Ever wonder why Donald Trump is so widely hated? I have.

Trump is a successful businessman. So successful, in fact, that he's amassed a fortune of billions of dollars. This automatically makes him a target for certain people who fear the success of others. Those on the left are willing to tolerate billionaires only if they agree with the philosophy of the left. But as soon as a billionaire veers right, he's an evil S.O.B.

Trump didn't need the presidency. He was doing just fine without going into politics. He has homes, resorts, a large family, plenty of worldly goods, etc. By any rational measure, he is a success. Politics is a nasty, unpleasant game. He didn't need this in his life.

I can't speak to Trump's personal frame of mind, because I don't know him. But I'll hazard a guess that Trump entered politics because he loves this country, and he thought maybe he could help arrest the decline he (and all the rest of us) saw in our country. I doubt he saw himself as the "savior" of the U.S.A., but I'll bet he thought he could at least do something to help out. Probably something better than the bozos we've recently had in the White House.

Politics is a closed game. You're part of the club, or you're not. Those in politics recognize other politicians as part of the group, the elite who get to make the decisions and run things. By a sort of pale analogy, they're like Navy Seals. If you haven't been through the training and the missions, you can't understand what being a Seal is. No matter what you do or say, you're not part of that group. Politicians, in a sense, are like that.

Trump, as a businessman rather than a politician, doesn't belong in the political game. He hasn't "paid his dues". He went from nothing (politically) to president, all in one shot. So he doesn't belong in our group, the group of politicians. He's an outsider.

Those in politics and the people under them in government have a good thing going. They get paid pretty well, for one thing. For politicians, find me one who isn't significantly richer when he leaves office than when he entered. That didn't happen because his official pay is so much more than he was making before. His office affords him the opportunity to accept money in a variety of ways which are often at least unethical. Yet almost all politicians take advantage of this.

Trump doesn't need this additional money. He's already got more money than he could spend. And money is a form of influence. As a nation, we dole out foreign aid for the sole purpose of influencing the behavior of other countries. Vast sums are sent to the states in order to get them to comply with federal mandates. Non-compliance by the states means the loss of federal funds. Money is power, and when you can give or withhold money, you have the power to influence outcomes. And virtually all politicians are participants in this game.

We have 535 members of congress who can be and are bought. Trump can't be. He doesn't need your money, and you can't make him do what you want by giving or withholding funds. This is yet another way in which he differs from those already part of the government and politics.

Finally, congress, and particularly the Senate, is a nest of reprobates and criminals. Of course, not every politician is like this. Some are probably reasonable, ethical and moral people. (If you happen to find one, let me know.) Senators and representatives are constantly engaged in secret activities which could end their stays in office or possibly their political careers if revealed. The Senate has unspoken rules about not "ratting" on fellow senators. You don't make rules like that if you have nothing to hide.

So not only is politics an exclusive "boy's club", but those involved are often dirty. And other politicians are more or less sworn to secrecy about the antics of their fellows. By analogy, consider the case of Harvey Weinstein. He was a Hollywood mogul who was later found to be a prolific sexual predator. Thousands of people in Hollywood knew what he was, but how many spoke up? Only when his wicked activities hit the news did many finally come forward to attest to what they'd known for a long time. So it is with congress. Politicians don't tell on other politicians, often because they themselves are guilty of similar offenses.

Trump isn't part of this game. I'd venture to say that his past is pretty clean. The press and politicians have been doing an anal exam on the guy for three years, and still haven't turned up anything really incriminating. If it had been there, they would have found it by now. And among criminals, nothing is worse than someone who isn't also a criminal. They crave the company of those like them. And Trump doesn't fit that profile.

In all the ways I've noted above, Trump doesn't "fit" in the world of politics. He's not like those people in many ways. And they fear and hate him because of it.

For what it's worth I've seen this phenomenon before. A relative of mine was sent out for expensive managerial training by upper management. She was slated to return from her training as the leader of a branch of the organization. She'd been working for that branch for a year and had done well, thus her selection for training. But her fellow employees were mostly ex-druggies who sort of coasted through their jobs. She was the single non-druggie, bright-eyed young performer. When she returned from training to the branch, she was roundly rejected by the other employees. In the end, despite all the money and time spent on grooming her to take on the executive role, the experiment was a failure. She left in disgrace, because the employees hated her and would not cooperate with her.

Trump is hated because he's an "outsider" who can't be manipulated and isn't part of the criminal underworld of politics. And among politicians (and large swaths of Americans) these sins are unforgivable.