A THOUGHT FOR THE END OF THE YEAR
This time last year, I was looking “through a glass darkly.”
It was pretty obvious the Russians were going to invade Ukraine, and I didn’t think my friends there had much of a chance.
I was wrong. My friends and their friends and everyone else there has surprised the world, and become the beacon of freedom, the examples for all of us.
It seemed pretty obvious that the right wing in America was not only going to survive the insanity of 2021 but they might even prevail.
I was wrong. Their “red tsunami” turned out not to even be a mud puddle in the rain.
I thought the new reactionary majority on the Supreme Court were going to work their will and we were all going to be stuck with it.
I was wrong. Even in Kansas - Kansas! - people voted to keep their state constitution pro-choice.
I thought the Democrats were going to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory once again and would be up the creek because of Manchin and Sinema.
I was wrong. The Democrats discovered unity and discipline and they brought forth mighty accomplishments from minimal majorities.
This year I am thinking we might just continue to act with what we have learned, let the Republicans make fools of themselves, keep up our work on organizing for 2024, and take back the House, keep the White House and expand the Senate.
Now that we know what to do and how to do it.
And f inally thank each of you who make this little project something I love to work on, because you’re here.
Thanks for everything you’ve done this past year.
May each of you and yours have a really great 2023.
And an hour ago I got through with the correction read-through of this coming year’s book. I might even avoid the Tillman Rule (“No matter how many times you go through the manuscript, the worst typo will be found the day the book is released.”)
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I kind of hate to say it, but I love it when you're wrong, TC. Ditto for myself. And in this case, I'm only too happy to admit the error of my ways, since my views were quite similar to yours.
In that vein, with your permission I'd like to share an end of the year thought or two of my own. Actually, I posted this in comments yesterday in the Triad over at the Bulwark, in which Bill Kristol did a guest piece. Whatever one may or may not think of Kristol, I thought it was pretty good. Like many others at this time, he spoke of some of the political happenings of the past year, as well as some things that didn't happen. Along with those things, he spoke of "the curve of the future", and of hope.
The following is the reaction that elicited from me. And I hope my repeating it here will have the same effect on others. I've slightly edited the last paragraph, the reason for which should be apparent...
The curve of the future is always bending. In what direction and how far depends on who's pushing on it, and how hard.
In this country, our country, America, we would do well to remember that when it comes to the people who believe in liberal democracy, who believe in the rule of law, who believe in the self-evident truths of our founding documents, there's one hell of a lot more of us than of those who sneer at, shun and seek to undermine and destroy those precious values for their own personal gain, whatever that gain may be.
This New Year's we should all remind ourselves of why we are here. Literally. Some by circumstance of birth, some by choice, as far as living on this soil goes. But we are where we are in the greater sense because of all those who came before us who did not sneer at nor shun those values, who bent their shoulders against the curve of their futures in ways both large and small, and in doing so created a future for us to live in the freedom and with the liberties we enjoy today.
I'm not big on New Year's resolutions. They're more often than not hard to keep, and often are quickly forgotten. But we could all do worse than to resolve that in the coming year we each remind ourselves from time to time why we're here. And resolve to bend our shoulders against the curve of the future so that the efforts of those who came before will not be wasted, and the arc of history, however slowly and painfully, will continue to bend toward justice, and the attendant freedom, liberty and opportunity that true justice realized brings.
I wish you and yours a truly Happy New Year, TC, as well as all those in your TAFM family. I'm pretty sure we all know in the end why we're here. And as pessimistic as I often can be, that gives me hope for better things to come.
Thank you, TC, and Robert and Heather and Dan for your perspectives and encouragement to be the good citizens we must be to protect this cherished democracy. here’s to a happy, healthy new year filled with love and joy as we work to perfect this union of ours.