MY TURN: Response to Jim Jones
Jim Jones must have a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS). According to Psychiatrist Dr. Carol Lieberman, TDS should be added to the next Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Lieberman’s study indicates that the people most susceptible to TDS are super-feminists, and insecure men who are angry at not having achieved what they wanted. In his op-ed published June 11, Jones is trying to convince readers that Donald Trump is disrespecting our troops. His evidence? The "suckers and losers" rumor from 2020 that has never been corroborated.
As for the concept of someone using our armed forces to serve his personal needs and political interests, Jim Jones admits using his military service precisely for this purpose. Switching his major from engineering to political science, Jones attempted to model his life after that of John F. Kennedy, seeing it as a roadmap to the U.S. Senate. He gained entrance into Oregon’s ROTC program by concealing a physical defect which had previously disqualified him from getting in. After finishing law school, Jones worked as an admin officer in the Army, mostly “pushing papers.” The military program for lawyers required four years of service, rather than the two needed for artillery, so Jim switched his path toward artillery. “I wanted to get military experience, not make a life out of it,” said Jones. In other words, his military service was a means to an end, not an "answer to the call" from JFK. You can read this for yourself in IDEDNEWS, 3/28/2022.
Although Jones' career never landed him a Senate seat, he did start the political action committee, Take Back Idaho. Remember them? The Idaho State Journal reported in 2022 that the purpose of the group was “for special interests and cronies that have had their way with the state of Idaho for generations. Their power and control have been in decline over the last decade, as more and more legislators push back against big government and advance conservative principles. That’s what Take Back Idaho wants to return to.”
Jim’s most recent op-ed dated June 11 sounds exactly like he is repeating the radical progressive talking points of the American mainstream news media. Maybe this two-time failed U.S. Senate candidate and open primary advocate, who has a history of working against conservatives in Idaho, has let his hatred for Trump get the best of him. I, for one, would encourage this 80+-year-old former judge to tone down his rhetoric in favor of seeking some help with his apparent TDS. Meanwhile, I will continue to read between the lines of his frequent op-eds, and see them for what they are: mudslinging as a desperate attempt to soil a president who is doing an outstanding job.
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Anne Patterson is a Coeur d’Alene resident.