Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) is a real thing.  Donald Trump came into Washington much like Rodney Dangerfield storming into the tony Bushwood Country Club in Caddyshack.  And much of official Washington (AKA the swamp) reacted just like Ted Knight's Judge Smails, with a combination of horror, disgust, and condescension that settled into an ice-cold obsessive rage.  It's a real thing, closer to a disability than anything else.  But it does not explain the raid on Mar-a-Lago.

If the swamp were strong enough to do away with Trump, they would have before now.  Instead, hiding behind a brave pose of "speaking truth to power," they act as a pack of hyenas nipping at the elephant's heels, hoping he will eventually stumble and give them a shot at the jugular.  But this pachyderm has thus far shaken them off.  Nancy Pelosi, Liz Cheney, assorted Intelligence Community assets, and former Obama officials lack the strength, confidence, or power to take The Donald head-on.

Sure, the Biden administration can dredge up some chum to throw to the January 6 committee.  Prosecutors can strain and twist and bend to connect enough dots to indict Trump on something or the other.  Even if all they can come up with is alleged violations of the Presidential Records Act to create negative publicity, the left-wing media will echo it as loudly as possible to impact the 2024 race.

But while there is much power in Trump Derangement Syndrome, that would not on its own terms explain the unprecedented misuse of the Department of Justice and FBI in conducting this raid.  For that we must look at something deeper and more powerful.

I submit that the motive is self-preservation.

I guarantee you that buried in those many boxes of "classified" materials (most or all of which had been declassified by President Trump) are a trove of documents that have direct bearing on the corruption and criminal acts of the "Intelligence Community," former administration officials and Deep State bureaucrats related to the Russia Collusion Hoax and/or other anti-Trump conspiracies, potentially including January 6 activities.  We know those documents exist, and Trump himself called for their declassification.  The swamp-dwellers cannot and will not let those documents see the light of day.  Reputations could be destroyed, careers ruined, even criminal charges levied.  That must not happen.  The documents must remain suppressed, and to do that requires getting them physically out of Donald Trump's hands.

I believe that the initial conversations between Trump's team and the National Archives staff was in reality a fishing expedition to identify what documents related to illegal and nefarious anti-Trump activities were still in the former president's possession.  When they figured that out, I believe that the swamp-dwellers had a collective "Oh, crap!" moment that explains the raid.  There must be some pretty powerful stuff in there implicating some very important people.  So they swooped in and took them away.

Everything else is smoke and mirrors and other magician's cheap tricks meant to hide what is really going on.  While we are distracted with the howling of the hyenas, the appropriate people in the swamp will quietly destroy or bury what they need to in order to make sure no one will ever truly find out the scope and impact of the swamp's resistance to Trump.

Image: Picryl.