An Epidemic of TODD

The Democrats and their allies in the media have a case of Trump Oppositional Defiant Disorder (TODD).

I grew up in a loving household with a magnificent extended family close by.

Not everything was perfect, of course, and after 24 years of marriage, my parents got divorced. It didn't come about due to infidelity or financial issues – I’ve come to understand that a large part of it came about due to my mother’s pathological need to take the opposite side from my father on every issue, no matter how trivial. It wasn't that she didn't love my dad - because she did until her dying day.

Thinking back to my childhood, I can remember minor disagreements between my parents which at the time seemed trivial and normal but as time progressed, my mom seemed to go out of her way to find any way possible to rationalize that that my father was wrong or somehow the other party was more "right" in every dispute or disagreement.

My dad was a strong, confident, and smart man - and one who owned up to his mistakes. He never sought to hurt anyone, and If he unintentionally wronged someone, it bothered him to his core until he made it right - and even then he carried the event with him as a reminder not to let it happen again. This made it more difficult to understand what possible reason caused my mother to feel the need to take the side of anyone (no matter how wrong they were) against my dad.

What was missing from my mother's mental processes was any sense of rationality, proportionality, or fairness. She started from the premise that my dad was wrong and worked it back to support that premise in her mind - even if that meant using the most absurd rationalizations to support her thinking. For example, she might remember something said over dinner with friends from years ago that was completely out of context but would throw that quote at my dad as if it had any relevance to the contemporary issue. To her, her erroneous recollection was a basis for his intent.

It wasn't that she sought to be confrontational, it was just how she came to see things.

In the last years of their marriage, my mom's need to oppose my dad became an autonomic reflex.

Having lived through this, it is second nature for me to recognize similar situations in life and nowhere is mental condition more present than in the progressive movement in America.

And let me tell you, they have a bad case of TODD – Trump Opposition Defiant Disorder.

As my mom did, the TODD victims tune their senses to finding Trump wrong, no matter what the facts are. It doesn’t matter that they selectively hear, see, smell, feel, and remember things, not just out of context, but in an invented context that just happens to agree with their agendas and beliefs – every time. They even make stuff up to support their defiance.

TODD is my invention, but there is an actual DSM-5 listed psychological illness called Oppositional Defiant Disorder, a mental condition in children defined as a disruptive behavior disorder that emerges during childhood or adolescence and is characterized by persistent angry or irritable mood, unruly and argumentative behavior, and vindictiveness. It frequently manifests in hostility toward authority figures.

Unless you have been under a rock for the past few days, you know about the “bloodbath” farce. Add that one to the “fine people”, “dictator on day one” and “migrants are not people” ruses designed to fortify the liberal perception of Trump and hurt him with minority and independent voters.

Republicans are always going to be Nazis and Fascists because that’s how Democrats want people to see them. Trump is always going to start Civil War II for the same reason.

It is an autonomic reflex.