New Year’s resolutions for the usual suspects

Before I propose some New Year’s resolutions, I shall pose this rhetorical question: Were the last 12 months awesome or what?

December 2016: A locked-and-loaded lunatic stormed a D.C. pizza parlor after right-wing nut jobs fomented the fake news that Hillary was running a child porn ring in the basement.

December 2017: Right-wing nut jobs supported an accused child molester for the U.S. Senate and attacked his credible accusers as fake news.

Yep, that’s how far we’ve fallen. Can we regain our footing as a nation in 2018? Perhaps it can happen if the usual suspects heed my suggested resolutions.

Democrats, in their quest to take back a congressional chamber, should resolve to seize the American middle. Trump and his abetters, with their craven tin-pot authoritarian attacks on the FBI, Robert Mueller, and the intelligence agencies, have handed Democrats the opportunity to be the party of law and order. Trump and his abetters, with their slavish servility to Russia and its hackers, have handed Democrats the opportunity to be the party of national security. Trump and his abetters, with their fake populist tax bill that fattens the one percent at the expense of everyone else, have handed Democrats the opportunity to be the party that once again champions the average Joe. Democrats should resolve to campaign on all three fronts.

As for Trump, he should resolve to heed Dwight Eisenhower. More than 60 years ago the Republican president, referencing his wartime command of the international drive to defeat fascism, said: “Look, I happen to know a little about leadership. I’ve had to work with a lot of nations, for that matter, at odds with each other. And I tell you this: You do not lead by hitting people over the head. Any damn fool can do that, but it’s usually called ‘assault’ — not leadership. I’ll tell you what leadership is. It’s persuasion, and conciliation, and education, and patience. It’s long, slow, tough work. That’s the only kind of leadership…”

Will Democrats fulfill the resolutions I proposed? The odds, at best, are 50-50.

Will Trump fulfill the Ike resolution? As if. Only if you believe in unicorns.

That leaves the rest of us. We must resolve to forge a new patriotism and rekindle the America we love. Happy New Year to all.