We gratefully bid adieu to annus horribilis and welcome a new year. 2020 will long be remembered as a low point in American history. With the massive death rate from the coronavirus, for which we did a pathetic job tackling, we witnessed the equivalent of nearly 10 9/11 terrorist attacks. The year was so uniquely bad that “unprecedented” was deemed the word of the year. We witnessed an impeachment process that was never going to lead to a conviction. Our attorney general, wrongly proclaimed the Mueller report exonerated Donald Trump, when only Department of Justice guidelines prevented Mueller fromm charging a sitting president. An unbelievably large number of elected Republicans enabled the president in his denying the legitimacy of the election. Further, millions of Republican voters, having drunk the Trump brand of Kool-Aid, believe the election was rife with fraud, disregarding in the process the fact that in 50 lawsuits seeking to overturn the election, each of the attorneys for the plaintiff, Donald Trump, openly denied in court that any evidence of voter fraud existed.
So, thank the Lord the truly terrible, horrendous year is ending. But can we really expect 2021 to be significantly better? Yes, in the case of COVID-19, although many thousands more will die before getting the life-saving vaccine. Millions will even refuse to take it and will continue to avoid mask-wearing and social distancing because it is simply too inconvenient to think of the safety of others.
Can we expect the American political scene to be vastly improved? I am just optimistic enough to expect a small improvement. The new president will attempt to govern rather than attend countless political rallies. He will not spend his waking hours texting dog whistles. He will not constantly toss out red meat to his base. Rather, he will attempt to tackle the multitude of problems facing the American people, not the least, the abyss that is our political division.
In that effort I am not optimistic. Preferring legislative action, the president-elect said he does not want to govern by executive order. I doubt it will take long before he alters his thinking, for I see no evidence that the GOP congressional leadership is open to bipartisan legislation. Yet there is a myriad of critical problems that must be addressed, and only in a bipartisan fashion can we expect crucial results.
The single issue that will take up most of the effort in 2021 is to rebuild the economy from the devastating blow it received in 2020. But the other critical needs must also be met. America must rebuild bridges to our allies and their faith in the U.S. restored. The U.S. must regain its global moral leadership. It must rejoin the fight against climate change, rather than call it a hoax.
The government, in its efforts to rebuild the economy, must simultaneously tackle three other pressing issues. These are income inequality, racial inequality and repairing our crumbling infrastructure. China’s economic growth is a result of its mass infrastructure buildup that far exceeds our own national effort. Income and racial inequalities are tied together, and economists tell us that reducing such inequalities will vastly improve America’s economic might.
The most difficult task facing the president-elect will be the toughest and the singular issue that requires the greatest bipartisan effort. That is the unification of the American people. The future of our nation requires the end to tribalism and an end to placing party before nation. That will not be easy. It will require an American electorate that truly wants positive changes, that wants a better, stronger America.
Michael Adkins formerly was chair of the Hancock County Democratic party. Send comments to [email protected].
