# Why the extreme hyperbole over Trump? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2017, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476 "2017-06-09T02:55:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/41 "2017-06-09T12:17:36Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Trump has not suspended the Constitution. He has not declared martial law. He has not proclaimed himself president _in perpetuum_. He is not rounding people up into barb wire detention camps. He is not having critics assassinated. He is not having protesters machine gunned on the streets. He has not shut down newspapers, magazines and television stations. He has not ordered military trials for “traitors”. He has not abolished the existing security organs and created a new security apparatus. In short, if Donald Trump is a “fascist”, he is the most laughable bubblegum fascist in history. Yet to hear the left tell it, we’re in Germany circa 1933. IMHO, this only makes the left look exactly like the snowflakes their worst critics accuse them of being. Trump has endless good things to say about foreign dictators while constantly attacking our democratic allies. He is hostile to the fact that we have a free press. He doesn’t like having an independent judiciary. He doesn’t understand or care about the constitution. He supports mobs to suppress dissent and criticism. He supports torture. He isn’t Hitler for various reasons, but he has authoritarian tendencies. If Trump had his way, this country would be different with fewer checks and balances and fewer freedoms. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/42 "2017-06-09T12:22:12Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Put simply, he’s not a Puritan and doesn’t pretend to be. He does not want to bring the world to salvation through state action, pretty much the opposite of all modern presidents. He is from the leisure class. He flaunts wealth. Puritanical progressives preach that wealth is shameful and sordid, **therefore one dresses like Bill Gates and drives a Prius.** He talks about women in a way that only the lower class talks about women. > > Oh, and he might not be willing to escalate a regional conflict into an apocalyptic world war with nuclear weapons. Yet we have a President who wears ill-fitting suits, a tie long enough to hide the fact he forgot to zip up again and a hairstyle that says his barber is scared to say anything. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/43 "2017-06-09T12:28:02Z")
There really is a Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). There was one for Barack Obama, George W. Bush and maybe the Clintons too. But TDS is worse. I just saw a headline from Huffington Post (a very left-leaning newspaper/website): “Trump’s Climate Withdrawal Is An Impeachable Offense” and a similar headline from the Daily Caller: “Law Prof Says Trump’s Paris Decision ‘Constitutes An Impeachable Offense’”. Inside the second article, > [@](#): > > A liberal law professor wrote a lengthy op-ed claiming President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord is a “crime against humanity” that is an “impeachable offense.” At least the Daily Caller made it clear that is someone’s opinion, and let us know what the professor’s bias was. HuffPo sounded like they were really hoping enough people would agree with the headline and force Trump out today. I think Trump’s decision was crazy (like so many), but that’s not “impeachable”. TDS is probably so severe because he’s not presidential. He’s incompetent, unprofessional, crazy, openly racist, a non-strategic liar, corrupt, a conman, ripped people off, says and does outrageous things and had been astonishingly lucky so he almost never faced consequences for his actions… but he won a cultural battle against an unprofessional presidential candidate who was a terrible campaigner and suffered from paranoid issues. Trump embarrasses his country on a regular basis and sets a really low bar. In short, people didn’t think he should have won the election and don’t want to wait four years for him to be voted out. (There’s also the fear that he might win another election, since the country proved itself foolish enough to vote him in last year.) If I were an American I would be pissed off, but I would avoid TDS. Americans voted him in and they have to take responsibility for that. If you didn’t vote for him, you need to consider why the Democrats lost. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/44 "2017-06-09T12:31:19Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > Yet we have a President who wears ill-fitting suits, a tie long enough to hide the fact he forgot to zip up again and a hairstyle that says his barber is scared to say anything. Yes, I understand you resent his boorish appearance because it does not conform to your Puritan ethic. He reminds you of a member of the lower classes, and this is unforgivable. Rodney Dangerfield has become president and you’re fuming. He should begin every other sentence with “So…” and end it with"…right?" like a genuine member of the ruling class. He’s like a nouveau-riche construction contractor with a jet-ski. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/45 "2017-06-09T12:34:38Z")
