The Difference Between A President And A Dictator

The difference between a president and a dictator is that a president presides over a nation of laws where the power of government can only be wielded with due process, while a dictator is an exercise of power at will, doing whatever he wants merely because he wants to. In our constitutional republic, no president should be allowed any arbitrary exercise of power that allows him to punish anyone he deems to be his enemy. Yet that is precisely what is happening with Trump acting to revoke the security clearance of former senior intelligence officials who criticize him. It is not only retaliation against Trump’s perceived enemies, but it is fully intended to send a message to others. This politicization of the security clearance process must not be tolerated. This is completely Nixonian territory. With Nixon, it was using the IRS to inflict tax audits as harassment, and using federal contracts and grants as the president’s personal tokens of favor or disfavor. A then-secret internal memo from the Nixon White House outlined “how we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies”. (Yes, that’s a quote.) This abuse of power was among the articles of impeachment against Nixon. What Trump has done to John Brennan, and is threatening to do to others, is no different. This is behavior one would expect from the leader of Cuba or Zimbabwe or Russia, but not the United States.