Dear editor:
When people argue that Donald Trump is not a dictator, they often use a trick that reminds me of Zeno’s paradox.
Zeno claimed Achilles could never catch a tortoise because each time he drew closer, the tortoise had moved just a little farther ahead.
In the same way, Trump is never “quite” a dictator because he is not Hitler, not Mussolini, not Stalin, not Putin.
The standard keeps moving, so the finish line is never reached.
By that logic, no one would ever be a dictator unless they matched the worst monsters of history exactly.
But dictatorship is not measured only against history’s most infamous examples. It is measured against how power is used here and now.
When a leader treats the law as a weapon against opponents but a shield for himself, that is dictatorship.
When a leader claims he can do “whatever he wants” with Article II, demands loyalty from judges and generals, and treats elections as legitimate only if he wins, that is dictatorship.
There are other markers too.
One is the use of “patriotic history,” rewriting the national story so that only government-approved versions of the past can be taught. Another is scapegoating.
Dictators almost always begin by targeting small, vulnerable groups they believe the majority will not defend. By punishing minorities — immigrants, LGBTQ people, disabled people — they train the majority to accept bullying as governance.
And then there is the matter of loyalty. Dictators thrive when legislatures stop acting as independent bodies and become rubber stamps.
They depend on lawmakers who defend every abuse as if it were noble.
This is where the Wyoming delegation comes in. Too often our representatives praise Trump as if he were infallible and dismiss constituents who raise legitimate concerns.
That is not representative government. That is enabling authoritarianism.
Trump may not be a dictator in the full, tragic sense of history. But he acts like one, and every step toward dictatorship is a step away from the constitutional self-government we are supposed to defend.
We should not need a Hitler or a Stalin before we notice the danger signs.
I will concede that Trump is not a dictator, if you concede that he acts like one, and our Wyoming delegation treats him like one.
Sincerely,
Gina Douglas, Casper
