Trump Derangement Syndrome May Cost This Home Seller More Than $100,000
Earlier this year, we lost the great Dr. Charles Krauthammer. He was best known as a political commentator, but he started as a psychiatrist (and one who graduated Harvard Med after becoming a paraplegic in his first year, it bears noting).
In his 68 years on earth, Dr. Krauthammer had the distinction of diagnosing a psychiatric condition (Secondary Mania — I won’t bore you with the details) and a political one which has seen numerous pandemics during every Republican administration since its discovery in 2003.
In a piece for The Washington Post, Krauthammer originally named the condition Bush Derangement Syndrome — “the acute onset of paranoia in otherwise normal people in reaction to the policies, the presidency — nay — the very existence of George W. Bush.” A decade and a half later, it has since morphed into the more virulent Trump Derangement Syndrome.
And if you don’t believe it exists, consider this: A woman who wouldn’t sell her house to fans of the president is likely to lose well over $100,000 because of it.
“In March the woman placed her Sacramento-area home on the market for $625,000 with one stipulation: The buyer must not be a Trump supporter. She later took the home off the market for reasons that were not clear,” Fox News reported.
Some of those reasons may be that the Fair Housing Act — whose overenthusiastic enforcement is championed especially by liberals — could possibly include First Amendment rights.
“People have a right to believe what they want to believe and they shouldn’t be restricted from purchasing property based on that,” lawyer Allen Sawyer told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Well, she didn’t face any sort of Fair Housing Act citation. She did receive another unpleasant surprise, however.
“The two-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Carmichael was listed for $625,000 in March,” the Chronicle reported.
“It’s closing at $495,000, according to multiple real estate websites. The woman, whose identity has not been revealed, switched real estate agents prior to the sale. The current agent, JaCi Wallace with Re/Max Gold, told the Sacramento Bee that she was unaware of restrictions or special instructions regarding the property.”
However, given the state of housing prices in California, you generally don’t see a $130,000 drop in asking price.
It also took almost six months since the original March listing to move — and given that the house was somewhat famous (nay, infamous) there were probably plenty of people staying away or lowballing.
The homeowner said the decision not to sell to those who wished to make America great again was a deeply held one.
“When you’re talking about principles, morals, and ethics, it’s very, very deep,” she said, stating the house had been in her family for generations.
Now, one of the symptom presentations of the original Bush Derangement Syndrome cited in Dr. Krauthammer’s original 2003 article diagnosing the condition was a quote from then-presidential candidate and former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean on why he thought President Bush wasn’t releasing the 9/11 report.
“The most interesting theory that I’ve heard so far — which is nothing more than a theory, it can’t be proved — is that he was warned ahead of time by the Saudis,” Dean told NPR’s Diane Rehm. “Now who knows what the real situation is?”
This assertion was both vile and evidence-free, but not uncommon among public figures looking to earn some publicity and/or a quick buck off the back of anti-Bush sentiment. Anyone who sat through “Fahrenheit 9/11” by Michael Moore (who could well be described as the patient with the single most treatment-resistant strain of BDS) will remember that much of the movie was dedicated to similar Saudi-centric conspiracy theories pontificated at much greater length (and yet, oddly, with exponentially less specificity) involving the Bush administration.
Both of these men could be said to be suffering from obvious cases of BDS. Both could be described as comfortable. But would you picture either of them taking a 20 percent loss on a home sale just to make sure it stayed out of the hands of a conservative?
It’s a strange new political world where men like Howard Dean and Michael Moore seem rational by comparison. Such are the epidemic ravages of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
If that thought is a little too depressing for you, cheer up: Moore is about to release a film about Trump’s election called “Fahrenheit 11/9” (see what he did there? Because Trump’s election was called on Nov. 9? So clever).
I have no doubt Moore’s condition will quickly be downgraded — or upgraded, depending on your view — to Trump Derangement Syndrome. And given how bad he got hit with BDS, God help anyone who has the misfortune to buy a ticket this time around.
You too can cheer up, though. Sure, you could have seen “Crazy Rich Asians” and been a lot better off. But you’ll only have lost $13.00 and two hours of your life, not $130,000 and nearly half a year of it.
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