Nice over-reaction. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/46 "2017-06-09T12:41:21Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > There really is a Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). Ironically, TDS is more apropos of those who support Trump than of those who are critical of him. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/47 "2017-06-09T12:42:32Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Yes, I understand you resent his boorish appearance because it does not conform to your Puritan ethic. He reminds you of a member of the lower classes, and this is unforgivable. Rodney Dangerfield has become president and you’re fuming. He should begin every other sentence with “So…” and end it with"…right?" like a genuine member of the ruling class. He’s like a nouveau-riche construction contractor with a jet-ski. Yes, clearly his appearance is the #1 critique of Donald Trump. That he looks and acts “nouveau-riche”, doesn’t talk like a rich guy, and - holy shit, you realize we’re talking about _the president of the united states_, right? Even if the main critique really was, “He looks, talks, and often acts like a dumb asshole,” (it isn’t, and I’m kind of at a loss as to how one might make that claim unless one has sequestered oneself in a room for the past two years with nothing but the most absurd and shallow right-wing newscasts to go off of) that would still be a pretty big deal. Individual faux pas among leaders matter, and the president acting like jackass lowers our standing on the world stage. This guy is, for better or worse, our primary representation to the rest of the world; him prancing around looking, talking, and acting like a low-grade moron is a _bad thing_. There’s a reason “acting presidential” is a thing, y’know. ---
**Author:** ![Kimera757](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kimera757/32/3765_2.png) [@Kimera757](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimera757)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/48 "2017-06-09T12:44:10Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Ironically, TDS is more apropos of those who support Trump than of those who are critical of him. Trump Devotion Syndrome? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/49 "2017-06-09T12:44:59Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Yes, I understand you resent his boorish appearance because it does not conform to your Puritan ethic. He reminds you of a member of the lower classes, and this is unforgivable. Rodney Dangerfield has become president and you’re fuming. He should begin every other sentence with “So…” and end it with"…right?" like a genuine member of the ruling class. He’s like a nouveau-riche construction contractor with a jet-ski. …And those are his _good_ qualities. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/50 "2017-06-09T12:47:48Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > Trump has not suspended the Constitution. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He has not declared martial law. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He has not proclaimed himself president _in perpetuum_. These are all a bit ambitious a year into your first term. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He is not rounding people up into barb wire detention camps. No, he doesn’t want to detain them. He wants to round them up and ship them off somewhere else. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He is not having critics assassinated. Well…he tries to have their character assassinated. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He is not having protesters machine gunned on the streets. Well, he’s no Nixon. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He has not shut down newspapers, magazines and television stations. Declaring the mainstream media to be un-American dispensers of “fake news” is a pretty good start. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He has not ordered military trials for “traitors”. I’m sure he’d like to. > [@Lumpy](#): > > He has not abolished the existing security organs and created a new security apparatus. Firing the head of the FBI > [@Lumpy](#): > > In short, if Donald Trump is a “fascist”, he is the most laughable bubblegum fascist in history. See snfaulkner’s comment. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Yet to hear the left tell it, we’re in Germany circa 1933. Germans in 1933 didn’t know they were in “Germany circa 1933”. > [@Lumpy](#): > > IMHO, this only makes the left look exactly like the snowflakes their worst critics accuse them of being. Please. Enough with the Right and their “snowflake” shit. Show them a couple dudes getting married, a Black president, tell them they can’t make racist jokes in mixed company, some poor people actually aren’t crack addicts looking to spend their welfare checks on more crack or that maybe buying military grade weaponry shouldn’t be as easy as buying a new belt and see who is the snowflake. I’ll agree that the hyperbole over Trump is a bit extreme. However there are reasons Trump elicits such strong feelings, particularly on the left: - First of all, he has been a living caricature of the worst qualities of wealth and excess since the 80s. - In spite of all his talk about “helping America”, most of his actions seem to be about helping the extremely wealthy. - He acts like an asshole - He appears to be woefully and willfully ignorant on important topics - Much of his rhetoric is, if not outright “racist”, is designed to strike a xenophobic chord with his base. - He’s very divisive in a way that Obama wasn’t. Obama was divisive in a sense that Republicans wouldn’t work with him because he was a Black Democrat with a funny sounding name. Trump is divisive in a sense that anyone who doesn’t agree with him is an “enemy” to be ridiculed and marginalized. At best, I would say Trump is a narcissist (not a disqualifier for politics) who has spent his entire life in a family-created wealth bubble where his arguable success in building golf courses and gaudy condo towers has largely allowed him to overestimate his own intelligence and abilities in other areas. What that means is that he perceives the world through a lens of “what is good for business is good for America”. He has little understanding of the common people other than as employees of one of his or his supplier’s companies. He has little understanding of politics or managing contrary viewpoints because he has always been “in charge” and surrounded by loyal family and sycophants. