Hope for the better

Well, it looks like we survived 2921.

Barely.

What can you say after we’ve had tornados in December, Q-Anon crazies in the Capitol, then Delta, now Omicron …

Whew. Still here though.

Ok, so there are six days left … call me an optimist.

The truth is, those tornadoes got me spooked. I understand severe summer weather coming near the solstice, but the winter solstice? Climate change is one thing, but climate turned upside-down is pushing it. I guess when we start seeing penguins turning in their tuxes for speedos we’ll know for certain we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Oh, but to wish that out of season cyclones were the only ill winds to blow last year. There was enough foul fury in the air to shake the foundations of darn-near everything.

But despite it all, the Republic still stands – although a year and 12 days ago that didn’t seem all that certain. Politically, the year started out like a bad fart in a crowded room and 12 months later we’re still waiting for somebody to own up to causing the stink.

In the 1860s Mr. Lincoln’s army marched along singing “We’re gonna hang Jeff Davis to a sour apple tree.” Last Jan. 6, Trump sent his civil warriors off with a similar goal in mind, but to our good fortune they failed to find either Mike Pence or an apple tree. About all they accomplished was to make the worst mess in our Capitol since an invading British army set it on fire during the War of 1812.

When he sent them off, Mr. Trump said he would be going with them but decided to stay home and watch TV instead. And now, as, one by one, the hapless Q-balls and MAGA minions are hauled into court and shipped off to jail Republicans are scattering like sow bugs from under an overturned rock to avoid having a light shined on their part in that day’s shenanigans.

That was just the start. It was gonna turn out to be a year when even good things turned out wrong.

Take the COVID vaccine – probably the one indisputably positive thing to come out of the Trump administration and here we are, a year after the first shots were administered to the body politic, having to take the anti-vaxers to court to keep ‘em out of the hospital.

A year ago who woulda thunk it? Back then rational people thought folks would be fighting to get to the head of the line to get the shot that would keep them from getting sick. I don’t think it’s coincident how for so many Republicans the Trump vaccine became an instrument of tyranny and oppression once Biden took office and not putting the kibosh on the pandemic promised to make life miserable for the administration – no matter how many real lives it cost.

It didn’t have to be that way. This time last year it looked like we were soon to have COVID under control. Around the country folks were starting to roll up their sleeves for a quick needle jab that promised to puncture the pandemic when the purveyors of fear and falsehood made not getting the shot a political Mantoux test.

And when Delta and Omicron delivered their viral one-two punch to a country that should have been breathing easy our health systems are staggering thanks to the folks who Made America Gullible Again.

Still, the year had a few bright spots. We got to see Captain Kirk in a spaceship again – a real one this time … too bad he didn’t bring any Vulcans or di-lithium crystals back with him. The State Fair happened, the Mississippi didn’t flood, and Joe Biden got a new puppy.

The sun came up every morning, gravity remained stable. My furnace just kicked in and there’s whisky in my glass.

I’m good for the moment and a new year’s coming.

Let’s hope for better.