The notion that Donald Trump is some new phenomenon on the political scene is sadly mistaken. Would that he were. His type has been seen before -- all over Latin America, which may explain why the United States has prospered, and even remained a republic, while much of the rest of the continent has seen dictatorships come and go. Just abandon the foundations of republican government -- like the rule of law under an independent judiciary -- and there's little to prevent our becoming a banana republic too. Our current president toys with ruling by executive decree every time Congress...