Donald Trump is a very unique person on the American political scene. I’m an historian with most of my studies being in American history, and I don’t think we’ve ever had anyone in our history like him. There is almost no neutrality towards the man; by that I mean, everybody has an opinion about him. There are millions of Americans who are utterly blinded by their hatred of Mr. Trump; total irrationality. We call that TDS—Trump Derangement Syndrome. On the other hand, there are many Americans who think Trump can do no wrong, that he created heaven and earth—TGS, or Trump God Syndrome. Most Americans fall somewhere between those two extremes, but nearly everyone has some opinion, positive or negative, about him. It is a peculiar circumstance in American history.
Both of the extremists are wrong, but will probably never be persuaded otherwise. Let me take a look at them.
1. Trump Derangement Syndrome. The people who abhor Donald Trump are legion. Most Democrats—which includes the media, of course, just see red (not orange) when they view Trump. There is nothing rational in this hatred, they just hate him unmercifully. It has simply become part of their nature now, they are past reason, past any hope of recovery. They simply loathe Donald Trump with every ounce of their being. They see Donald Trump and it’s hate, hate, hate—the red cape waved in front of the bull. It doesn’t matter anymore what he does, or has done. It isn’t that Trump did things bad for the country (though his Presidency wasn’t perfect) or destructive to their lives in some way—in fact, he probably put more money in their pockets when he was President. But that is completely irrelevant. They hate Donald Trump. Period. And nothing will change it.
I only understand this up to a point. Yes, Trump has been a jerk at times in his limited political career, but every politician has his/her moments of being a horse’s behind, but they don’t beget the intense dislike accorded to Trump. Mostly the hatred comes from Americans, and sadly, there number is huge, who, via Leftist/Democratic Party propaganda, have come to hate traditional America and its values. Trump has become, to them, the greatest representative of those values, thus, the number one target of their hatred. They hate all Republicans, but especially him. This hatred will probably never be cured.
The TDS contingent has been taught, been programmed by their Masters, to hate Donald Trump, and, with no ability to think for themselves, they simply emote—they hate. Thus, everything Trump says is a lie, everything he does is wrong, every action he takes is from impure motives. He is the devil incarnate. He is Hitler reborn. He will destroy a democracy that they actually do not even believe in; but it sounds good.
They will never change, and they will never, ever vote for Donald Trump.
2. However, there is also in evidence something I call Trump God Syndrome. This is the opposite of TDS, and I’ve seen a ton of it in comments on Townhall and elsewhere. These people seem to think that Donald Trump walks on water, that everything he touches turns to gold, everything he says and does is inspired from On High and is only for the good of America, that he is the ONLY person on earth who can save the country, the world, yea, the universe. Thus, and this is crucial, any perceived criticism of Trump—no matter if it is accurate, or even if it really isn’t criticism of Trump, immediately causes mouth-foaming, ground-rolling spasms in these people and they pounce, usually harshly and with venom, and utterly unjustly. People who emote rather than think—regardless of their political views—usually aren’t just, and that is a serious problem. As an example, I wrote an article recently about the June 27 debate where I said that Trump actually did so masterfully in the debate that he might have knocked Biden out of the campaign and caused the Democrats to seek a more worthy candidate. This was perceived, by a TGS person, as criticism of Trump and he went ballistic, and someone else commented, “I’ll never read anything else Lewis writes.” This kind of irrational emotion is just as bad as TDS. People who “feel” and don’t “think,” regardless of how they “feel,” are dangerous. God gave us a brain to think and a heart to feel. Too many people think with their heart and never use their brain for anything. And that applies to some “conservatives” as much as it does to “liberals.”
I’m sorry, TGS people, but Donald Trump isn’t God. And don’t say, “Well, of course I don’t believe Trump is God!” Then please quit talking and acting like you believe he is.
I have written many articles in support of Donald Trump (see my Townhall archives), but I have also been critical of him when I felt that was warranted. I supported him, from the beginning, in 2016, and fervently in 2020. He wasn’t my preferred candidate this year, but he is the Republican nominee, and I back him fully. I think, so far, he has run an excellent campaign. I will continue to condone the good I think he is doing, and condemn when I think that is necessary. I would do the same for any human being, even Joe Biden (if I could find anything good to say about him), and I think that is the way humans should be.
But, unfortunately, both TDS and TGS exists. Neither are good because both are built upon emotion and not rationale.
My main point here is, we don’t help Mr. Trump by not being honest. That’s what Biden’s handlers are doing with him—only giving him praise, not criticism. One result of this is he has been a horrible President. We shouldn’t be guilty of the same.
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