Is it just me?

[NanceGreggs]

Every time I read a news article that refers to "the president" or POTUS, I think it's about Obama. It takes me a few seconds to realize that the "president" being referred to is Trump.

I sometimes get a couple of sentences into a news item stating "the president said today", or "POTUS is planning a meeting with", before it hits me that the article is not about Obama.

It's not just a matter of consciously not acknowledging Trump as a legitimate president, or "not MY president" - it's more a matter of simply not connecting that title/position with the current occupant of the WH. Trump = president simply doesn't compute.

Does this happen to anyone else?

[monmouth4]

1. I just mentioned this to another DUer this morning. I hear "President" and I'm anxious, for a

moment, to hear or see what Obama is doing. Then it hits. That's why whenever there is an article on any of the Obamas, it's such a relief. Wish I didn't fear for him so much..

[katmondoo]

4. It happens to me almost all of the time

I am constantly checking myself, the only real POTUS is Obama in my mind.

[Hortensis]

24. Same here. Obama was president.

Trump a huge national hole we stumbled into.

I don't fear for Obama, though, just now when you bring it up. There was a time after the election and when Fox News and most right-wing media were avidly, boldly trolling for assassins, when I seriously, gravely feared Obama wouldn't survive his first term, and perhaps some of his family.

[Jarqui]

31. Before he got elected, I thought his chances of surviving his first term

were poor. I was very frightened for his family. Had recurring nightmares for a year or more.

They said the threats against him went up about 400% over previous presidents.

I had some first hand experience reporting a threat. The Secret Service obviously did a great job for that and throughout.

[underpants]

2. At his speech last week it still didn't seem to fit

When he was introduced and walked in it still didn't seem real that he was the POTUS.

[narnian60]

45. Totally agree.

[meadowlark5]

3. Honestly, I bristle when I hear dumpy referred to as president

It just sounds so wrong to me. It's like nails on a chalk board. I will never, ever refer to him as president Trump. Sometimes I say, "well now we have a president that is an idiot or is a fascist or is a Putin lackey - but never president trump. Nope.

[babylonsister]

5. Me neither and I never will acknowledge that name with that title. nt

[FSogol]

21. Same here. n/t

[world wide wally]

6. Do you mean it's not just a bad joke?

[bullsnarfle]

38. Not a bad joke.

A bad dream. A bloody freakin' nightmare.

[RKP5637]

7. My mind just does not link the words Trump and President. To me, he's an aberration. n/t

[Dem2]

8. It happens to me all the time

I can't and probably never will be able to internalize that this isn't just some sort of sick joke.

[chelsea0011]

9. You think that's bad? Anytime I have to refer to the POTUS, I keep calling him Bush.

I have a brain disconnect that the clown is POTUS.

[calikid]

10. It happens to me almost every time, untill I read that the president is doing something disgusting.

[stillcool]

11. the word and ..

the image don't fit. I see the Donald as the "you're fired' guy....or all the photos of decades long media coverage.

[Cyrano]

12. You bet. The words "President Trump" are odiious

I'm old enough to remember when Barack Obama was president. Oh, wait, was that just a few months ago.

[Gothmog]

13. Same here

I automatically first think of our real president

[frogmarch]

14. Yes, and especially now

with everyone talking about the fantasy wiretap that the president insists that the president ordered.

[Starry Messenger]

15. That and phrases like "statement from the White House..." etc.

I am accustomed to those making sense and not being some dictat from the demon factory.

[Liberalagogo]

16. SCROTUS

So-Called Ruler Of The United States.

[gademocrat7]

17. Yes

I only think of President Obama. Never the orange imposter.

[HughBeaumont]

18. There was an article commenting on the First Lady's statements about children's health . . . .

. . . and at first I thought it was a disparaging article meant to discredit Michelle Obama.

Then I realized that it was about Melania.

That's when it sunk in . . . . Michelle Obama is no longer the First Lady.

Then the dread came.

