yet more on the "a" word

[Allan Ides]

Out of respect for those who took offense at my use of the word
"authoritarian," I write briefly to explain my intended meaning.  In
reference to government practices, I take "authoritarian" to describe
those practices that tend toward a centralization of power in a single
person or institution which may then exercise that power
with relative impunity.  That's it.  Describing an administration as
having such a tendency is, as someone else pointed out, not the same as
saying that this or that person is a jerk.  Rather, it suggests that the
the actions undertaken by the person or administration in question may
pose a threat to the constitutional balance of powers by aggrandizing
power in a particular branch.  I can see how people would disagree with
such a description as to the Bush Adminstration, but I shouldn't think
it would be taken as a personal insult.

As to whether authoritarianism is a trait of the right or left, I would
simply observe that the Constitution presumes that all persons,
regardless of political creed, have the potential to seek and abuse
power.

Allan Ides