TDS

Confessions of a Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferer

Apologies to my Substack readers, I keep meaning to write more fun stuff and keep getting sucked into conversations and dialogs I’m having with friends and others on Right. This is my attempt to summarize where that’s gotten me, and maybe let me move on to other writings.

I’ve been reaching across the aisle, engaging in dialog with my friends on the right-wing (I’m on the left-wing) side of the political spectrum. I’ve also joined various right-wing FB groups, such as one with the subtitle FJB (Fuck Joe Biden) and another about Charlie Kirk.

Before I get too pegged in the left-wing camp, let me point out that we are all individuals, that nobody fits cleanly into any box. Myself included. I’ve entered these conversations not so much because I hoped to change any minds, but because I’m genuinely curious about how and why people see things differently. Why, in particular, can some people see the Ross/Good incident one way, and others a different way?

I present left-wing arguments to these people/groups, not so much to try to convince them, but, 1) to let them know how I see it, and 2) to understand how they see it.

My other, bigger, objective was to understand the media that shapes our views. By being in those groups, and sharing TikTok and Reels short videos with my friends , I could see what my right-wing friends were seeing. Let me tell you, my left-wing friends, it’s not what we’re seeing. I suspect if that’s all any of us saw, we would be agreeing with them.

Likewise, we’ve got our own news feeds, and the right-wing doesn’t see them! We’re convinced that if they just saw what we saw, they’d all agree with us.

There is one consistent theme in almost all of the right-wing posts, and that is that the left-wingers are all suffering from (TDS) Trump Derangement Syndrome. I believe Trump himself first coined this term. Those posts repeat over and over how the left-wing media shapes, without any basis at all, the anti-Trump attitudes, how the left-wingers are all sheep, and how they are completely blinded to all the good Trump is bringing to the world.

I’ve been challenged on the right-wing FB groups for not understanding and being a tool of my media. A friend accused me of just following the left-wing narrative and not thinking for myself. (I think she was following a right-wing narrative.)

This is brilliant! It means people following the right-wing stream are being told they can ignore anything a left-winger says because they are all just manipulated by their media. They can simply discard any criticism of the right-wing as TDS. Their media is teaching them that that is how to deal with the stuff we say.

This is why our arguments fall so flat on their ears. They just smile and nod, TDS. The left-wing isn’t really much better. They dismiss the right-wingers as being simply manipulated by their news feeds.

So here are both sides, saying the other can be ignored because they’re just being manipulated by their news feeds.

So is it symmetric? I don’t think so.

I’ve seen many posts on both sides and they’re not the same. The right-wing feed is almost totally opinion pieces, usually individuals ranting about some point. These often have an angry person telling the viewer how it is. Note, there are hardly any facts backing them up. It’s just a rant designed to resonate with right-wing feelings.

The left-wing feed is often the same, rants about how bad Trump, ICE, whatever is. But there is a huge difference. The left-wing feed includes, as well as the rants, the facts that back them up. Let’s take the Ross/Good incident.

The right-wing feed is filled with rants about Renee Good’s behavior, the type of person she is, how she shouldn’t have been where she was, how ICE is doing a great job, the problem with liberal protesters, how she was interfering, how she hates America, how Ross was protecting his life, how Ross was protecting others, how the left-wingers fail to understand law enforcement, how left-wings fail to understand how it is, etc. etc.

What is amazing is how much of this there was and how soon it appeared after the killing. No question in my mind there is a machine churning this stuff out.

Ninety nine percent of it was talking heads. All appropriate for putting on the opinion pages of a newspaper. But nothing that might be called a “news” item with actual information.

The left-wing feed is also filled with talking head rants, all about how Ross murdered Good, how what she was doing was legal, how she was a mother, etc.

Symmetric so far.

But the left-wing feed has “news,” posts of videos of the actual incident. There’s video of him standing on the side of the car shooting through the open window. There’s video of her face calmly telling him she’s not mad at him. There’s other facts, like the autosopy report that she was likely killed by the bullet that entered her left temple and exited her right. I know, I for one left-winger, was effected by those “news” items, not the rants I’d seen.

The left-wing feed is also filled with rants about how bad Trump has handled this. More stuff for the op-ed pages. But then there’s the actual text of his comments on Truth Social, where he said Ross had been run over (lucky to be alive) and Good was a violent terrorist. The op-ed posts backed up by the lies Trump actually told. It’s how we get TDS, by listening to Trump, by watching what he does.

This is what amazes me about the right-wing feed. It seems to respond instantly to whatever Trump says, or to an event that might be used to feed left-wing rage. As soon as Good was killed, I mean within a day, the right-wing feed was filled with talking heads explaining what a terrible radical person Good was, amplifying the violent terrorist theme. The hatred expressed in some of these is something to watch. She brought this on herself.

Here’s more on the difference between the feeds. Talking about ICE, the right-wing posts talk about how ICE is just doing their job, what’s the problem? Just saying it. The left-wing feed is also filled with rants, only about how ICE is a bunch of jack booted thugs. OK. And then there’s videos of ICE agents looking and acting like a bunch of jack booted thugs.

The right-wing feed is full of distain for those who get in ICE’s way, accompanied by the claims of how ICE is making our cities safe, but, again without facts.

The left-wing feed is full of distain as well, but there are also statistics on the number of people that have died at the hands of ICE vs. at the hands of immigrants. There are statistics on the number of immigrants taken from their homes who were not dangerous criminals, and often with valid papers.

Yes, we on the left-wing have been shaped by our media, but our media backs itself up with facts. We get TDS, not from our media, but from our media showing us what Trump has written, what Trump is saying, and what his regime is doing.

Those on the right-wing are also shaped by their media, but their media isn’t backed by the same facts. It’s just a megaphone, multiple talk heads, amplifying whatever Trump says. And Trump one thing he says loud and clear is those on the left-wing have TDS, don’t pay attention to them. I think those on the right-wing have TDS.

And it goes on, the right-wing feed was filled with lots of stuff about how important Greenland is and how Russia and China are going to take it over if we don’t, what Trump said. (Suddenly we all became experts on Greenland.) The left-wing posts are filled with facts about treaties and the like and how Greenland is in NATO and the USA is already committed to protect Greenland against any invasion.

The right-wing posts take pride in the strength Trump is using to shape our world for America’s benefit, like Trump says he is. Left-wing posts claim Trump is a narcissistic cry baby, but then repost as evidence the letter he sent to Norway.

Summary — there is a difference. Right-wing posts are mostly all op-ed pieces with very little backup and generally echo whatever Trump has claimed. Make no mistake, they are very effective. Left-wing posts are also mostly op-ed pieces about how bad Trump is, but they are often reacting to actual videos of what’s going on, actual statistics about a topic, actual statements from Trump, or Vance or whoever, and often supported by direct quotes from the Constitution of the United States, which the right-wing no longer seem to care about.