As President Trump sends the military into Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Chicago in a pretense of fighting crime, maybe now the American people will finally realize this is what a dictatorship looks like.

To begin with, he usurped the power of Congress and appointed the richest man in the world to fire federal employees, cut federal budgets and close government departments.

Again taking power from a weak Republican-controlled Congress, Trump gave himself the power to set tariffs and has proceeded to wreak havoc on the American and world economies. 
Where diversity, equity and inclusion were once core American values, Trump has made DEI a crime against whiteness and seeks to punish schools, corporations and municipalities that support these virtues.

He has perverted public service such that employees and appointees must now pledge allegiance to Donald Trump, not the Constitution. Public servants now serve Trump, not the American people.

Trump has ICE and the Border Patrol picking up immigrants who have not been convicted of any crime and sending them to far-away prisons without due process in what can only be described as an American gulag.

Like dictators worldwide and throughout history, Trump has acted to silence his critics in the media, the courts and on campuses. So do not be surprised when Trump seeks an unconstitutional third term in 2028. If Vladimir Putin can stay in power indefinitely, why not Donald Trump?

Edgar Allen Beem
Brunswick