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/51 "2017-06-09T12:50:16Z")
And he eats his steak well done. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/52 "2017-06-09T12:52:31Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > And he eats his steak well done. With ketchup. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/53 "2017-06-09T12:53:31Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > Trump Devotion Syndrome? Why not; Charles Manson was not without his fan base. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tooth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@The\_Tooth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tooth)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/54 "2017-06-09T12:56:27Z")
There’s probably a lot of overlap between the two groups, in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/55 "2017-06-09T13:01:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Only the imaginary left in your head is saying things like that. It’s always fascinating to read someone saying “nobody is saying things like that” in a thread and on a board and in a country where people are saying things like that. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/56 "2017-06-09T14:11:40Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Yes, clearly his appearance is the #1 critique of Donald Trump. That he looks and acts “nouveau-riche”, doesn’t talk like a rich guy, and - holy shit, you realize we’re talking about _the president of the united states_, right? Even if the main critique really was, “He looks, talks, and often acts like a dumb asshole,” (it isn’t, and I’m kind of at a loss as to how one might make that claim unless one has sequestered oneself in a room for the past two years with nothing but the most absurd and shallow right-wing newscasts to go off of) that would still be a pretty big deal. Individual faux pas among leaders matter, and the president acting like jackass lowers our standing on the world stage. This guy is, for better or worse, our primary representation to the rest of the world; him prancing around looking, talking, and acting like a low-grade moron is a _bad thing_. There’s a reason “acting presidential” is a thing, y’know. Perhaps the deranged anti-Trumpers shouldn’t wrap their personal identity up so tightly with the state and its executive. There is a nasty history of that sort of thing. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > …And those are his _good_ qualities. I agree. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/57 "2017-06-09T16:15:19Z")
I’m taking the OP seriously and giving it some thought. While I disagree with much (all?) of Trump’s agenda, the same would be true of Rubio or Jeb Bush. (Although I personally stand to profit significantly if he manages to cut tax rates). Trump is an embarrassment, for reasons that are self-evident. His election reflects quite badly on the competence of American voters and their commitment to American values. While we can always use fresh ideas in government, we were not in any crises in 2016 that would justify a vote designed to “blow up the system.” The fact that so many voters simply didn’t care about the consequences of their vote troubles me to my core. Trump is a disgrace, as a person, businessman, and President. He doesn’t know what he’s doing, and doesn’t care to know. I don’t think he’ll do any of the things outlined in the OP, but I think we can set the bar a little higher than “don’t execute your political opponents.” ---
**Author:** ![Evan\_Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b487fb/32.png) [@Evan\_Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evan_Drake)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/58 "2017-06-09T16:21:01Z")
> [@Kimera757](#): > > But TDS is worse. I just saw a headline from Huffington Post (a very left-leaning newspaper/website): “Trump’s Climate Withdrawal Is An Impeachable Offense” and a similar headline from the Daily Caller: “Law Prof Says Trump’s Paris Decision ‘Constitutes An Impeachable Offense’”. I love the fact they always have a **Law** **Professor** to explain that this time, Pinky, it will work, and the new thing is the unimpeachable reason to impeach Il Magnifico. Like they keep them in the basement, to be hauled out every time they need an authoritative Decision on **The Impeachment of Trump**. > [@](#): > > If you didn’t vote for him, you need to consider why the Democrats lost. Alice doesn’t live here anymore. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/59 "2017-06-09T16:36:50Z")
It’s not just the authoritarianism. Trump is a dangerous combination of incompetence and recklessness. He does not seem to care that careless words from him can have huge consequences. Bragging about (till then) classified intelligence to the Russian ambassador, changing his speech to the G7 without consulting the State Department, insulting other countries on Twitter, contradicting the rest of the government in supporting Arab countries’ sanctions on Qatar, etc. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476/60 "2017-06-09T16:45:13Z")
> [@The\_Tooth](#): > > And he eats his steak well done. > [@running\_coach](#): > > With ketchup. Yeah, Tumpis nothing like Hitler. Hitler was a vegetarian. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-the-extreme-hyperbole-over-trump/788476.md?page=4)