I Think We Need To Talk About Donald.

Good morning. My name is Paul, and I am a Trumpaholic!

It’s been over two years since I fell into this terrible malaise when, before November 2016 my only association with a certain Donald J. Trump was a passing interest in his over the top brash and garish buildings that he seemed to throw up like mushrooms across America.

My addiction began when against all odds a rogue, brash outsider rose from being a dubious, unethical real estate developer and a sometimes reality TV star to suddenly taking up residence in the most powerful office in the ‘free ‘world.

In some ways, at the time it was amusing but the amusement was, of course, short-lived, and it was at that point my obsessiveness could only be termed addiction. Each day when I rose the first thing I did, before even having my first cup of coffee was to rush to watch the news in order to see what the man had got up to while I slept.

He certainly didn’t disappoint!

Within days of taking office, he systematically set about destroying everything his predecessor had achieved during the previous eight years. A ban on Muslims entering the country; N.A.F.T.A., discarded; The Paris Climate Treaty, torn up; E.P.A agency, disbanded; the beginnings of a simmering trade war with China; The nuclear proliferation treaty, tossed aside. A litany of ill thought - out policies poured like a raging torrent from his office, eagerly implement by his fawning sycophants who rushed to do his bidding.

With his place set firmly in the highest office in the land he felt he had the license to demean, belittle, disrupt and ridicule, and, in doing so deflect any responsibility for the impoverishment of decorum and any shred of decency that has shadowed him at every step along the path of his rise to power.

It is this ultimate power that allows him to erode any national debate by way of lies, insults and deception in order to further his own warped agenda? Some call it populism, but Trump represents a deeper, more septic socio-psychological disease, Nationalism. His demeanour is shrouded in ill-disguised racism along with anti - Semitism and a huge dollop of misogynistic behaviour thrown in for good measure. A narcissist, he craves the affection of his deluded followers whom he fires up at numerous rallies across America where thousands gather to worship at the feet of the emperor with no clothes.

His rhetoric, delivered from the pulpit of hate is infused with the same DNA as the white nationalists who, for 150 years ran roughshod over poor, oppressed black people.  During his brief time in office, it has become abundantly clear that he is prone to those self- same delusional abuses that we thought were buried a long time ago. His misuse of power and his charge towards dismantling democratic institutions are racing ever-forward into what can only be termed, a state of illiberal democracy.

The trouble with political cancer and the deep divisions among the American people that Trump has managed to nurture, is that he feeds off criticism, referring to it as ‘fake news’ and then twists the truth, critique and rejection as the bizarre foundation around which he creates momentum and, in doing so popularises his message.

This manoeuvre is one that Trump uses when he insults and ridicules the press, except of course his beloved Fox News, owned and operated by the chief sycophant of them all, the kingmaker, Rupert Murdoch. The 1st amendment is one that Trump has scant respect for, craving instead for a single news channel that he can use to further his agenda.

Criticism strengthens his voice amongst his supporters as he stokes the fires of discontent, provoking enmity which eliminates any semblance of reasonable debate. This is not a new, or indeed a brilliant tactic as it is one that has been nurtured and employed by numerous self – seeking despots, dictators and authoritarian leaders before him and sadly, I suspect that he won't be the last to use it.

Trump’s continuing travelling circus of polarisation somehow becomes even stronger when it faces confrontation. and Trump is no stranger to that sentiment, in fact. confrontation is something he thrives upon, browbeating weaker opponents into submission by way of lawsuits and intimidation. He is, and always has been a bully and, as with all bullies, they can only be defeated by ignoring them, banishing them to a lonely island of their own dysfunction.

Donald J Trump is an enemy of a good society, believing that he is above the rule of law and able to ignore the concept of principled debate and shows not a shred of decency by fabricating blatant untruths coupled with an iron- clad unwillingness to be intimidated.

It would appear that hundreds of millions of people around the world are as addicted as I am when it comes to following his catastrophic day to day activities and we all have to find a suitable cure.

Perhaps I should go ‘cold turkey’ and test my willpower by not tuning into the news each morning and reading about his latest exploits o,r should I join a group and begin a twelve step programme and have a strong-willed sponsor to support me?

Of course, the ultimate cure will come when the deluded despot who created this terrible angst is shown the door or is locked up in a federal institution.

We can only hope.

Paul v Walters is the author of several international best selling novels. When he is not cocooned in sloth and procrastination in his house in Bali he also writes for several international travel and vox pop journals.