Donald Trump was one of the most despised and hated Presidents in U.S. history. He deserved to be. He attempted to prevent workers that our country sorely needs from immigrating from Mexico. He attempted to shut down our trade with China, where we were, effectively sending China newly printed greenbacks in exchange for real, usable manufactured goods. He was running for reelection against a clearly senile and corrupt Joe Biden. He had one issue going for him, an issue that should have secured his reelection. An economy that was seemingly doing well.
But he managed to blow it. He allowed his health agency bureaucrats to convince him that a virus that was statistically no more lethal than the 1968 flu epidemic was a civilization threatening pandemic. He took their advice and shut down the economy. That destroyed the economy and eliminated the only issue he had going for him. The ensuing mail-in ballots also gave Democratic machines more control over the vote counting and ensured his loss. With one ill-informed decision, instituting lockdowns, he proved that he is arguably more senile than Joe Biden.
The Senate Majority Leader, Mitch McDonnel appears to be having mini-strokes during news conferences. Nancy Pelosi and Dianne Feinstein are showing their own signs of decline in old age.
But the fact is 90% of incumbents in Congress win reelection. Most Presidents win a second term. The wind bag who lost in 2020 was an exception. Voters can be excused for voting for not doing the due diligence to research the record of every politician in every election they get to vote in. They are busy doing other stuff, like making a living.
The question is, why do old politicians cling to power. The obvious answer is that they like power. They probably have sociopathic tendencies to be involved in running for elective office in the first place. And once they get used to the perks, they don't want to give them up.
One of the hallmarks of dictatorships is that the dictator never leaves office except in a casket or a coup. With the January 6th demonstrations and the felony trials of Trump we have all the trappings of a coup. By both Republicans and Democrats. And given the ages of both Trump and Biden, we may see the next President leave office in a casket.
It looks like H. L. Mencken was right when he said "Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard."
That's this week's Report From the Fields. I'm Richard Fields. See you next week.