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Letter: Trump is a textbook case

(Evan Vucci | AP) President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally at Kellogg Arena, Wednesday, Dec. 18, 2019, in Battle Creek, Mich.

Perhaps the saddest fact of the Trump presidency is that his impeachment was entirely predictable the day he took office.

Many professionals working in corrections and psychiatric settings saw it coming, as is evident from a simple Google search. Entering the terms "Donald Trump sociopath" produces almost 850,000 hits, many of which predate his election.

Quoted in Crosscurrents, clinical psychologist George Simon — a specialist in the field — found Trump to be “so classic that I’m archiving video clips of him to use in workshops because there’s no better example of his characteristics. Otherwise, I would have had to hire actors and write vignettes.”

He conducts lectures and seminars on manipulative behavior exhibited by narcissists, psychopaths and sociopaths — all related anti-social personality disorders. Often able to convince others of their sincerity and concern for others, behind “the mask of sanity” they present lurks a moral imbecile.

Calvin R. Petersen, Ph.D., Farr West

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