made the "A" team out of nowhere; has some backing of the right-wing "machine";  and could be destined for bigger things.  At the same time -- especially because he's in some hot water right now -- his personality and background are just rife ripe for examination.

I'll tell you one thing (and yes, I'm speaking professionally): This is a very weird guy.  Because I'm still digging around, I'm keeping the powder dry.  But I will start you off with this.  Frist has a very odd way of relating to people.  He's schooled at social protocol, but otherwise, he's like a robot.  And, even compared to the typical big-ego politician, he is "off the charts" on the narcissism scale.

Take this image above as my first evidentiary submittal.  Here is Frist on his first day as Senate Majority leader, moving in to his new office.  As I investigate and fashion an understanding of Frist through pictures (hopefully, also shedding light on his alleged insider trading), I expect we will see all kinds of complications from someone who's primary pastime is staring in the mirror.

(image: Susan Walsh/A.P. Washington.  January 7, 2003.  Via YahooNews.)