Editor,

Dr. Westergaard’s recent Letter to the Editor, Oct. 26, warned of the possibility of a dictatorship arising from “a minority in our congress and their supporters” who “would risk a global depression to advance their personal ideology” — presumably he’s referring to the Tea Party here — so I thought I’d list some additional characteristics of dictatorial abuse the good doctor may want to be on the outlook for as well.

A dictator:

• Never wastes the opportunity to use a crisis, real or imagined, to amass more power.

• Is unaccountable for his failures, someone else is always to blame.

• Rules by edict, decree or executive order.

• Ignores laws he doesn’t like.

• Uses otherwise apolitical government bureaucracies to attack his opponents.

• Uses the state security apparatus to spy on citizens at home and allies abroad.

• Has a dishonest and complicit “media” to act as his propaganda machine.

While I applaud Dr. Westergaard’s knowledge of history, he might want to open his eyes to what’s going on around himself as well.

Michael Zink

Langley