Trump Derangement Syndrome seems to be real

[Res Ipsa]

I don't think "ultimate irony" has been reached yet. The most extreme voices in our political discourse have been advocating destroying the village in order to save it for quite a while now.

It’s not the extremists I’m worried about. As I said in my opening, Jack Black was taken back at what his friend said. Presumably because he was not an extremist.

I don't follow. I thought you said that the extreme voices opposing Trump ironically undermine democracy. If so, I agree with you.

Stuff that undermines democracy worries me.

[ceeboo]

Hey DD,

I'm starting to unfortunately believe this is a real thing.

TDS isn't just a real thing, it's as real as anything on the planet.

A brilliant friend of mine one shared the following phrase with me: Surrender to reality.

In my opinion, surrendering to reality (while it can be extremely difficult to do at times) is a critical action, a required first step, that must take place to even begin to make sense of so many things that are born from TDS.

[Kishkumen]

Applying the term in the same way that TDS has been used, yes. But I don't think the label is productive.

What may be productive is discussing how ordinary folks like Shades get punked into labeling Biden as a creepy hair sniffer though a combination of confirmation bias and a few malicious actors. Once you see the trick, it's hard to unsee it.

Ding, ding ding!!! Again, brilliant. I am sorry to be so inelegant, even clumsy in what I say, but I think of it as a skewing of priorities by playing on people's sense of disgust, and the GOP has proven to be a real master at this kind of propaganda. Trump too.

Think of "Puddin' Fingers DeSantis."

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/1 ... t-00110860

Chanting “Ron DeFascist” and “pudding fingers” on a megaphone while ringing cowbells, two protesters effectively cut short the Florida governor’s first campaign stop of the day at a large roadside rock painted for war veterans.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/wo ... 45159.html

Earlier this year, an ad paid for by the Make America Great Again Inc PAC launched a direct attack on Mr DeSantis by saying he has “dirty fingers” while featuring images of a man eating chocolate pudding with his fingers.

[Res Ipsa]

Hey DD,

I'm starting to unfortunately believe this is a real thing.

TDS isn't just a real thing, it's as real as anything on the planet.

A brilliant friend of mine one shared the following phrase with me: Surrender to reality.

In my opinion, surrendering to reality (while it can be extremely difficult to do at times) is a critical action, a required first step, that must take place to even begin to make sense of so many things are born from TDS.

QED. Nice quote from Binger, though.

[Kishkumen]

TDS isn't just a real thing, it's as real as anything on the planet.

A brilliant friend of mine one shared the following phrase with me: Surrender to reality.

In my opinion, surrendering to reality (while it can be extremely difficult to do at times) is a critical action, a required first step, that must take place to even begin to make sense of so many things that are born from TDS.

Nope, sorry ceeboo. "Surrender to propaganda" is more like it. Is propaganda a real thing? Yes, it is. But its messages are distortions of reality at best.

[Kishkumen]

I repost this absolutely brilliant observation of Res Ipsa on the function of the TDS label. RI really nailed it here:

The third problem is related to the first. Inventing a noun label as placeholder for what is in reality a wide range of reactions caused by different things in different circumstances changes the topic of the conversation from "Is what the President is doing or saying cause for concern or alarm," to "is the label being correctly applied." A made up label is treated as real, becoming the focus of the discussion in place of what is actually real -- what the President did or said and whether a reaction is reasonable never get discussed.

[Res Ipsa]

Applying the term in the same way that TDS has been used, yes. But I don't think the label is productive.

What may be productive is discussing how ordinary folks like Shades get punked into labeling Biden as a creepy hair sniffer though a combination of confirmation bias and a few malicious actors. Once you see the trick, it's hard to unsee it.

Ding, ding ding!!! Again, brilliant. I am sorry to be so inelegant, even clumsy in what I say, but I think of it as a skewing of priorities by playing on people's sense of disgust, and the GOP has proven to be a real master at this kind of propaganda. Trump too.

Think of "Puddin' Fingers DeSantis."

https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/1 ... t-00110860

Chanting “Ron DeFascist” and “pudding fingers” on a megaphone while ringing cowbells, two protesters effectively cut short the Florida governor’s first campaign stop of the day at a large roadside rock painted for war veterans.

https://www.the-independent.com/news/wo ... 45159.html

Earlier this year, an ad paid for by the Make America Great Again Inc PAC launched a direct attack on Mr DeSantis by saying he has “dirty fingers” while featuring images of a man eating chocolate pudding with his fingers.

Yep. People who study how our brains work put that knowledge to use by crafting and targeting their message. I read an enlightening interview with Trump's campaign managers a few weeks ago. It explains lots of things about the shape of Trump's campaign. in my opinion, Trump has been stage managed very little to date, other than that he has been persuaded to encourage his supporters by.... wait for it.... vote by mail. What you are seeing this week is the stage managers in 100% control, with a fair amount of grumbling from the MAGA true believers. Can you guess the demographic from which the campaign is designed to generate enough votes in addition to the base to win the election?

[drumdude]

It’s not the extremists I’m worried about. As I said in my opening, Jack Black was taken back at what his friend said. Presumably because he was not an extremist.

I don't follow. I thought you said that the extreme voices opposing Trump ironically undermine democracy. If so, I agree with you.

Stuff that undermines democracy worries me.

The premise is that TDS causes normally intelligent people to have significant lapses in judgment. Extremist people will be extremist. Moderates will be moderate. Except if they are affected by TDS.

Something like this shooting happens, and suddenly a bunch of otherwise normal people start saying insane extreme things. Even to the point where it negatively impacts their career, like it has here.

That’s the noteworthy phenomenon, in my opinion. And on a macro level, it has turned media outlets like NPR from a moderate level headed news organization into an anti-Trump machine. It’s negatively affected their ability to be objective when they’re so singularly focused on Trump.

[Kishkumen]

Can you guess the demographic from which the campaign is designed to generate enough votes in addition to the base to win the election?

Those whose decisions are often inordinately driven by their sense of disgust?

[Kishkumen]

The premise is that TDS causes normally intelligent people to have significant lapses in judgment. Extremist people will be extremist. Moderates will be moderate. Except if they are affected by TDS.

Something like this shooting happens, and suddenly a bunch of otherwise normal people start saying insane extreme things. Even to the point where it negatively impacts their career, like it has here.

That’s the noteworthy phenomenon, in my opinion. And on a macro level, it has turned media outlets like NPR from a moderate level headed news organization into an anti-Trump machine. It’s negatively affected their ability to be objective when they’re so singularly focused on Trump.

Yeah, I would love it if something else were actually grabbing our attention more. Unfortunately, Supreme Court and Project 2025 have rightly concerned us with the threat of losing our democratic republic. I know you and others are not convinced, but, if I were to find plans to rob a bank today in the hands of a criminal, I wouldn't go out to write parking tickets.