News Media-Induced Tourette’s Syndrome

I was recently self-diagnosed with NMITS: News Media-Induced Tourette’s Syndrome. I can’t be the only one.

Tourette’s syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. The disorder is named for Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, the pioneering French neurologist who in 1885 first described the condition in an 86-year-old French noblewoman.

You are sitting in a waiting room at Jiffy Lube, or at the hospital, or perhaps you are visiting a friend or relative. Wherever it is, there is a television playing. Then a bloviating gasbag on the screen utters a phrase like, “President-Elect Biden” or “baseless allegations of fraud” and suddenly you are standing there screaming profanities and making obscene gestures towards the television. Everybody in the waiting room is staring at you in terror except for the teenaged girl in the corner who is recording you on her smartphone so she can uplead you to YouTube. That’s what it is like to have NMITS.

You might even be triggered by printed words like these from Michael Dumbass Shear:

Trump using last days to lock in policies and make Biden’s task more difficult

Voters have decided that President-elect Joe Biden should guide the country through the next four years. But on issues of war, the environment, criminal justice, trade, the economy and more, President Donald Trump and top administration officials are doing what they can to make changing direction more difficult.

Trump has spent the last two weeks hunkered down in the White House, raging about a “stolen” election and refusing to accept the reality of his loss. But in other ways he is acting as if he knows he will be departing soon and showing none of the deference that presidents traditionally give their successors in their final days in office.

During the past four years Trump has not spent much time thinking about policy, but he has shown a penchant for striking back at his adversaries. And with his encouragement, top officials are racing against the clock to withdraw troops from Afghanistan, secure oil drilling leases in Alaska, punish China, carry out executions and thwart any plans Biden might have to reestablish the Iran nuclear deal.

[…]

The president has continued to deny Biden briefings and access to agency officials — delays that the president-elect has said threatened to undermine the country’s response to the pandemic. And far from seeking to help Biden’s team, Trump has spent more than two weeks actively seeking to undermine the legitimacy of his victory.

[…]

Some of Trump’s advisers make no attempt to hide the fact that their actions are aimed at deliberately hamstringing Biden’s policy options even before he begins.

One administration official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of not being authorized to talk publicly, said that in the coming days there would be more announcements made related in particular to China, with whom Trump advisers believe that Biden would try to improve relations.

Some of Trump’s actions are all but permanent, like the nomination of judges with lifetime appointments or the naming of his supporters to government panels with terms that stretch beyond Biden’s likely time in office. Once done, there is little that the new president can do to reverse them.

[…]

Other actions may be possible to reverse but are designed to exact a political price for doing so.

Since the election, Trump has ordered the withdrawal of thousands of troops from Afghanistan, where Trump aims to halve an already pared-down force of 4,500 by the time he leaves office, defying the advice of some top generals.

Biden’s vision for U.S. troop deployments is not radically different. He has said that he supports only small numbers of combat forces, mainly tasked with fighting terrorist groups like al-Qaida and the Islamic State group. But Trump’s last-minute withdrawals could force Biden into an unwanted confrontation with Democrats in Congress if he decides he needs to return to the modest preelection status quo.

Analysts say that Trump’s withdrawal of troops also deprives the United States of any leverage in the ongoing peace process in Afghanistan between the Taliban and the Afghan government, potentially allowing the Taliban to make important military gains.

Trump officials are also working to impose new sanctions on Iran that may be difficult for Biden to reverse, out of a fear of opening himself up to charges that he is soft on one of the country’s most dangerous adversaries.

The sanctions could also undermine any move by Biden to return to the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, a step that would require providing Iran with economic breathing room after years of Trump’s constrictions.

Similarly, Trump officials continue to take punitive actions against China that are likely to further strain the tense relationship with Beijing that Biden will inherit. Last week, Trump issued an executive order barring Americans from investing in Chinese companies with ties to China’s military. Administration officials say more steps are in the works.

(No links to fake news)

Okay, first and foremost, Joe Biden IS NOT the president-elect. As of this moment, we don’t have a president-elect. But no biggie, inauguration day is still almost two full months away. There will be plenty of time for briefings. OTOH, briefing Joe Biden is a waste of time. Biden can’t remember shit, and he would only be POTUS for a few weeks anyway. If he is allowed to take office he should be called “Interim President” Biden.

As for the rest of the stuff Shear is bitchin’ about, boo-fucking-hoo.

Four years ago there were still recounts going on. When the recounts failed Hillary started urging EC electors to be faithless electors and pick her instead. NeverTrumpers were urging them to agree to vote for a moderate Republican. When that failed they tried persuading Congress not to certify the EC vote.

The first free-standing anti-Trump riots took place on election night. There had been numerous cases of Democrats attacking Trump supporters who were leaving campaign rallies, but these riots were unconnected to any rallies. There were numerous Democrat protests in the time between Trump’s election and inauguration, most or all of them featuring people screaming and crying and the words “Not My President” on signs, tee-shirts, and in chants.

While Trump was focused on the transition, Obama and his henchpeople were unmasking Trump associates and organizing “The Resistance.” Obama issued executive orders making it easier to make anonymous leaks while illegally spying on Trump and his associates.

As soon as it was clear that Trump had won in 2016 there were Democrats and RINOs assuring our allies, enemies, and frenemies around the world that Trump would be gone in 6 months.

I could go on and on but it’s already been documented on the pages of this blog. Go up to the calendar and take it back to Election Night 2016 and start reading the posts and comments. Four fucking years and every single day the Democrats were pulling some new shit.

So fuck all those fucking fucks. Joe Biden will never be a legitimate President. Neither will Kamala Harris.