TDS cuts both ways

[Mik]

I don't know who Steve Baker is, but this might be the best summary of how TDS is not one sided. Saw it on FB. The Massie-Gallrein Kentucky primary has been just the worst, nastiest, stupidest ads I've ever seen. I wish i could vote in Kentucky. Thank God the primary is today. They say it's the most expensive house primary ever, so you can imagine how bombarded with ads we've been.

Steve Baker

I have no delusions that I might have enough “on the fence” Kentuckians who follow my account that I can affect the primary election between @MassieforKY and @EdGallrein today, with anything I have to say. The only thing that’s assured … is a few hundred people who otherwise agree with me 95+% of the time will quit following me, and a handful of those will call me a “traitor” or some otherwise vulgar phrase on the way out.

As I’ve always said since the beginning of the Trump era (circa 2015) … “TDS is a double-edged sword, cutting both ways.” Both his haters and his most ardent supporters often behave and react to Trump’s words and deeds with total suspension of logic and reason. It truly is the most unique political phenomenon in my lifetime.

Some of us who have supported Trump in one, two, or even three elections still have the ability to call individual ‘balls and strikes’ on his policy positions and actions. We can actually disagree with the President 10% or even 50% of the time while still acknowledging how superior his overall administration is to the horrifying specter of another Biden or Obama in the White House. Having and stating those differences does NOT make me or Massie a “traitor.” As has been recently pointed out, one can prefer Massie’s policy positions while still supporting Trump. But TDS cuts both ways, so for a large percentage of MAGA, that rationale is incomprehensible.

And speaking of the math and percentages …

You’ve heard it claimed that Massie votes with Trump and “the Party” 90% of the time. Let me better define Massie’s voting record:

Massie votes with the President and the GOP caucus more often than does 90+% of all other GOP Congress members. (Let that sink in.) He - often labeled as a “libertarian” - also votes according to “conservative” principles more often than … well … almost ANY other Congress member. (Many have forgotten what “conservative” values and votes are in the Trump era.) To quote Ronald Reagan:

“If you analyze it I believe the very heart and soul of conservatism is libertarianism … The basis of conservatism is a desire for less government interference or less centralized authority or more individual freedom and this is a pretty general description also of what libertarianism is.”

If Massie votes with the President and his own Party more often than does 90+% of the rest of GOP members (and that math is correct), then where is the ire of the President against those other members? If you’re MAGA, why is your own ire and social media political criticisms not focused on those GOP Congress Creeps who vote with the President far less often than does Massie?

Why? Because TDS is a double edged sword, so the math and logic doesn’t matter if Trump tells you it doesn’t matter.

To my friends and supporters in Kentucky … it is possible to vote for Massie today and not be a traitor to the principles of MAGA as they were defined to us during the 2024 election season. In fact, Massie’s voting record in just the last year better reflects what Trump told us were MAGA values than how Trump has since directed his current administration.

Massie for Kentucky … and America.

[Doctor Phibes]

I've said it before more than once, but the world's biggest case of TDS is that of Trump himself.

[taiwan_girl]

Well, Rep Massie lost. TDS (Trump Deification Syndrome) is strong. LOL