Remember “Bush Derangement Syndrome” when otherwise normal people become apoplectic at the very mention of George W. Bush or wore tee shirts with pictures of Bush photo-shopped to make him look moronic? Well, while a single robin may not portend spring I have nevertheless detected the first outcropping of its current manifestation. This is a truly bizarre analysis of a Donald Trump supporter in Dear Prudence, a four times a week advice column that appears in both the Washington Post and the on-line Slate. These are respectable, establishment outlets and let me confess that I am a devoted fan of the erudite and often funny author, Emily Yoffe. Obviously, there must be something about the Donald that makes otherwise sensible people deranged.  

The advice-seeker, “Democrat daughter,” is worried about her late 50-ish mother’s sudden infatuation with Trump (“my man Donald”).  While Mom always shunned politics, she had now totally fallen for Donald, especially his anti-immigration message. To wit, though employed in a clinic catering to poor people, most of whom are Hispanic, she has become outspoken about illegals and anchor babies. Mom also spews these “hateful views” in public (and on social media) to anybody who would listen and “Democratic daughter” worries that the hatefulness might get her mother fired. What is this concerned daughter to do with her unexpectedly politicized mother?  

Prudence has no sympathy for Mom’s newfound political passion. Indeed, given the contempt for those she serves on her job, Prudence muses that it might be a good idea if she were fired. This advice-giver also characterizes Trump as a “raging narcissist” whose soaring poll numbers make no sense. And, from the can’t-make-this-stuff-up department, suggests that this sudden political fervor warrants a frank mother-daughter talk and visiting a doctor for a complete medical check-up, particularly since the “sudden crush” might be brain tumor related. The column then concludes by hoping that “Mom’s man” soon craters for the sake of Mom and the country.”  All and all, the problem is the Mother’s problem, a psychological disturbance with a possible lethal underlying physical cause. All shades of Soviet and Cuban policies of sending dissidents to psychiatric wards.

That the Washington Post would print this anti-Trump rant as “helpful advice” to “a concerned” daughter clearly reflects the establishment’s near panic with the Donald stirring up the unwashed, i.e., our once apathetic Mom. That these newly awakened Americans are overwhelmingly white and relatively less educated and un-socialized into PC dogma makes this amalgam especially perilous for the likes of Prudence and other bien pensant folk at the Post. It is this ability to bring to the fore a once suppressed, taboo-filled agenda, all the while galvanizing the apathetic, that explains the vitriol directed at Trump. A GOP political consultant, without a scintilla of evidence opined, “There are a lot of folks who are, to be charitable, into white identity politics, and to be uncharitable are outright racists, who are supporting Trump.” For some Trump resembles George Wallace’s 1968 presidential run targeting down market whites angry over being singled out for racial social engineering.

There is no current GOP candidate for the presidency possessing this power to animate the once politically indifferent while being able to transform the public agenda. Nobody is even close. Moreover, the media attention he attracts would require only a brief off-the cuff aside to push the once forbidden into the public forum. It is these powers that terrify the establishment -- the mainstream media, the corporate elite, the RNC and the DNC and all others who embrace the status quo. The Donald -- not the faux socialist Bernie Sanders-- is today’s genuine radical presidential aspirant, the uncontrollable bull in the china shop of taboos, and elites clearly sense his power.

Given that today’s political landscape abounds with leftist concocted PC, it is almost inevitable that Trump’s inflammatory utterances will go beyond just speaking honestly about illegal immigration and porous borders. Hard to predict what’s next on his inflammatory agenda, but let me suggest some possibilities.

Almost guaranteed he will tangle with feminists over the quest to promote strict gender equality, various equal-pay-for-equal-work schemes, women serving in military combat units, and ridding corporate America of alleged glass ceilings.

Equally likely will be questions about racial inequality. Town Hall questioners or debate moderators will sooner or later ask his opinion on eliminating race-related gaps in educational achievement, police brutality directed against African Americans, the need for continuing affirmative action, dealing with black-on-black crime and multiple other issues that typically elicit the most delicate, cliché-ridden responses from “mainstream” candidates.

And if gender and race questions were insufficient to stir the pot, how about asking Trump about requiring recent immigrants to become assimilated Americans. That is, should America end multiculturalism and bilingualism?

This hardly ends the list of topics carefully avoided in today’s PC don’t-offend-anybody atmosphere and Donald’s responses to any of these will certainly draw intense media attention. It is, of course, impossible to anticipate Trump’s exact responses (and he may not even know what he will say until the moment arrives) but whatever he opines it will undoubtedly be more forthright that the safe mush offered by rivals. For example, when asked about affirmative action he might well point to his own record of hiring women and minorities in executive positions and sarcastically compare his hiring record with those of Bush, Walker, Cruz and all the rest. But he will almost surely condemn government policies that force business to hire those they would otherwise not want to hire. And, given what he has already said about using English, Trump will come down hard on all those celebrating ethnic separatism.

All in all, the arrival of Trump may be the long awaited moment when somebody finally stands up to the PC bullies who insist that any opposition to their ideas can only exemplify hate.

Nevertheless, Trump’s willingness to confront taboo topics honestly hardly foretells the end of PC let alone the collapse of the egalitarian crusade. Hard to imagine rolling back the racial spoils system simply because Trump tells the truth about these shakedowns. But, there is some good news. He has at least made it possible to have some discussion of what was once publicly unspeakable. This is a huge change.  Pundits once terrified of even mentioning the downside of affirmative action now have cover: “What do you think about Trump’s claim that government rules that require hiring unqualified minorities is a millstone around the neck of American industry?”  Millions would emerge from the woodwork, all of whom would say, “God bless Trump for finally speaking the truth.” Mom can skip the MRI for her possible brain cancer. Trump would, of course, be condemned as a racist, a white supremacist who was waging war on minorities etc. etc. But, as with his past forays into speaking bluntly, his poll numbers would again go north.  The unwashed are on the march. Trump speaks not for the silent majority; he is the champion of the silenced majority. This is truly terrifying for today’s establishment gatekeepers.