American derangement syndrome permeates society

March 5 (UPI) -- The term Trump Derangement Syndrome applies to those who have a pathological fixation with Trump and find all of his behavior to be unacceptable, illegal and/or immoral. But let's be fair. There was a Biden Derangement Syndrome, too. And frankly, that can be extended to those who adore or hate another individual or issue.

The forensic conclusion is that too many Americans have become infected with a virus far worse than COVID-19. It is the derangement syndrome. And it has caused friends, families and even strangers to become enemies at worst and often part ways. Why?

I have argued elsewhere that the decline in American culture and politics began in August 1964 when, with only two dissenting votes in the Senate, Congress passed the Tonkin Gulf Resolution, a de facto declaration of war thrusting the country into the Vietnam Quagmire. At that stage, about three-fourths of Americans trusted government and most institutions.

Today, for many reasons, both government and non-governmental organizations have lost the trust and confidence of the public to the point where about three-fourths of us have no faith in these institutions. One major cause has been the failure of these entities to tell the truth. Another has been a string of failures to govern in which success was promised and we failed or lost. As a Vietnam vet, that was case one.

Afghanistan and Iraq also contributed to this string of disasters. Saddam Hussein's nuclear weapons that did not exist had to be destroyed. And Afghanistan would be fully democratized. Worse, since 1964, the government has failed to govern.

Watergate, the Vietnam withdrawal and the subsequent failure of governments to provide for the needs of the public metastasized in the last election over the price of goods and eggs; the border and transsexual issues regarding boys playing girls' sports.

The last balanced budget passed by Congress was 30 years ago. That meant the government had to deal with continuing resolutions that probably caused a 10% annual cut in purchasing power due to the the inefficiencies imposed. Without a budget, no constraints are applied. For 2025, the federal budget is about $7 trillion, with revenues about $5 trillion. Why?

Combine this refusal to accept fact and truth and how derangement affects Ukraine. President Donald Trump is convinced he can impose a peace on Ukraine. Despite truth and fact about Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump is dead wrong. Zelensky is not a dictator.

The Ukrainian Parliament approved martial law. Europe is providing Ukraine more funding than the United States. And Ukraine did not start the war. Why does Trump continue to reject reality as he denies the results of the 2020 election?

The staged reputational assassination of Ukraine's president defies explanation. Despite 43 minutes of a 49-minute press conference that went civilly, why did Vice President V. D. Vance launch such an unprecedented and unprovoked, out-of-the-blue. ad hominem attack on Zelensky? What was the offensive comment Zelensky made? In the prior 43 minutes, there was none. And then Trump piled on. This shift tone was cosmic in scale.

Allies were stunned. The conclusion that somehow Trump was overly sensitive to Russian interests, was unavoidable. Yet, instead of demanding identifying what was so offensive, the Democratic strategy was to attack. That gets us nowhere. And Trump then doubles down on his assertion, falsehood or whatever is the line he is pushing.

The other side is often no different. A number of otherwise "normal" people believe Ukraine struck first. Despite the overwhelming evidence of Russia's perfidy, a piece of fake news was offered to contradict truth and fact. There was no flexibility in these fixed views. And this derangement applies to virtually every politically divisive issue.

As, or if, the United States is viewed as increasingly unreliable under Trump's America First by allies, will this affect the proliferation of nuclear weapons? According to former U.S. ambassador to Japan Rahm Emmanuel, South Korea was barely dissuaded from going nuclear. But what about Japan? Or Germany, with a neo-Nazi party the second largest?

And could the Saudis pay a fortune to Pakistan to shortcut the route to gaining nuclear weapons? Meanwhile, what are Iran's mullahs thinking about finally obtaining a nuclear weapon? This could be the most serious threat to preventing nuclear proliferation.

To resolve who fired the first shot, just watch the whole press conference. But who is inflicted with the derangement syndrome is prepared to do this? That is the source of this crisis.

Harlan Ullman is UPI's Arnaud deBorchgrave Distinguished Columnist, senior adviser at Washington's Atlantic Council, chairman of a private company and principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. His next book, co-written with General The Lord David Richards, former U.K. chief of defense and due out late next year, is Insanity: The Arc of Failure: Can Decisive Strategic Thinking Transform a Dangerous World? The writer can be reached on Twitter @harlankullman.