<p class="MsoNormal">The irrational hatred of everything about President Trump has spread throughout the left-wing&rsquo;s <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">hermetically</span> sealed media sphere like a plague.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>I have tried to explain that for many, President Trump&rsquo;s pugnacious personality is trumped (pun intended) by his appointments, policies <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">and</span> successes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>I even did a column entitled &ldquo;Stop making me defend Trump,&rdquo; but they either did not read it or did not heed it.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thoughtful explanations seem to fall on deaf ears when it comes to the left-wing Democrats and their hyperventilating pals in the east coast elitist press &ndash; those folks encapsulated in that New York City/Washington bubble. So, let me put it in simpler terms that they may better comprehend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>WE LIKE YOU AND YOUR <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">POLICIES</span> A LOT LESS!</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So, there it &lsquo;<span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">tis</span>. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ;</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On Election Day 2016, America had a choice between the eccentricities and bellicosity of Donald Trump &#8212; and his tough policies on fair trade and legal immigration and jobs, jobs, jobs &ndash; or the continuation of the flawed and failed policies of the left &ndash; which we the people have been rejecting since 2010.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Actually, we have been rejecting big government, high tax socialism since 1776.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>And of course, all the things that half of America did not like or want were manifest (or is it <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">personifest</span>?) in Hillary Clinton.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">That dynamic has not changed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>As long as Democrats embrace the boilerplate socialist policies of a powerful, oppressive and unaccountable central government, none of Trump&rsquo;s antics are going to have us join the ranks of the legendary lemmings.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>We are not about to jump off the cliff of personal freedom and into the abyss of oppressive subservience. (Incidentally, lemming do not really jump off cliffs, but you get the point).</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For those on the left who might read this column, have retained a modicum of objectivity or have not come down with Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS), I will offer a more detailed explanation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">TDS appears to be a degenerating malady.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>It produces an instant and blinding emotional hatred &ndash; ergo a total loss of rationality and objectivity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>It apparently spread to pandemic levels on Election Day 2016.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>The shock to the liberal body politic was too much to bear.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Democrats and the traditionally liberal media seem to be the most vulnerable, although some Republicans and erstwhile conservatives have obviously been infected with TDS.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over time the victims tend to see the real world more and more from an Alice in Wonderland perspective.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>They become increasingly irritated and irrational as they try to understand why so many people do not see the hallucinogenic political world that arises in their impaired minds.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; ; </span>It appears that this disorienting <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">effect</span> leads them to move further and further to the unpopular political left &ndash; where objectivity has been a <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">historical</span> weakness <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">and</span> the pursuit of power has characteristically trumped principles of personal freedom.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As STD has advanced in severity, the left has expanded their disgust for Trump to an intellectually vapid disdain for the millions of Americans who refuse to join in their vigilante-like pile on.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Three words captured and defined the attitude of the arrogant, elitist and now deranged political left toward any person not recruitable into their malignant rule-or-ruin political strategy &#8212; &ldquo;basket of <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">deplorables</span>.&rdquo;</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While many, even on the left, criticized Hillary Clinton&rsquo;s characterization of half of the American people, it has been clear that the left fully embraces the concept.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>The left&rsquo;s condemnation spread from those working in the Trump administration to the Republicans in Congress &#8212; and by extension to all Republicans in the population.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Then it was to anyone with <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">a traditional</span> conservative philosophy.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Every day, Democrats and left-wing personalities stereotype their adversaries as either sexists, homophobes, misogynists, racists, heartless deviants or all the above.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>The comparison to Nazis is not a bridge too far for these folks. They attack from the halls of government, from the elitist newsrooms, from the captured classrooms and from the silver screens of Hollywood like a band of political zombies recently released from the graves of socialism.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like the fictional zombies of moviedom, the hardcore extreme left &ndash; where TDS is beyond cure &ndash; takes to the streets to terrorize, disrupt, destroy and even kill <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">in the hope of</span> gaining by violence what they cannot by persuasion. