The limitlessness of Trump Derangement Syndrome

"Innocent civilians are now dead because they were caught in the middle of an unnecessary and unwanted military tit for tat," claimed Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg in a scurrilous tweet attacking President Trump.

Not to be outdone in searching for a way to blame the president for Iran's shootdown of a Ukrainian civilian jetliner carrying 176 crew and passengers, Rep. Jackie Speier told CNN: "If what is being projected is true, this is yet another example of collateral damage from the actions that have been taken in a provocative way by the president of the United States."

In another banner day in the annals of Trump Derangement Syndrome, the Democrats failed to note that the Iranian regime's "tit for tat" was comprised of a failed ballistic missile attack on two U.S. bases in Iraq and one severely botched misfire on a Ukrainian flight.

There was no crossfire. Iran was the only party to fire shots that night.

"Iran has been a bad actor," said Speier. "(Iranian Gen. Qassem) Soleimani was a bad actor. But there are many people in that region and around the world who are bad actors. We have to find a way to live together and attempt to move towards peace."

One still has to wonder whether Speier is more concerned with "bad actors" like Iran, Soleimani or Trump.

Washington Post reporter Aaron Blake tagged on Buttigieg's tweet: "Are any other Dems connecting this to Trump's actions? There's still A LOT we don't know here." He's still wishing, waiting and hoping.

There were some worthy comments.

"Iran launches a ballistic missile salvo at Iraq. It fails to shut down its airspace during this attack," John Noonan wrote. "As it is attacking, incompetence by Iranian air-defense artillery leads to an IFF misidentification. In their confusion, they kill an airliner. So this is America's fault."

Tom Nichols wrote: "This isn't what happened. The Iranians knew they were about to proceed with a complicated military operation. The airport shouldn't even have been open. This is not 'caught in the middle' of anything, it's a screw up by the Iranians."

"Iran allegedly shoots down a commercial airliner, and Pete Buttigieg's first reaction is to blame America." wrote RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel. "Ridiculous."

Columnist Dan McLaughlin wrote: "Pete Buttigieg wins the race to be the first major Democrat to blame Trump for Iran shooting down a civilian airliner flying out of Tehran."

"This is such a predictable response from the alleged 'moderate' in the Democratic field," attorney Matthew Kolken wrote. "It has become increasingly obvious that scoring political points and undermining Trump is more of a priority than national security. We live in interesting times."

But Buttigieg wasn't alone in his criticism of Donald Trump. This one came from the right:

"Regardless of why it may have shot down the plane, Iran is primarily responsible for the deaths of those 176 passengers," wrote Robby Soave of Reason. "But it is not absurd to assign the U.S. some responsibility, given that Iran's combat offensive was prompted by the Trump administration's decision to kill Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani in a drone strike. The Trump administration targeted Soleimani because of the man's long, odious history of organizing attacks on American forces, and could not have predicted the specific outcome of a confused enemy lashing out and inadvertently crashing a non-military airplane. But rash decisions prompt unintended consequences, and U.S. officials should have considered the broader mayhem that could result from a sudden escalation in hostilities. That's why I am surprised to see Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination, getting so much criticism for this tweet."

Trump Derangement Syndrome – it comes from every angle.