BDS and ODS

Those on the Left affected by BDS (Bush Derangement Syndrome) for the past eight years have been able to see nothing good in Bush. BDS has led to an atrophied and sophomoric political dialog in the country because a lot of intelligent people who should have known better succumbed to it.

The people who suffered from BDS thought it would have no adverse consequences for Barack Obama. How else could you make sense of the widespread expectation that Obama would usher in a new post-partisan epoch? However, the Right has picked up the thought processes of BDS. For everything that Obama says or does, they now automatically think, "What would have been the reaction if Bush had said or done that?" And then they pounce.

Slate.com has a feature, Bushism of the day, which highlights gaffes by George Bush. Now that Bush has gone, you might expect a new feature, one featuring gaffes by President Obama. But instead, in what one can only call a moronic decision, Slate decided to keep adding to the Bushisms, a true sign of BDS. The result? The blog Hotair decided to initiate a new feature, Obamateurism of the Day. Hotair may have even more to choose from than the Bushism column because Obama says so much more in public. Even when he uses the teleprompter, as he does except when he is responding to questions, he sometimes screws up. (Or maybe not--the last link may itself be evidence of ODS.)

So BDS remains alive but has now been joined by ODS, the Obama Derangement Syndrome. Check out Michelle Malkin. If she does not yet have it, she is very close to catching it and it is appearing in a lot of other right-wing blogs as well. Just as BDS resulted in an atrophied and sophomoric political dialog in this country, so will ODS. And whatever Republican next is elected will be subject to a new derangement syndrome. (Of course, within days of Sarah Palin's selection as the GOP vice presidential candidate, full blown PDS arrived, so if she ever becomes president, the derangement will not be new. Also, those on the Left have been eagerly searching for ODS for some time, though their case up to now has been weak. There has been nothing comparable to this.)

For those on the right to avoid ODS, they need to be able to praise Obama when he does something that they would praise if a Republican did it. They will find plenty to criticize, but not everything that Obama does should meet with disapproval. In addition, if those suffering from BDS would be able to recognize that there were things that Bush did that they should applaud and that he is not evil incarnate, it might help restore a bit of civility to the political discourse in this country.
Update: I am not the only one who has noticed this.