Letter: Who is really the dictator?

Dear Editor,

To all those people hung up on the idea of Trump being a dictator, you need to think otherwise. You need to take a nice look in the mirror. Joe Biden said this three weeks prior to the election to George Stephanopoulos about the dangers of governing like a dictator. 

“I have this strange notion, we are a democracy; if you can’t get the votes you can’t [legislate] by executive order unless you’re a dictator. We’re a democracy. We need consensus.” 

In President Biden’s first week alone he signed 37 executive orders and actions.  That’s 33 more than the guy he indirectly referred to as a dictator, in the form of predecessor Donald Trump. It’s 32 more than his old boss, Barack Obama, and 37 more than George W. Bush, who signed zero in his first week as president. 

“With unity we can go do great things, important things,” Biden said during his inaugural address. “Unity is the path forward. We must meet this moment as the United States of America. We’ve never failed in America when we’ve acted together.”

“Without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward,” he also said in a speech lauded by those on both sides of the political aisle. 

But Biden’s deeds, with more than three-dozen executive orders and actions, simply have run in direct contrast with his words of unity and compromise. That’s a nice way of saying that; at least so far, everything the president promised regarding working with the other side has been utter nonsense. 

Ultimately, most executive orders stem from a president’s desire to bypass Congress. Biden’s actions are the opposite of someone who preaches compromise, something a majority of the Democrats, Republicans and Independents ultimately want, but did not get with this administration. 

I didn’t see Trump weaponize the DOJ and label parents who questioned school boards as terrorists. 

I didn’t see Trump have the FBI try to infiltrate conservative Roman Catholic Churches by trying to jail people who were pro life. 

I didn’t see Trump Donald Trump raid Joe Biden’s house and then give him four indictments. So authoritarian-like to do that to somebody, not only raid their house, but four indictments and then try and ruin their business. 

I didn’t see Trump try to hire 187,000 IRS agents to harass the taxpayers. 

The list goes on and on. Who is really the Dictator?

Sincerely,

Jim Outman

Owego, N.Y.