Blind Hatred May Cost Democrats What They Want Most

The next few months will tell us how serious the Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) infection is in Washington. TDS is a condition where even otherwise rational and thoughtful people take the position opposite that of the Trump administration without further analysis. Emotion and personal animus to one man replace thought and reason.

Now that Joe Biden will be president, sufferers of TDS will have to make some painful choices. Specifically, they will have to choose between the success of their chosen candidate's presidency or the continued enjoyment of endorphine-fueled feelings of self- righteousness. They can't have both.

Consider two examples:

Will the Democrats in the Senate and the administration wish to consume the Senate's calendar with an impeachment trial of a defeated former president? The costs of satisfying the bloodlust of the left are very high for the administration and could well hamstring it during the crucial "honeymoon" phase new administrations enjoy.

Halved (at best) will be the Senate's capacity to confirm appointees and pursue the legislative agenda desired by the base of the president's party and its allies in the media.

Almost as bad for the Biden administration will be that there will be no bandwidth remaining for discussion of anything other than impeachment for weeks if not months. Gone will be the bully pulpit and ability to build support for his agenda. There simply won't be enough media oxygen and public attention.

Between a Senate trial and vaccine rollout and the inevitable fights over reopening the economy, the administration will be up against the 2022 election cycle. Typically, major transformative legislation does not pass in an election year. This will be especially true with a tied Senate and a House where only six Democrat defections derail legislation.

On top of this, many soft Republican, independent and soft Democrat voters will see that unified Democratic control in Washington isn't doing anything for them; as the hard left continues its Herman Melville-inspired white whale hunt.

Over 150 Democratic members of Congress are on record calling for incoming President Biden to reverse President's Trump's decision to leave the Iran Nuclear Deal. The only reason they come up with to justify this is that if Trump did it it must be bad. End of story.

Again, TDS may well cost the Biden administration dearly when they could merely repackage Trump's policies in the Middle East and take credit for their success.

As President Reagan observed, "Facts are stubborn things." Unfortunately so is TDS, and the need of the left and Never Trumpers to ignore them. That said, here are a few fun facts about the Iran Nuclear Deal and its history.

1. The Iran Nuclear deal when entered into by President Obama in 2015 was vehemently opposed by Sens. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.; Ben Cardin, D-Md; Bob Menendez, D-N.J.; and Joe Manchin, D-W.Va. Except for the latter these are all big-name liberals.
2. Likewise in the House of Representatives, the Iran Nuclear Deal was opposed by 25 Democratic members including liberals like Brad Sherman, D-Calif.; Steve Israel, D-N.Y.; Ted Lieu, D-Calif.; and now Senator Kyrsten Sinema, D-Ariz. Again, all but the latter are pretty die-hard liberals.
3. The Iran Nuclear Deal sunsets in 2025 with no remaining restrictions on Iranian nuclear weapons development and it NEVER placed any constraints on Iran's missile programs whatsoever.

The dynamics of the Middle East have changed completely since 2015. Once dominated by the Palestinian issue and Arab-Israeli conflict the region is now in the middle of a paradigm shift toward a pragmatic approach to economic development and common security interests. Accordingly, four Arab countries have recognized Israel with more on the way.

Will Biden throw away the opportunity to preside over peace breaking out in the Middle East and a series of easy, splashy diplomatic wins to satisfy the TDS-driven impulses of his party and risk a nuclear arms race in the region? Because that is what will happen if the United States backs off its commitment to Arab and Israeli security in the name of resurrecting the 2015 Iran Nuclear Deal.

The Biden administration should be making rational choices in these two instances, but TDS is a helluva drug, so to speak, and has kept the Democrat coalition together for four years.

Now that Trump will be in Palm Beach, the Democrats will have to decide between satisfying the cravings of TDS and not getting slaughtered in the midterms and being a failed and inconsequential president.

John Jordan, former Navy intelligence officer, pilot, attorney, international economist, overseer at Stanford's Hoover Institution and conservative political consultant. Jordan is a regular contributor for Fox News Channel, Newsmax, Sky News London and Sky News Australia. Read John Jordan's Reports — More Here.