I want to talk today about the phrase Trump derangement syndrome.
I've tweeted about this a few times, and Chauncey de Vega wrote a really good article about
this on Salon, which I tweeted yesterday, called.
There was no Trump derangement syndrome.
We were right about him all along.
So let's talk about this.
Trump derangement syndrome is a bad faith phrase which is meant to shut down debate,
stop conversation and excuse Donald Trump's atrocious behavior.
Now, I know that there will certainly be some of you who will respond to me and say, you
know, David, look.
Check out this person on Twitter who is irrationally obsessed with everything Trump does.
And they think anything bad in the world is Trump's doing.
This person is suffering from Trump derangement syndrome.
Listen, you you can find instances of everything on the Internet, but we're not dealing in
anecdotes here.
The problem systemically with the phrase Trump derangement syndrome is that its use is very
similar to what Regressive left became a couple of years ago.
I don't know if you remember this, but regressive left much like Trump derangement syndrome
are phrases that are used to shut down debate by disqualifying and dismissing criticism
without actually having to debate the merits of the criticism.
So let's first really dig in.
I want everybody to get this.
What do people mean by Trump derangement syndrome?
The idea of TADS, as it's sometimes called, is to use it as a retort.
When someone criticizes Donald Trump, someone says, look.
Trump did this.
Well, Trump's not responsible for 160000 deaths, but he's responsible for some because it's
been one of the worst responses to the virus in the world.
You have Trump derangement syndrome.
And what they mean by that is you are so blinded by your hatred of Donald Trump that we can
dismiss what you are saying without examining it, because you're just blinded by your rage
against Donald Trump.
So think back to the term regressive left.
There was this very, very brief period where the term regressive left was sort of interesting
and that it was used to describe instances of ostensible or supposed leftists failing
to actually be on the left in their views.
And typically what you had was instances of people who claimed to be on the left being
authoritarian.
And in a sense, it was a useful term for a very short period of time.
And very quickly, the term regressive left was bastardized and perverted by the right.
And it became a.
Catchall insult that they used to basically say, you're on the left and I don't like what
you have to say.
I don't like what you're saying because it's left wing and regressive, left, lost all value
as as any kind of a useful tool to explore.
Failing to be on the left.
Trump derangement syndrome is equally meaningless with the important difference that, unlike
regressive, left, Trump derangement syndrome never actually described a real thing.
It was always bogus.
There was a brief period where Regressive Left actually was an interesting term to describe
something I had been talking about for for many years, which are instances of the authoritarian
left failing to really be on the left.
But with each passing day, the most serious concerns about Donald Trump that were expressed
by people on the left like me have been proven to be true and they've been proven to be true,
horrifyingly.
So remember that months ago Joe Biden was widely ridiculed for suggesting, you know,
Trump might try to create some kind of pretext, that emergency of some kind to delay the election.
Trump did that days ago by tweeting.
Maybe we do need to delay the election.
Joe Biden was ridiculed and said he was you know, people were saying he has Trump derangement
syndrome.
He was right.
Years ago, people raised the alarm about Donald Trump's authoritarian tendencies.
Sort of he wants to be a he's a wannabe dictator.
And over the last month, we have seen him send armed paramilitaries to American cities
to throw people into unmarked vans.
And has Chauncy de Vega points out, points out in the article that we're linking to which
you should read, quote.
This was a phrase used to demean, mock, reject, dismiss and deflect warnings about Donald
Trump's beliefs and tendencies.
And those who were trying to raise the alarm were called, again, as Chauncy says, hysterical,
alarmist or out of touch and bitter about Hillary Clinton's loss.
If you encounter the phrase Trump derangement syndrome on the Internet, on Twitter and on
in real life may be anywhere.
Don't allow yourself to be bullied into silence by it.
They claim on the right that they're all about conversation.
And yet this entire idea of Trump derangement syndrome is meant to stop conversation.
Make it clear that calling someone a victim of Trump derangement syndrome is not really
an argument.
Say, I'm glad to talk about that.
Which facts that I get wrong.
I'm glad to change my views.
If you tell me what I got wrong, Trump derangement syndrome is not an argument.
It's a smokescreen.
It tries to put us on the defensive.
But the real derangement is the more than 60 million people, nearly 63 million people
who voted for Donald Trump in 2016.
Tens of millions of whom plan to vote for him again in just months.
That's the real derangement.
The horrifying nature of this presidency, which will be affirmed by 50, 60, 65, 67 million
people who plan to vote for it again in November.
If there is any valid criticism of those like me on the anti Trump side, it's that we didn't
do enough to raise the alarm prior to him being elected as much as I tried.
Now, of course, the people who are primarily to blame are the people who fell for it and
voted for Trump.
But if you want to make a criticism of the anti Trump left, that is to be taken more
seriously.
Criticize us for something real, which is that as much as many of us were trying to
warn people, even we might have underestimated the risks of the presidency.
That's the reality.
Trump derangement syndrome.
Don't allow it to be used to silence actual critiques of this president, which, if anything,
have been not alarmist enough.
Let me know your thoughts.
I'm on Twitter at David Pakman.
And remember, you can get the daily audio podcast every day, 3:00 p.m. Eastern on your
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