AFFLUENZA

Definition of affluenza

: the unhealthy and unwelcome psychological and social effects of affluence regarded especially as a widespread societal problem: such as 

feelings of guilt, lack of motivation, and social isolation experienced by wealthy people

Affluenza is a expression that had been kicking around for years before it became well known in 2013 after a teenager was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and valium and killing four people.  At his trial, his family's high priced lawyer used the term to make the claim that the boy shouldn't be sent to prison because his wealthy parents had indulged him all his life, setting no boundaries and never teaching him right from wrong.  Amazingly, this absurd argument worked, and he was given ten years of probation, a pathetic display of everything wrong with our legal system.  It also placed the word firmly into the public's consciousness ( the above definition came from the Webster's website).  Personally, I think the time has come to use the term to describe our president and his often crazed response to the current impeachment process.
Since the beginning of the Ukraine scandal that has led to the impeachment proceedings going on right now in the House of Representatives, one thing has stood out: President Donald Trump has never admitted the tiniest bit of regret about his phone call with the Ukraine leader in which he openly asked for "a favor" regarding investigating his potential presidential opponent Joe Biden's son.  Not only has the president expressed no regrets about the possibility (now an almost certitude)   that he used the with holding of financial aid to a country, spending which had been  voted on and passed by congress, as a means to help him win reelection, but he has continually said that he has done nothing wrong, calling his phone conversation "beautiful" and "perfect."
This kind of deranged behavior in the face of what surely should be  impeachable  is just the latest example of Trump living a life in which he got to do whatever he wanted whenever he wanted without ever facing any real consequence.  I think that the president is clearly a sociopath, which is an inborn trait, but I also think that his extremely privileged upbringing  has enabled and focused his sociopathic tendencies to the point where he thinks everything he has ever done is perfect.  There are numerous examples of  his believing this, like when, during the campaign, while discussing religion,  he was asked if he ever sought forgiveness from God and, he said “I like to be good. I don’t like to have to ask for forgiveness. And I am good."  Amazingly, this rejection of the Christian virtues of forgiveness and humility didn't hurt him a bit with the Christian Evangelical vote.
This utter belief in his own rightness has lead to some horrible actions in Trump;s life: it would be seem to be apparent that in the past, if we are to believe multiple allegations and his own words on the Access Hollywood tape, Trump's way of expressing an attraction towards a woman is to get her alone in a room and shove her up against a wall while kissing and groping her.  Given the number of women over the years who have accused him of such behavior, it's safe to say that the he has been acting this way, (and more importantly, getting away with it) for years.  He has also gotten away with not releasing his tax returns,  multiple bankruptcies, and paying out twenty million dollars in a class action lawsuit over Trump University.  So of course he thinks that he did nothing wrong in his phone call and in his administration pressuring a foreign country to help him politically; it's just the latest in a long line of things he's never had to account for in his entire life. Putting it simply, Trump will never admit to any kind of mistake because he has never had to pay for one; his family's wealth and power have always bailed him out, so why shouldn't he continue to get away with everything?  While he never drinks alcohol or takes drugs, Trump clearly is a man addicted to his own bloated self worth and ego.  And sadly, the Republican party in the Senate appears poised to bail him out and enable him once again, allowing a man who never should have gotten near The White House to claim absolution for an obviously impeachable offense.  As America continues to sink into divided chaos...