This is my New Year’s column. I usually use it in a nostalgic manner, to remind us of the acts of the departing year and the hopes for the year-to-come. Somehow this year, that paradigm does not fit.
Before the results of the 2016 election were known, I wrote a column suggesting it was wise that we all wait before deciding what it all meant. Obviously, the results were different from my expectations. Even after the results were known, my suggestion was we wait to see what the president-elect’s actions might be, since his speech accepting the presidency suggested he hoped for the country to be more united for his term.
Observing not only his appointments but also his comments and behavior during the interregnum (lovely word – I had to look it up!) has led me to believe the waiting is over. Mr. Trump is the man we got to know during the long campaign – not just a character showing radical right orientation to appeal to those disaffected voters. This is who he really is.
So, I shall have to develop some new recommendations for those liberals among us who must deal with rule changes and try and sit out the news that comes from Washington – difficult to do when the press is covering everything that is done or discussed or contemplated, especially for a news junkie like me. But I can switch to novels and “whodunits” and Netflix, and my computer has Solitaire games and Scrabble. Games I can do something about; politics I can’t – but I’ll be voting again in 2020. Nothing lasts forever (except me, it seems), and avoiding current events will help me avoid stress and probably help me to live to vote again!
Now, what options are available to you? In addition to the options I intend to try (outlined above), you can get active in the Democratic Party, hoping to energize and activate younger voters who have new ideas to embellish – not eliminate – the hopes of those of us who are concerned about climate change, freedom of choice for women and their bodies, and civil rights for those of different colors, sexual orientations and religions. The Bernie Sanders phenomenon demonstrates there are many people who need a place to land – a home for those who want one.
We tired old liberals will be watching you young thinkers from our easy chairs. Happy New Year – have a drink for me!