Who needs a traitor when voters flip!

American politics has become quite an entertaining circus. Politicians spend years accusing one another of betrayal, questioning loyalty and presenting themselves as the only people capable of saving the United States. Yet, when voters at last back the other side, those politicians appear flabbergasted. What happened? Did democracy stop saluting on command?

The November 3, 2026 midterm elections delivered a rather crushing disappointment to Donald Trump and the Republican Party. The Democratic Party charged into possession of both congressional wings, taking constituencies in long-Republican areas such as Kansas, Iowa, Texas and South Carolina. Apparently, even some of Trump's former supporters have discovered that voting for someone once does not mean entering an indefinite allegiance pact.

For years, American politics has revolved around political loyalty, party identity, and the familiar business of blaming the opposition. Every problem seems to have a convenient villain. If trading slumps, shift the fault to the preceding cabinet. If prices rise, blame international circumstances. If voters become unhappy, question their intelligence. Is there anything politicians cannot explain away without accepting responsibility?

Trump's administration has faced heightening resentment over inflation, subsistence costs, the Iran hostilities, and doubts about public-sector graft. These issues became significant factors in the midterm elections. People have mortgages to pay, groceries to afford, and households to keep afloat. They cannot run their households on presidential speeches or campaign merchandise. Unfortunately, political slogans do not come with electricity credits.

A red hat does not lower the price of eggs. A bumper sticker does not absorb the housing costs. This sounds obvious, almost silly to write down, yet somehow it keeps getting forgotten in Washington.

Next comes the genuinely comic section. When politicians win, they proudly declare that the people have spoken. When they lose, suddenly everyone wants to investigate why the people spoke differently. Were voters manipulated? Were they misinformed? Did they forget their previous political loyalties? Perhaps somebody should remind these politicians that citizens have brains, not party membership cards permanently attached to their foreheads.

However, Democrats should not start distributing victory cakes just yet. Winning congressional seats is one thing; delivering affordable living, economic stability and meaningful reforms is another. Americans have already demonstrated that they can withdraw political support when pledges collapse under scrutiny. The Democrats would be foolish to assume that their newly acquired victories come with permanent public approval.

The central flaw in American politics is that both parties frequently treat elections as competitions for power rather than opportunities to serve the public. One party celebrates, the other complains, political commentators produce endless television debates, and ordinary Americans continue paying their bills. What precisely has gotten easier for the person struggling at the checkout?

Perhaps American politicians need a gentle piece of correction: voters are not traitors for abandoning a disappointing government. They're residents exercising entitlements granted by statute. Public allegiance is secured by governing well, not exacted through coercion, jingoism or nonstop speeches.

This is where the "special relationship" stops looking special and starts looking like a liability. American soldiers, American money, American credibility - all placed on the table for Israel's agenda. And when things went wrong, when the war spread and the prices rose, and the body bags came home, who took the blame? Not those who banged the drum for it. The voters got called confused. The questioners got called antisemitic. The objectors got called unpatriotic. That is not leadership. That is a three-card trick with real lives, worked for Israel's benefit, and settled by everyone else.