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Conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer leveraged his former professional credentials in psychology to facetiously label Democratic politician Howard Dean, who had suggested a conspiracy theory that President Bush (the second) had some awareness of the coming attacks on 9/11, as suffering from ‘Bush Derangement Syndrome.’ The term took off with more enthusiasm than the release of Star Wars, becoming the verbal counter to every criticism of the Bush Administration. (I feel compelled to note that even when the initiating column had been written, ‘Disorder’ has already replaced ‘syndrome’ in official terminology.)
Trump’s election saw the ‘diagnosis’ repurposed into ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ and then again by another cultish following into ‘Musk Derangement Syndrome.’ TDS remains currently an often-deployed rhetorical device to dismiss critics of the current president as unworthy of rebuttal. After all, the opposition is not only wrong—they are mentally incompetent.
If we are to look at the historical record, it seems to me that the real disorder, again this is facetious, is Democrat Derangement Disorder, a condition that compels the afflicted to always, no matter their past positions or statements, ally themselves with whichever politician is, at the national level, currently winning over the Democratic party.
Let’s look at the Democratic Presidents of the last 40-odd years and the criticisms lobbed in their direction. See if any apply to the currently adored resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
Jimmy Carter: Accused of being too ‘soft’ on the Russians, lacking the resolve to face them down, particularly when they invaded a neighboring nation.
Bill Clinton: It’s a long list here; financially corrupt, a sexual predator, a draft dodger, a criminal, and someone who sold executive actions and pardons for personal profit—all were reasons argued to impeach and remove him from office.
Barack Obama: As his opponents often insisted during the ‘War on Terror’, Barack Hussein Obama. He was accused of being a political lightweight, too inexperienced for the office of president, and that his supporters were not guided by policy or principles but rather adoring and praising him like some ‘dear leader’ of a third world cult of personality.
Joe Biden: The reasons given for why Biden was unqualified for the office included such accusations as that he was motivated by rage and, due to his age, did not possess the mental faculties for the responsibilities, often wrapped up as ‘Angry Joe Dementia’ insults.
What I find so fantastically wild is that not only has every one of these failings and faults been discarded the moment they appeared in a conservative politician, but that all of these failings are housed by a single person to whom they have shown nothing but slavish devotion.
The most important thing to understand is that there is no amount of argument or demonstration of their hypocrisy that will sway their position. It isn’t about rationality but about outcome, and it always has been.
