Tea for two

I read the article that Dan Wetzel had written about Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey-he pretty much shredded him-him-not his reputation-there wasn't any left to shred.He mentioned the word sociopath and I struck me-people don't wake up in the morning going,I am going to be a bad person today.We are all convinced of our good intentions and that is why we go on doing what we do-we are standing our ground because we are absolutely sure we are right,or we know we have to convince others to see our viewpoint because-yeah,we are right.
We as a country, have lost the capability to have civil dialogue because we are convinced, each of us, that we are absolutely, unerringly, undoubtedly right-and anyone with an opposing viewpoint has to have intellectual deficits!My (not very likable but fascinating) past time is reading comments on slightly controversial articles.Oh,the crazies that jump out!!The implications made!The persons in high office blamed if your egg didn't turn out runny enough in the morning!!
As our election rigamarole proved,we are more divided  than ever and you know what they say-"United we stand,divided we fall".
In the midst of this drops the cyclist with an unbelievable record and an unbelievable back story to go with it.Turns out- none of us should have believed it in the first place anyway!!
Funnily,I lost my respect for the guy when he gave up on his wife after she stood by  him through his cancer and the work towards the race and also the childbearing and child-rearing while he was off setting, now known to be bogus, records.Maybe the divorce was her idea-she figured out he was a monster.Maybe it was his-he wanted to be free of any encumbrances.So I felt that he did not put as much work into salvaging his marriage as he did into his cycling career.In hind sight,he had a great deal of help with the latter and I think steroids don't really help the non-physical aspect of a marriage does it?Anyway,I lost any admiration I had for the guy after that.When he split with Sheryl Crow and her cancer story came out ,I felt vindicated because it seemed like he  did not want to look beyond himself and be there for anyone but himself.So him winning any accolades did not elate me and his fall did not surprise me.
But the term sociopath stumps me. Merriam Webster defines sociopathic as:

of, relating to, or characterized by asocial or antisocial behavior or exhibiting antisocial personality disorder.

Sociopath seems a little too pat for me.That makes him seem like a DSM case study rather than a extremely selfish guy who decimates anyone and anything that stands in his way towards what he perceives as success.That is the equivalent of saying,"Oh!I have this condition and I can't do my share of work for today."Or be pedophobic but determinedly choose the teaching profession because your diagnosis will help immensely when the school district accidentally or otherwise insists you teach younger kids.I am not too fond of young kids either,they need to be potty trained!!-but hey,they are the ones who eventually grow up-can't skip that stage in life can we?I wonder if this lady hated herself when she was a kid-the phobia must have driven her crazy right?She probably couldn't wait to grow up-but wait,that is what my 12 year old says all the time!!!
So let's not give Armstrong a medical condition to take shelter under.No excuses-no insanity plea.I am sure the lawsuits will start any minute now and while it is not going to be pleasant ,at least the multitude of people who were trampled by him and his legal team will feel vindicated. Justice at last!!