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ;</span>Despite their criticism of Trump&rsquo;s language, their own resort to the most extreme and vile vulgarisms far exceeds the President&rsquo;s most outrageous appellations.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The TDS afflicted can be seen assaulting Trump staffers and supporters in the public commons based on who they are or for simply wearing a &ldquo;Make America Great Again&rdquo; baseball cap.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Rather than condemning such bad behavior, they encourage it. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ;</span>California Congresswoman Maxine Wates, with her inciting such hostile actions, is the poster child of TDS.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Those afflicted with TDS cannot understand the rational world and those who do not share their twisted views.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>As a result, they attempt to shame, cajole and even threaten calamity for those who refrain from accepting their biased and irrational vision of reality.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Their world is divided between them and those they deem to be hateworthy enemies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>There is no valid alternative opinion in their compromised minds.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As their efforts fail, they become more extreme in their claims and more shrill in their rhetoric.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Left-wing cable news folks now literally yell into the camera.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Their frustration and exasperation are palpable.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Democrat senators, such as Richard Blumenthal, Elizabeth Warren <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">and</span> Bernie Sanders, have surrendered decorum for <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">rabble-rousing</span> &ndash; elevating the smallest criticism of Trump and all who defend him into hyper-hyperbolic accusations of treason.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">On a recent episode of The View, Whoopi Goldberg succumbed to TDS with an over-the-top emotional on-air outburst at their guest celebrity, Judge Jeanine, of FOX News.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Goldberg was so <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">overwrought</span> that in the hallway after the show that she let out a Tourette-type series <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">of f</span>-yous followed by a repetitious command to &ldquo;get the f*^k out of this studio.&rdquo;<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; ; </span>A classy lassie Goldberg ain&rsquo;t.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">can</span> see the derangement produced by TDS in how the left had predicted a stock market crash if Trump was elected. They called for his impeachment even before his Inauguration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>They were brutally attacking Trump&rsquo;s nominee for the Supreme Court before the President even announced his <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">candidate</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>They not only predict the outcomes of upcoming events &ndash; the meetings with Kim Jong-un and Vladimir Putin as two examples &ndash; but report the same opinions after the meetings, regardless of the actual outcomes.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Such twisted logic can be found in the news media every day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Recently NBC reporter Ken Dilanian was interviewed on MSNBC.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>He reported that the Department of Justice (DOJ) had just announced a comprehensive plan to protect the integrity of the election process.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Dilanian claimed that the DOJ had to &ldquo;jump in&rdquo; because the Trump administration was doing nothing to protect our elections. Did you catch that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Someone should inform Dilanian that the DOJ is part of the Trump administration.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Is this stupidity, bias or TDS?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If you compare TDS-infected news to the weather, it is like being told that we are being ravaged by terrible storms, hurricanes, tornadoes <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">and</span> tsunamis all at the same time. But when you look out the window, the world <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">is as</span> <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ;</span>bright and sunny as ever.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Rather than be angry or bitter, we unafflicted should express pity for our fellow (and gal) Americans on the extreme #NeverTrump left.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>TDS takes its greatest toll on the victims who live in that unhappy, depressing and ugly world conjured up by their own internal demons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>Oh sure!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span><a name="_Hlk519856169"></a>For <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">many</span> the incessant negative comments and false narratives are simply cynical political strategy &ndash; and not a good strategy, to be sure.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> ; </span>But many of those poor souls on the extreme left, who think MSNBC is a real news outfit, actually live in that dank and fearsome fantasy land of their imagination &ndash; where Trump is the scary ogre <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">and</span> people like me are consigned to that basket of <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">deplorables</span>.</p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-bookmark: _Hlk519856169;">What is going to become of these poor souls if the Democrats do not take over control of the United States House of <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">Representatives</span> and Republicans actually increase their numbers in the Senate &ndash; both of which are distinct <span style="mso-no-proof: yes;">possibilities?</span></span></p>