Week of 09/16/2019

The Conservative “Derangement Syndrome” Fetish
– by David Matthews 2

Once upon a time, many, many decades ago, I was an actual card-carrying member of the GOP.  Back then they earned their name “Republican Party”.  Back then, I thought I was a conservative.  So I listened to the rhetoric that was just starting to make its way on the AM radio dial.

Back then, there were perceived to be only two sides in politics; liberal and conservative.  But any disagreements with liberals back then were considered philosophical.  A difference between how government should deal with people.  At worst, liberals were seen as “delusional” for having a vision that they believed worked even if it didn’t.  But there was still respect for liberal positions, even when conservatives disagreed with them.

That, however, changed after the 2000 Fiasco.  When the Presidential election had to be decided by the Supreme Court and George W. Bush became president.

It was in 2003 that the late Charles Krauthammer, a conservative columnist and supposed psychologist, that introduced a new pseudo-psychological disorder into the political lexicon.

Enter the “Bush Derangement Syndrome”.

The idea is that the liberals could not accept the reality that Bush Junior won the 2000 Fiasco and that they are mentally unbalanced because of it.  They supposedly refuse to honor the election that Bush Junior was declared the winner of.  They were obsessed with looking for voter irregularities to disqualify Bush Junior.  They supposedly objected to everything that Bush Junior and his GOP-controlled Congress did.  All because they were supposedly “mentally unbalanced” according to the quack fascist.

This, however, is a fraud, manufactured by the arrogant quack fascist to demean and discredit liberals in public discourse.  The  term for this behavior is called “gaslighting”, and it is a common tactic used by narcissists, psychopaths, and sociopaths.

So... funny thing happens.  2008 comes by and a new president – Barack Obama – is elected.

Now you would think that this would be the end of the “Derangement Syndrome”, since this is a liberal (actually centrist) President in office with a liberal-controlled Congress (for the first 2 years anyway).  They are the ones in charge now, so they should be content with everything.

But, no, the “Derangement Syndrome” continues.  Now it’s called the “Obama Derangement Syndrome”.

So you’re probably thinking “if liberals suffered from Bush Derangement Syndrome because Bush was in office, are the conservatives the one suffering from Obama Derangement Syndrome”?

Nope.  Still being used by conservatives to discredit and disqualify the liberals.  Now it’s being used to describe the “idol worship” of Obama and the belief that Obama can do no wrong.  The liberals supposedly do not accept the idea that Obama wasn’t born in America (even though he was) because they supposedly suffer from “Obama Derangement Syndrome”.  They don’t want to accept that the Affordable Care Act will fail because they supposedly suffer from “Obama Derangement Syndrome”.  They don’t want to have hearings over Benghazi because they supposedly suffer from “Obama Derangement Syndrome”.  They blindly accept all of Obama’s policies – even if they are supposedly unconstitutional – because they supposedly suffer from “Obama Derangement Syndrome”.

Funny how it always seems to be a one-way ailment.  Always pronounced by conservatives.  Never on the conservatives.  That’s not how real psychological disorders work.

Oh... but wait, it gets better.

Eight years go by and we have a new President.  An orange-skinned narcissist and self-professed “very stable genius” named Donald Trump.

And, you guessed it... it was not long before the conservatives started pronouncing the liberals – and anyone else that opposed Narcissist Trump – of suffering from “Trump Derangement Syndrome”.

And, yes, if you question or oppose anything Narcissist Trump says or does, then you too supposedly have this “derangement syndrome” that only exists in the putrid minds of fascists.  If you are reading this article and you’ve nodded your head at anything I’ve said up until now, then, yes, that includes you.

So now we have this made-up psychological disorder by a pompous full-of-crap dead quack fascist that can only be declared by one political faction on anyone that disagrees with said political faction and can never be applied to said political faction.

Let’s get brutally honest here... the conservatives in America are guilty of waging long-term psychological warfare on the American people.  They use the made-up term of a “derangement syndrome” to disqualify any questioning or opposition by gaslighting.  If you question them, if you oppose them, then you’re supposedly psychologically unwell.  There is no more “difference of opinions” with them.  If you are not on their side, if you do not agree with them, then you don’t just have a “difference of opinion” with them, you’re not just “wrong” or on the “wrong side of the argument”.  You are declared mentally unbalanced.

Maybe that’s why Narcissist Trump and the Trump Party are now obsessed with mental health when it comes to mass shootings.  They have spent almost two decades now waging this psychological warfare on the public, putting themselves in this perceived position of absolute authority, so now they can use it to take action against their opponents, just like any authoritarian dictatorship would do.

Of course, I expect the conservatives to scream and whine about some fictional equivalence.  They might manufacture some history to suggest that perhaps the late-Speaker Tip O’Neil wanted to have the whole Ronald Reagan White House committed, or that then-President Bill Clinton wanted then-Speaker Newt Gingrich sent to a funny farm over the government shutdown.  They seem to really like making up persecution fantasies to validate their actions and tactics.

