Instead of throwing rocks and spears at one another to settle our differences our forefathers gave us a democratic system of government that includes a constitution, an independent judicial system, an independent press, and a government based on the rule of law. It can sometimes be a messy system and sometimes it seems that those on either side of a disagreement do not gain a thing. Sometimes issues are left unresolved for a very long time. For more than 200 years our democratic system has kept us (mostly) from picking up rocks and beating the brains out of those we don't agree with.
Through history groups of humans have tried all sorts of methods of living together. Frequently dictatorships have been tried, sometimes willingly, and sometimes dictatorships were thrust upon them unwillingly. I recently read a really good description of the difference between a Democracy and a Dictatorship. Democracy is about means, a dictatorship about ends. The ends are always those things that increase the power and prestige of the dictator. A system led by a dictator is in a lot of ways less messy. Everyone does what #1 wants, end of story. Dictators care only about the end result...how they get to that end result is of no consequence to them.
That brings us to President Trump. Whoa!! you say? No, I am not suggesting Trump is a dictator, he is not, at least not yet. It is worrisome that he has on more than one occasion expressed admiration for several world leaders of that variety but admiring and being are not the same. A core duty of a president is to protect American Democracy (all that messy stuff that are about the means, not the ends) but he has failed at that again and again.
Shutting down the government in order to get his way on a controversial issue is not protecting democracy. He used the government and almost a million government workers as bargaining chips.
He has demonized the press and calls them the "enemies of the people". He has attacked judges who have ruled against him. He has encouraged followers to actual violence against those who attempt to speak out against him. He has had conversations with Vladimir Putin of which no one else knows what was discussed, even other members of his administration. Since day one he has not tried to unify this nation.
No, I can't say Donald Trump is a dictator but he has shown no desire to nurture our democracy either. I'm not sure he even understands our democracy.
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