Editor,

I love the “experts.” Experts say higher prices likely outlast Iran war, from Times-News 6/16/26.

“Not so fast, experts say, it could take a while for consumers to see a difference at the local fuel pumps.”

Well, experts, it took about a week to go from $4.65 to $3.79 a gallon. That’s not quite “it’ll take a while.”

Another so called expert psychologist William Swan in a recent Letter to the Editor written by a Jim Thorpe resident studied Trump supporters.

He found when a person’s sense of self merges completely with a leader, criticism of that leader stops feeling like a disagreement. It feels like a personal attack. Swan called it identity fusion.

He goes on: once your identity merges with a leader, the brain stops evaluating evidence. It starts defending your survival. Behavior they would never accept from anyone else gets excused. Standards that apply to everyone else stop applying to Trump.

Crimes become sacrifices. Lies become loyalty tests. Not because their values disappeared, but because defending Trump feels exactly like defending themselves. This is why facts don’t work. They’re too emotional to think clearly.

If you ask me, who doesn’t have a psychologist degree, this sounds exactly like the radical left Democratic Party.

Mr. Swan is describing Biden/Harris/Democrat supporters to the hilt. Just simply insert a Democrats name in place of Trump and you got the same thing.

It seems as though TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) affects both sides.

Remember that old saying: to apply 1 pound of knowledge, it takes 10 pounds of common sense. You don’t need to be an expert, to expedite any common sense.

David Budda

Beaver Meadows