Democrats suffering from severe cases of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) are now displaying another symptom: staging ill-conceived confrontations to get street cred with their antifa progressive base. Some recent headlines:
Democrat juvenile behavior began in earnest during President Trump’s March 4 speech to a joint session of Congress. New York City Democrat Council Member Robert Holden, who represents District 30 in Queens, expressed it best as he opened his March 6 op-ed with:
As a lifelong Democrat, I never imagined I would watch my own party embarrass itself so thoroughly—and so publicly—as it did during Tuesday’s joint session of Congress.
Was there a memo to Democrats telling them to start accosting people? In “Can the Left Ever Stop Its Craziness,” Victor Davis Hanson says the left won’t stop its two-year-old tantrums, especially when they’re directed at President Trump, because they don’t understand how else to act.
Democrats behaving in ways that never before would have been acceptable for American politicians isn’t just happening in major cities. I live in a small Orange County, California, city of nearly 50,000 residents, and I recently had a 1:1 confrontation with our mayor. Before you roll your eyes at “California,” there are many pockets of conservative-leaning areas throughout this state of nearly 40 million residents. Yet, as more conservatives vote with their feet, red California cities are turning purple and eventually blue.
No one was arrested during our run-in, but in my opinion, it was just another example of an elected Democrat official displaying a lack of respect and acting more like a two-year-old child than a mature adult.
As to my incident, until recently, few people knew or cared what political party our city council members belonged to as long as Cypress was well managed—and it had been for decades under majority Republican leadership. Past city councils had Democrats, Republicans, and/or Independents, and Cypress thrived with an outstanding business corridor and a well-maintained middle-class community. However, some residents believe things started to change for the worse several years ago when a disruptive Democrat was elected to the city council.
Seeing what was happening in our city and having free speech in America, a diverse group of residents came together and founded Keep Cypress United to support candidates, propositions, and issues that we believe will keep Cypress united as a welcoming community to live or work. The group is self-funded and does not seek or accept outside donations.
On May 22, a fellow Keep Cypress United (KCU) member and I were standing outside a local supermarket distributing a flyer that questioned statements and actions taken by the newly appointed Cypress mayor. Hizzoner currently holds this mostly ceremonial position because, for the first time ever, the council comprises a Democrat majority. Despite living in our community for only three years, he leapfrogged into the positions over the heads of colleagues with decades of residency.
One of the recipients of our flyer must have been Hizzoner’s supporter. Within 20 minutes after we started our flyer campaign, Hizzoner rushed over to the supermarket and wanted to know what I was doing. (At the time, he probably didn’t realize another KCU member was at the other entrance.) My perception was that he was very angry, as he challenged me about questioning his position and votes on multiple issues.
Think about it—the mayor hastily drove to the neighborhood supermarket wanting to know why a resident was questioning his comments or actions! I was shocked, but shouldn’t have been considering what Democrats in California and around the country are doing with regularity: public tantrums and public histrionics for their own benefit and aligned causes.
Then, after taking a photo of the handout, Hizzoner abruptly left. Then about 20 minutes later, he came back! This time, he wanted to meet with me. A few days later, I emailed him about the possibility of a meeting with me and another KCU member.
Bear in mind, I am an almost 70-year-old female (yes, biological female) and legally deaf without the assistance of hearing aids. It is reasonable that I would want to be accompanied to a meeting with Hizzoner, who is a thirty-something male who made me feel very uncomfortable. Before he would discuss dates at a local coffee house, Hizzoner insisted on knowing why I would not meet with him 1:1.
I told him that I felt that politicians should not wrangle with constituents who are exercising their right to free speech in a local supermarket. I added,
Every elected official (from the president to a small city mayor) whose policies are criticized will claim that false statements (aka misinformation) are being made. It’s POLITICS!
I ended the email by saying that my level of discomfort with our interaction was such that “I will ask someone to attend with me as I do not feel comfortable meeting with you 1:1.”
After several emails as to the date, time, and location, Hizzoner stated that if I planned to bring someone with me, then he would have no choice but to bring someone with him, despite the meeting occurring at a public coffee shop. Oh, for goodness’ sake, the guy is an elected official, and he’s afraid to meet with two constituents who have issues with some of his statements and votes? Fuhgeddaboudit!
I sent an official grievance about Hizzoner’s rude actions to the Cypress city administrator. His response was that I should go to the police. Was that a small city version of New York Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul dismissing charges against Comptroller and mayoral candidate Brad Lander?
If Hizzoner could drive over to the supermarket twice because some constituents do not agree with his positions/votes, perhaps Hizzoner might soon give a long speech on the city council floor about me and Keep Cypress United just as New Jersey Senator Cory Booker did on the senate floor ridiculously railing against President Trump and the Republican Party. (If you missed Booker’s stunt, don’t worry, his book is coming out soon!)
Conservative CNN commentator Scott Jennings said:
What they’re doing is clearly creating stunts. These are political stunts. I mean, this is designed to us. It’s sort of like porn for their base. There’s a lot of capital right now in the Democratic Party for getting arrested.
From rural towns to small cities to major metropolises, it appears the latest Democrat Party strategy is to verbally and/or physically confront those with different views. Perhaps because my confrontation with Hizzoner wasn’t caught on video, it didn’t culminate as most of those interactions do; that is, with the politician immediately thereafter having a public tantrum, and crying that he or she is being treated unfairly after the childish and unprofessional displays in response to constructive criticism and legitimate questions by constituents and residents.
Image created using AI.
Robin M. Itzler is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.