Happy New Year

I won’t dignify the title with an exclamation point. That would be too hopeful given the circumstances. As wrong as many points of our past have been, we still retain a governance structure that is driven by the people. The simple fact is that the new White House administration was barely elected at all, let alone far below 50% of voters.

Our system declares him the winner and thus has the authority to fulfill his role. It does not, however, give him the power to eliminate the system. He has authority to implement policy but not to implement major changes without the express authority, action and votes of the Congress. The US Constitution still rules. And the President must obey or face consequences.

One of those consequences are lawsuits for failing to follow the constitution. After all, he has pledged to obey the Constitution during his inauguration. Those lawsuits will be paid for by the taxpayers. They will be dragged out in time and distractions as long as it takes to establish that the rule of law still exists and must be followed. Making things up works in campaigns, not in court.

Another consequence is impeachment. It has happened before with this president, and I have a hunch it will happen again. Stay tuned for all the juicy possibilities.

At any rate, voters supporting this president will awaken one day to the reality that the past was not a Biden creation. No, it was a creation of hundreds of elected officials taking action rightly or wrongly. Both parties have been a party to our history for well over 200 years. This is not a one-person thing.

Besides, the Democrats have said for years that the middle class was being screwed and eliminated systematically. They were right to make the claim. Republicans were the actors of this bad faith objective and now we all are paying the price. Strange that far right Republicans are claiming that has been their message all along. It hasn’t been. Another example of intentional misspeak and distortion.

The best way forward is broad collaboration of all parties and then sensible decisions made in full faith of the law. That will spell a good year; otherwise not.

Like always, a Happy New Year is up to each of us. It takes an open mind, a lot of hard work, concentration and attention to facts and process. The question really is: do we have the discipline to do the job? Most of the time, America has had that discipline. The only question now is do we have the faith in our Constitution to make it work?

January 1, 2025

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