To the plethora of mental illnesses in this mental illness-ridden age of ours, we can now add another.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve all heard of PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. During this past year, something we can call TTSD <\/em>has emerged.<\/p>\n TTSD is Trump Traumatic Stress Disorder. <\/em>It is also known as \u201cTrump-phobia,\u201d for such is the fear of those who suffer from it that the very mention of Donald Trump\u2019s name immediately corrupts their rationality.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s break out presidential candidacy and the utter inability, in spite of every conceivable attempt (short of assassination), of any <\/em>Establishment apologist to slow it down has led to an epidemic of TTSD among the political and chattering classes.<\/p>\n There are two particularly salient symptoms of TTSD. So as to not confuse them with symptoms of brain damage, it is important to note that they ordinarily only appear within a Trump-specific context.<\/p>\n The first is a pathological failure to perform simple arithmetic. For example, for the longest time the Trump-phobe would insist that because Trump managed to garner \u201conly\u201d 35%-40% of the vote, this proved that he had a problem. And Trump-phobes around the \u201cconservative\u201d media circuit would repeat this line even while <\/em>the object of their panic was crushing\u2014<\/em>not just beating<\/em>, but slaying\u201416 competitors<\/em> (i.e. whomever they<\/em> were supporting).<\/p>\n Trump has now crashed through this \u201cceiling\u201d with over 60% of the vote\u2014and in a three <\/em>person race at that. Thus far, the Trump-phobe has not conceded the faultiness of his or her past calculations.<\/p>\n The second symptom is a chronic penchant for self-contradiction.<\/p>\n The Trump-phobe can be guaranteed to level any and every conceivable ad hominem attack against Trump\u2014regardless of how profoundly one criticism contradicts the other.<\/p>\n At one and the same moment, the Trump-phobe can be counted upon to make comments like the following:<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to grow the party by appealing to \u2018independents\u2019 and \u2018moderates.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cToo many \u2018independents\u2019 and \u2018moderates\u2019 are voting for Trump.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe Republican Party needs candidates who \u2018can reach across the aisle.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump has \u2018reached across the aisle\u2019 too often in supporting Democrat candidates over the years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump is \u2018really\u2019 <\/em>[secretly] a \u2018liberal Democrat\u2019 or \u2018progressive.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump is \u2018really\u2019 <\/em>[secretly] a \u2018fascist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump is a \u2018sexist\u2019 who wants to arrest and incarcerate women for having abortions.\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump wants to continue supporting Planned Parenthood, abortion, and every other Big Government program [ostensibly] designed for purposes of \u2018women\u2019s health issues.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump is \u2018anti-immigrant.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump hires <\/em>[i.e. he creates jobs<\/em>] for illegal <\/em>immigrants.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump is \u2018racist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump\u2019s definitely a \u2018liberal Democrat\u2019 or \u2018progressive,\u2019 for he supports <\/em>\u2018affirmative action.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s a \u2018neo-Nazi\u2019 sympathizer, for he [allegedly] failed to [immediately] repudiate David Duke when the latter paid him compliments.\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump is a \u2018liberal Democrat\u2019 or \u2018progressive\u2019 for having contributed to the campaign coffers of Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schummer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s an \u2018Islamophobic\u2019 bigot.\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump doesn\u2019t care about fighting \u2018Islamo-fascism.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s \u2018homophobic.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump\u2019s \u2018New York values\u2019 make him a supporter of \u2018gay marriage\u2019 and unisex bathrooms.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s a madman with an erratic temper who will, essentially, get America involved in WWIII.\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump\u2019s an \u2018isolationist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTrump\u2019s a greedy, deceptive \u2018capitalist.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n And: \u201cTrump\u2019s a protectionist, someone who will make free trade between nations more costly.\u201d<\/p>\n The Trump-phobe contradicts him or herself in many other ways as well.<\/p>\n In spite of having insisted for years and years that scores of Republican conservative voters who were less than enthused over their party\u2019s \u201ccentrist\u201d or \u201cmoderate\u201d presidential candidates must nonetheless vote for those candidates lest a Democrat gain the White House, the Trump-phobe is now just as insistent that a Democrat president would be preferable<\/em> to a Republican president\u2014as long as this Republican\u2019s name is Donald Trump.<\/p>\n A Trump-phobe of the GOP variety unequivocally rejects Trump on the grounds that he\u2019s not a real <\/em>conservative. Meanwhile, he or she continues to laud President Ronald Reagan<\/em> as the penultimate<\/em> conservative, and the quintessential conservative president<\/em>. Yet the very \u201canti-conservative\u201d positions that they attribute to Trump were not only shared by Reagan at different times throughout his career; unlike Trump, who has only ever been a civilian, Reagan had the power<\/em> to implement<\/em> those positions.<\/p>\n And implement them he did: As, first, governor of California and, later, a two-term president, Reagan legalized abortion; contended on behalf of \u201cuniversal healthcare\u201d in the Golden state; raised taxes repeatedly<\/em>; grew the size and reach of the federal government; amnestied millions of illegal immigrants; appointed left-leaning, pro-abortion Supreme Court justices; and pushed for restrictions on the Second Amendment (\u201cgun-control\u201d).<\/p>\n It\u2019s true that Trump has spoken<\/em> in support of some<\/em> of these things at various times throughout his life. But he has done<\/em> none of them. Yet to hear the Trump-phobe, one would think that it is Trump, and not Reagan, who walked <\/em>this \u201cliberal\u201d walk. Trump is simply insufficiently conservative for supporting<\/em> some \u201cliberal\u201d positions while Reagan, who actually implemented<\/em> these positions and<\/em> others, is a conservative hero\u2014or so the Trump-phobe would have us think.<\/p>\n The Trump-phobe of the Democrat species is no less irrational than his or her GOP counterpart. This Trump-phobe continues to charge the Donald with being a conman, a carnival barker, a liar. However, if Trump is faking anything right now, presumably he is faking being everything that self-styled \u201cprogressives\u201d despise: a conservative Republican.<\/p>\n Yet this, in turn, implies that Trump is really <\/em>a \u201cprogressive\u201d or \u201cliberal Democrat\u201d himself\u2014exactly what the Democrat Trump-phobe supposedly should want!<\/p>\n Trump-Traumatic Stress Disorder is a serious illness. One should never try reasoning with a Trump-phobe, for the subject is likely to get only more hysterical.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" To the plethora of mental illnesses in this mental illness-ridden age of ours, we can now add another. We\u2019ve all heard of PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. During this past year, something we can call TTSD has emerged. TTSD is Trump Traumatic Stress Disorder. It is also known as \u201cTrump-phobia,\u201d for such is the fear…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":399,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n