[whathehell]

19. No!..I do the same thing!

[jaxind]

20. So funny!

It happens to me all the time, and I was going to ask the same question here on DU! If they just say "President" without the tRUMP at the end of it, I automatically think Obama first. I guess I can't put the words President and tRUMP together!l

[niyad]

22. yes, all the time. actually, I expect to see HRC's name there.

[mcar]

23. Happens to me too

[Fla Dem]

25. Yep, me too. Just can't get my mind to accept DJT as my President. See him as

reality show character.

[gerryatwork]

26. Fake President

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fakepresident&defid=11064440

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

27. Me, too.

When I hear a reference to "the president" I immediately think of the guy who was a real president, not that orange buffoon who's squatting in the Oval Office.

[greatauntoftriplets]

28. I'm adopting the term my mother used for Reagan.

The idiot in the White House.

[NanceGreggs]

34. MY BIL ...

... always called Reagan "scrotum-throat".

A friend of mine refers to Trump as "the Putz on the Potomac" - which I think would be a great title for the book about this whole debacle!

[ladym55]

39. Putz on the Potomac

I like that. I'll add that to my collection of terms for the vulgar talking yam. I can't call him president--even have a hard time calling him by name.

We don't have a presidency right now. We have a Klown Kar of white supremacists making an absolute hash of everything they touch.

[greatauntoftriplets]

43. I don't think I ever heard my mother use the word "scrotum".

"Pile of crap" was more her speed. "Putz on the Potomac" is perfect.

[NurseJackie]

29. He's still campaigning. That contributes to the disconnect.

[LisaM]

30. Well, in my lifetime, we've had so many crappy Presidents, that it's not my favorite word.

The first one I really remember is Nixon, but I've had to suffer through Reagan, both Bushes, and now this. It seems unfair. (Bill) Clinton and Obama were just blips, frankly, in the whole continuum of terrible. 16 years in a row of a Democratic president would have made an enormous personal difference to my mental health.

[murielm99]

35. Your mental health is important.

We all have to be careful if we want to fight this. We need to stay mentally and physically strong. It is a shame we have to keep fighting this, but I guess eternal vigilance is the price we pay for democracy.

We have to remember that, as we go forward, it is not just trump. We need to point the finger at the repubbies who have been leading us to this for years. We need them out of office, even if they are not trump fans in an overt way. They vote with that caucus and enable him. This includes my congressman.

I am trying to keep mentally sound. I have a family member who has had to get hold of himself. His marriage and his health were suffering because of all this. He is looking for healthy distractions now.

Sometimes, we have to stop reading DU and other political sites. We have to go out for dinner. We have to see movies or concerts that have nothing to do with all this crap.

Good luck and hugs to you, LisaM

[LisaM]

42. I'm trying. It was the stolen 2000 election that really changed me.

Before that, I thought of myself as a cheerful person. I've been pretty angry since 2000.

[Amaryllis]

32. Absolutely. It's like a black comedy satire.

[RobertDevereaux]

33. Another vote for SCROTUS...

. . . and sometimes his full name, Scrotus McShitGibbon.

[mindfulNJ]

36. Me too

and I always get this weird feeling in my stomach when I remember.

[Doreen]

37. Sometimes I do and other times I do not.

When I do I get sad when I realize it is not our beloved Obama.

[coco22]

40. All the time..

Sometimes the journalists say Obama.

[nadine_mn]

41. I am the same way - or esp if I hear FLOTUS

Michelle instantly comes to mind.

Whenever I see Trump behind the Presidential seal, sitting in the oval office, etc - I feel like it's not real, like I am being punked.

I just keep thinking, ok joke's over, let's get back to the real President. "Former" President Obama just hurts to hear.

[lunatica]

44. I've noticed that happens to me too

[Jane Austin]

46. Happens to me every time,

especially when it's on the radio or teevee.

Unless they call him "trump" I think they're talking about Obama.

[Denzil_DC]

47. It's actually quite a good test of partisanship.

It's not just you.

I still occasionally forget briefly, and I'll read "The White House" did something or "the president" said something utterly lunatic, and I think "WTF?!"

Then I remember.