Things don't happen in a vacuum.  World events don't just spring up for no good reason.  Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, and Mao Tse-tung didn't just appear on the world stage out of thin air.  As bewildering as some events appear, even nonsensical tragedies such as JFK's assassination and 9/11 had surrounding circumstances and rationales.

Such is the case with the election and rejection of President Donald Trump and the subsequent appearance of President Joe Biden. 

These men didn't just happen.  President Trump was elected on the heels of eight disappointing years of President Barack Obama — a presidency that saw America embarrassed and diminished on the world stage, a sinking economy, and many Americans' dismal outlook of the future. 

Trump was seen as the antidote to the self-serving establishment.  Always a threat as a true outsider, he became the establishments' kryptonite when he started to fight back, something Republicans had little stomach for. 

Power is an intoxicating drug.  Once ingested, it courses through a person's body and soul, rendering many incapable of clear sight or thought.  He was such a great guy until that promotion went to his head.  She was a wonderful person until she won the sweepstakes.  Stories like these are all too familiar, and the reasons are simple.

Political power is nothing unique or different.  Trump challenged and threatened the power perpetually held by the Washington, D.C. establishment — a system of interconnected desires and needed outcomes. 

Apart from Trump, what other president, Democrat or Republican, acted upon closing the southern border?  None.  What other president promised and delivered moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem?  None.  And what other president stood up to the one-sided trade practices of China?  None.

The reasons are unmistakable; all three of the above events remained in place for years because all three events maintained the power of the Washington, D.C. establishment. 

Biden was the best chance that the institution had at keeping its power secure, but unfortunately, he was already afflicted with a declining mental capacity. 

The Washington elites, assisted by propagandized and unscrupulous media, hid Biden's failing cognitive condition and family corruption away from the American people.  And so here we are with the bleak prospects of three more years of pain.

Make no mistake: the establishment or swamp, call it what you want, is well aware of Biden's and Harris's dismal approval ratings.  Their insatiable quest to maintain power, along with the reality of a Republican wave, will most likely cause them to act in imprudent ways dangerous to the Republic.  With this in mind, in the weeks and months to come, all Americans must be extra-vigilant regarding voting rights legislation as well as any proposed changes to the structure of the Supreme Court. 

Rick Hayes is an award-winning New York City–based writer with 20 years' experience regarding political and social topics.

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