For decades, leftists and progressives have used terms like “dictator,” “fascist,” and “Nazi” to deride, smear, and cow their political opponents into submission — and, for decades, it worked.

It is, perhaps, little surprise that President Donald Trump has been called a “dictator” after announcing his federal takeover of Washington, D.C. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) glibly referred to Trump as “an aspiring dictator,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) claimed that the president “is grabbing power like a dictator,” and D.C. Young Democrats chief Jamal Holtz called the effort to rid the city of crime “a racist power grab” and “dictator control.”

Suffice it to say that the words have all but lost their meaning. After all, what is a dictator? What is a fascist? What is a Nazi? If Americans are shown a Washington, D.C. free of crime, safe to wander, perhaps even restored and beautified, and told, “That’s a dictatorship,” then they may just decide that dictatorship is agreeable. They may just decide that the world could do with a few more dictators.