There is an old saying — something about a thin line between love and hate. A possible interpretation of that might be the level of intensity that can arise from both emotions. Is it easier to love than to hate? We would like to think so; perhaps it depends on the subject of the hatred. One thing is for sure: Either one of these can make us do things and justify actions and decisions that, in a stable frame of mind, we would never have done.
Politics is one of the best places to see both these ends of the spectrum on full display. In recent years, the one person who has been the target of both would have to be former President Donald Trump. Few politicians have stirred up more intense feelings one way or the other than Trump. As the 2024 presidential election season begins, many of Trump's ardent supporters are convinced that Trump is the only one who can pump the brakes and save the country from the disaster that has been the Biden presidency. Nothing will convince them otherwise. Those same supporters will concede that Donald Trump is not a perfect man. He has two ex-wives and assorted baggage that comes with having found celebrity early in his life. When Trump is attacked in any way, he fights back just as hard, if not harder. (See "mean tweets.") Some may describe his brash demeanor as obnoxious or crass at times, while others may prefer "larger than life." Whatever it is, Democrats and the left have hated and despised it with a passion since day one, and now that hatred just may come back to bite them in one spectacular way.
Almost as soon as Donald Trump and his wife, Melania, came down the escalator at Trump Tower in June 2015, a new affliction was born. The term "Trump Derangement Syndrome" was coined to refer to anything remotely related to Donald Trump, his family, his business, his campaign, and later his presidency. It seemed as if there were no lengths to which the left would not go to make sure the world knew how much they hated Trump. On Inauguration Day 2017, that loud screeching noise you heard was liberals as Trump was sworn in. But primal screams were just the beginning.
Democrats and the media wasted no time calling for Trump's impeachment. Everything he did and said was ridiculed and trashed. From a women's march where Madonna shared with the crowd that she had thought about “blowing up the White House” to actor Johnny Depp's comments about actors assassinating presidents to Kathy Griffin's bloody Trump look-alike head on Twitter, nothing was off limits.
But as 2024 approaches, the Democrats' case of Trump Derangement Syndrome may just come back to bite them in a big way. Joe Biden did what he was supposed to do in 2020: get rid of Trump. But now there is a problem. Joe Biden's presidency has been a nightmare. Inflation at a 40-year high, soaring crime rates, essentially an open southern border, and America's foes knowing they can do as they wish and there will be no consequences. The other problem is that Joe Biden's cognitive abilities, or the lack of them, are getting harder for Democrats to dismiss. Liberal journalists are beginning to question if Biden should run for reelection. Surely, Democrats are doing it behind closed doors. How long until they say it out loud?
If Joe is not the Democrat nominee, who would it be? Traditionally, the answer would be the Vice President. But Democrats know that is not possible. Kamala Harris was picked because she was a black woman. No prominent Democrats have voiced doubt about her abilities publicly, but they know how unpopular and unqualified she is to be the nominee and would be soundly beaten if she was. California Gov. Gavin Newsom has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Joe Biden, but that represents a whole new set of problems, as bumping Harris off the ticket would surely cost Democrats a number of black votes, especially from black women.
The present scenario in which Democrats find themselves can be traced back to one thing — their rabid case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. Joe Biden's 2020 campaign was limping along until he was helped in South Carolina by an endorsement from Rep. James Clyburn to secure the black vote there. Harris, another nod to Democrats' most reliable voting bloc. Now, they are stuck with a deteriorating president, a vice president who is in no way qualified to take over or run herself, and a virtually empty bench except for the looming presence of Newsom, who, if he is put on the ticket in place of Biden, thus leaping over Harris, would lead to unprecedented chaos within the Democrat Party.
All of this because of their hatred for one human being, one man: Donald Trump. It is stunning to witness, and will be fun to see how they wiggle out of it, all at the same time.