REVENGE

30 May, 2017

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher,

101 Main Street #380

Huntington Beach, CA 92648

Dear Congressman,

It seems to me increasingly clear that Trump is driven by two obsessions, neither one of which is the benefit of the people of America, let alone those who elected him. The first is self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment—the latter including, of course, his family. The second is vengeance: I firmly believe, now, that the man was so deeply humiliated, his ego so threatened by President Obama’s gentle put-down him at that White House Press even, years ago, that until this day he remains obsessed with getting even.

On the first issue, there is abundant evidence, among which: his refusal to release any meaningful information about his business affairs and to place those interests in blind trust; his transfer of his financial affairs to his sons; his daughter, Ivanka’s transparent use of her position to enhance her “brand” and the sales of her products; The blatant exploitation of his Washington hotel, his golf courses and his Mar-A-Lago estate to court foreign business and conduct affairs of state. Any one of these, in the tenure of a Democratic President, would attract ruthless Republican condemnation and endless congressional investigations.

As for the vengeance, I believe it to be motivated in good part, as suggested above, by the president’s* overly sensitive ego. A truly great man should be able to absorb such blows with a sense of perspective and a sense of humor. It appears that Trump has neither. Though I hesitate to mention it—and given a documented history of it in his previous life as a real estate tycoon—I do frankly wonder if there’s not some admixture of racism involved. Not a pleasant thought, I’ll admit, but could it be that humiliation at the hands of a black man proved all the more traumatic?

In any event, in view of the president’s* possible abandonment of the Paris Accord, his merciless attack on Obamacare, his threatened invalidation of his predecessor’s negotiation of a new relationship with Cuba, along with the current review of new national parks, not to mention countless other examples, it does seem that the man is obsessed with undoing everything, large and small, that Obama managed to accomplish.

I wish that you personally, Congressman, would explain—and possibly reconsider—your permissive silence in these matters.

Respectfully,

Peter Clothier, Ph.D.