So long, Don

Dear Donald,

Before the 2016 US elections, I didn't know who you were. Sure, I'd heard your name, and knew there was a Trump Tower. But aside from this, I was blissfully unaware of you. I'm a Brit, you see. Even your cameo in Home Alone2 passed me by until recently. I first realised that something was amiss when I attended a family funeral. A cousin of mine, visiting from the States, said to me of her American husband, "Sorry, Jon, he's a Trump supporter!" and I wondered why she felt the need to apologise. Then I began to hear snippets of news regarding your opinions and proposals as you announced your intention to run for the presidency.

Foolishly, I laughed this off. The American public will never vote for this clown, I told myself. How wrong I was. Like millions of others, I rubbed my eyes and gaped in astonishment at the news that you, a failed businessman and TV 'celebrity' were now in charge of the most powerful nation on the planet. And it all went downhill from there, didn't it, Don?

At first, we laughed at your antics. Now, I was no great fan of Mr Obama, but he was possessed of a certain gravitas and charisma that charmed millions around the world. He was replaced by you, which was rather like exchanging Einstein with Homer Simpson. Many of us in the UK have great affection for our cousins 'across the pond'. Yes, there have been trying times and disagreements over the decades, but on the whole we enjoy a pretty good relationship. We were bemused by Ronnie Reagan, dumbfounded by George 'Dubya'. But you, Donnie, have taken America to a whole new level. And not in a good way. One of the abiding images of your 2016 campaign was your impression of a stroke victim. Classy. You appealled to the lowest common denominator. You preyed on the dissatisfied and disillusioned American public. You legitimised xenophobia and racism. You rode triumphantly on a wave of populist soundbites.

But that was okay, wasn't it, Donald? Because you were bold, different, 'non-PC'. You enabled those with an axe to grind to speak their minds freely, so where's the harm? Well, I'll tell you. You opened a Pandora's Box of hatred. You see, Don, while you personally are not the actual problem, you are an enabler, a catalyst, a harbinger of doom. You are the festering head on the over-ripe boil of America, filled with the pus of many decades. The nastiness that lurks beneath came spewing out on January 6, 2021. It was inevitable, to anyone with a brain, that this would be the outcome. But you don't care, do you, Don? The only person Donald J Trump cares about is himself. You don't care if America burns, as long as you get your way.

The problem is, you are a sociopath. And, like most sociopaths, you are a narciscist. Adulation, applause, praise - is all that matters to a 'stable genius' like you. You have manipulated your voters (cult members?) all for your own gain. From the outside (though some US citizens have woken to this truth) we can see that America has been duped; the American Dream is a lie. The 'Stars & Stripes' has been worshipped for decades, along with guns and a version of Christianity that bears little resemblance to anything in the bible. Your country's history, compared with most other places, is not that old. What else is there? The simmering resentment for anyone who 'makes it' in America's agressively Capitalist society, as well as the ludicrous demonisation of anything remotely Socialist, has left America wide open to the whims of someone like you.

And so, your reign comes to an end. The most positive thing we can say is that it only lasted four years. God alone knows the damage you'd have done in a second term. The only way you could outdo your abysmal record would be through WWIII. And this would still have been instigated purely to show machismo. But you leave behind a broken land. I pity those who are left to mop up the mess. What becomes of you remains to be seen. Hopefully, justice will prevail and you'll end your days in prison. Your empire is crumbling and you will fall. But what satisfaction is to be gained from knowing this, when innocent lives have been lost, and America, devastated by Covid19, is more divided than ever before? It will take a miracle to heal this land - a job which, I suspect, is beyond Mr Biden. All I can say is, God bless America, because she needs it now more than ever.

So long, Don, and thanks for nothing.