As December's crisp days grow shorter, once again it's the time of year for reflection and summing up: Like, what about the year that was? And, going into 2023, is the overall trend this country is riding headed toward improvement, or toward the opposite?
Well, in 20 years, maybe a historian would answer, "Hey, 2022 could have been worse."
And, my ghost would agree with that historian. Speaking of worse, 2017 gave us that infamous praising of fascists quote, "very fine people on both sides." Or, look at 2020, with its monstrous pandemic and its launching of the Big Lie.
Of 2022, in spite of its many vexing troubles, I'm saying it was better than any of Donald Trump's four years in the White House. And, because I believe the corner has been turned, my thinking is that in 2023 we will see the process of recovering from the damage Trump has done to the USA gather more and more momentum.
During Trump's presidency dread routinely overshadowed hope. We watched helplessly, as Trump took to the bully pulpit to encourage the most angry and soulless of his followers to terrorize people they viewed as his enemies. As 2022 is winding down, with the mid-term results in the rearview mirror, Trump's image as a big-ass winner is losing its luster.
There's no way that Trump being seen as history's sorest loser is going to help with the Trumpist cult's recruitment in 2023. The damning January 6th Committee report will soon drop and that won't be a good day at Mar-a-Lago.
Of course, I'm not saying our troubles with Trump are over. Hardly that. Still, I am saying we've turned the corner.
There's no way that Trump being seen as history's sorest loser is going to help with the Trumpist cult's recruitment in 2023. The damning January 6th Committee report will soon drop and that won't be a good day at Mar-a-Lago.
Of course, I'm not saying our troubles with Trump are over. Hardly that. Still, I am saying we've turned the corner.
In 2023, I expect we're going see a steady stream of elected Republicans plotting a new course, to create some distance from the most bizarre stuff, such as calling for the "termination" of inconvenient parts of the Constitution. Yikes!
At happy hour in the back booth of the downtown pub, in the locker room at the tennis club, standing around the pool table in the basement, Republicans who want a future are going to be talking about how to let go of the Crazy ... as smoothly as possible.
Happy holidays, dear reader.
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