Letters to the Editor for September 4, 2019

Trump should not remain in office

Many in our media, both print and television talking heads, have failed to grasp or otherwise communicate the cause of Donald Trump’s strange and increasingly bizarre, unstable behavior. Why is that? They continue to waltz around the central problem. I’m no expert, but I have had an intuitive sense of who he is since early in his campaign. Some real experts, trained in psychiatry or psychology, have refrained from making any diagnosis of his mental condition. Only a few have had the courage to publish their conclusion that Trump’s mental condition is that of a malignant sociopath. That’s because of a rule that these professionals shouldn’t speak out without “personally” examining the “patient.” However, all one has to do is to observe him daily in action on television as most of us have.

You might have observed the following character attributes of President Trump over the past three years: extreme narcissism, absence of empathy, no display of conscience, cruel, a bully, extremely sensitive to criticism, anti-social and frequent displays of grandiosity (“I’m the Chosen One”). Nonetheless, I believe these major character flaws are not his fault. He was likely born or developed this way. We should have some compassion for his mental condition, but he should not be re-elected to the presidency. He’s far too dangerous and destructive to remain in office.

John H. Garvin

Minden