Maybe they will scream “unfair” because I refer to Narcissist Trump as a narcissist while demeaning their use of the made-up “derangement syndrome”.  The difference is that Trump’s narcissism is definable.  There are symptoms and signs that you can point to and verify.  The so-called “derangement syndrome” has none of these things.  There are no verifiable symptoms other than a difference in viewpoints.  It is a con.  A fraud.  And the conservatives damn well know it.

The path the conservatives in America are leading us all down with this tactic is a dangerous one.  If we are not allowed to have a difference of opinion, if having that difference is considered mental instability. then we are living in an authoritarian regime.  This is a path that will truly break America as a nation.  Only conservatives can stop it before that point is reached.  The only question remaining is to ask if they have the will to do it.

Week of 09/09/2019

“Sharpiegate” Is A Disgrace To Us All
– by David Matthews 2

It was said in the mid-1800’s that if you did something that brought a rebuke or penalty against you, your name was crossed out with a black mark.

How ironic, then, to know that the latest debacle that brings shame to the United States involves a black Sharpie marker.

For those not in the know, this past Labor Day Weekend was filled with uncertainty as Hurricane Dorian – a Category 5 storm – approached the United States.  Speculation models were all over the place at one point.  But as the Labor Day approached, the models made it clear that the storm would stay around the Atlantic coastline.

However, a certain orange-skinned narcissist decided to give the people in Alabama fair warning that Dorian was headed their way as well.

“In addition to Florida - South Carolina, North Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama, will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated. Looking like one of the largest hurricanes ever. Already category 5.”

Except that wasn’t true.  The models at the time all said it wouldn’t even reach Alabama.

For most people, this would be just a flub.  He mis-tweeted!  That’s all!

But we are talking Narcissist President Donald Trump.  He tweets and his cult followers obey.  Markets rise and fall because of what he throws a tantrum over.

So to prevent a needless panic of Alabama myrmidons evacuating when they didn’t have to, the National Weather Service issued an official statement saying that, no, Alabama was *not* going to be affected by Dorian.

Again, for most people, this would be just a flub.  Leave it be.  Not Narcissist Trump.  He can never be wrong about anything.  Ever.

So Narcissist Trump pulled out a forecast map, which someone altered with a black marker to include Alabama to supposedly “prove” him right.  Something that is supposedly against the law.  But, when has that ever stopped President Queeg?

Then on September 6^th, an “anonymous spokesperson” in the Birmingham office of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration then “corrected” the National Weather Service and declared Narcissist Trump was right all along.

Except, again, he wasn’t.

It should be noted that there is no director of NOAA right now.  There is an “acting” director who was picked by Narcissist Trump.  And there is supposedly a directive that was issued after Narcissist Trump’s Twitter-fail that ordered NOAA officials to *never* say anything that would contradict Trump.  Ever.

Now... there is a part of this commentator that really should not be fazed at this latest embarrassing egomaniacal situation.  I’ve studied psychology, sociology, human behavior, criminology, and I know that this is how a narcissist with power behaves.  People like Narcissist Trump cannot stand to be made to look wrong and will do everything in their power to validate themselves, including getting others to lie.  I know this.  I have seen it on more than one occasion in my life.

And yet, *I am* bothered by this!  Because now Narcissist Trump is bringing in people that should be trusted to validate his delusions and his lies.  It’s one thing to bring in lawyers and so-called “political experts”.  Lawyers lie.  Political advisors lie as well.  They are known for lying and getting away with it.  And it’s also understandable when Narcissist Trump and his cohorts attack science when the science doesn’t support his assertions.  We see this with the subject of climate change.

But let’s get brutally honest here... what we are seeing now is the blatant co-opting of science – specifically the science of weather – to suit the whims of an egomaniacal narcissistic populist who cannot stand being proven wrong about anything.  These are people that we are supposed to trust, above and beyond anyone else in government.

What’s the danger, you ask?  Let’s suppose Narcissist Trump doesn’t want to be bothered by news of intense thunderstorms and possible tornadoes while he’s golfing (and, really, when isn’t he?) so he issues a Tweet that says the Midwest will be clear and sunny with no storms.  NOAA has decreed that they can’t make Trump look wrong.  So do you really think they’re going to issue severe storm warnings and tornado watches and tornado warnings if it means making Narcissist Trump look wrong after he declared that the weather would be nice and fine?  That’s a decision that puts countless numbers of people at risk if there is a severe storm or tornado that hits.

And I’ll tell you exactly what Narcissist Trump would say if that situation would occur.  He’d shrug and say “Who knew?  Who knew?  Nobody knew!  Nobody!”  How do I know this?  Because he’s done that in the past!

This “sharpiegate” situation is a huge black mark on America.  As long as Narcissist Trump is in office, and as long as his cadre of “acting” toadies are where they are now, there is no trust anymore.  Everything is now politicized.  The “official” weather is whatever Narcissist Trump tweets now.  We can’t even trust the weather people anymore.  We will have to second-guess them for the duration. 

Will it rain tomorrow?  Who knows?