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THE PRESIDENT AND HIS PREY: Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

Donald Trump’s greatest skill is destroying his enemies and competitors. He has an uncanny ability to intuit a person’s weakness and do whatever is necessary to destroy him (or her).

He brings to mind the sense of smell that dogs and other carnivorous mammals have — 1 million to a thousand million times greater than humans have. Think bomb smelling and drug smelling dogs.

We have a president who has the ability to decipher an opponent’s weakness and then go in for the kill — name calling, devaluing or outright bullying. He’s really a winner at what he does because he lacks what most of us have — a conscience.

His lies and clever smoke screens are better than most of us can muster because he doesn’t feel guilt or the sense of responsibility that honesty demands.

What’s the answer? It’s the same answer that a deceived spouse acts upon quite often — if a spouse constantly lies and is incapable of change, divorce him.

How can the American people divorce a president who has no respect for the truth; who attacks people at a whim, including heads-of-state?

If our elected officials don’t do what they should, we need to speak out until they finally listen. It happened with the Vietnam Nam war and Richard Nixon’s lies and there is no rational reason it can’t happen now.

If you enjoyed reading, Inside the Mind of a Psychiatrist, you might also enjoy Dr. Smukler’s novels, Chasing Backwards, a psychological murder mystery, Skin Dance, a mystery, and The Man with a Microphone in his Ear. All are available as paperbacks and eBooks.

I LOVE THAT BERNIE SANDERS IS NOT A PUPPET TO ORGANIZED RELIGION, by Art Smukler, author & psychiatrist

Recently, Bernie Sanders was asked whether he is religious. He said, “Yes, I am religious. When a child is hungry, it really bothers me. When a child can’t get the medication he needs because his parents don’t have insurance, it bothers me. When people are oppressed and discriminated against, it bothers me.”

Years ago, when I decided to become a physician, I was asked by a medical school interviewer why I wanted to become a doctor. I answered, “I want to help people.” The interviewer, a research chemist, then spent the next hour telling me how research chemists also help people. One month later, one of the most important, happiest experiences in my life (ranking up there with marriage and the births of my children) occurred. I was accepted to medical school.

Helping others is really what religion and being a good person is all about. It’s not about pandering to the religious right who HATE everyone who doesn’t agree with them and donates huge amounts of money to the candidates who can hate along with them.

Wouldn’t it be a relief to truly separate church and state, as our constitution espouses, and focus on making our country a place where we once again can spend our energy taking care of each other?