I am not looking forward to 2024.
It’s an election year, and we all know what has happened in the last few election years. Especially 2016 and 2020.
On January 6th, it will be three years since a group of rioters stormed the Capitol building in Washington, DC and left in their wake broken glass and other property damage (including poop on the walls). They terrorized and traumatized the 535 members of Congress who were carrying out their duty to certify the Electoral College results.
And to this day, there are those - including Donald Trump himself - who believe the election was stolen.
This year, there is going to be so much mudslinging that I think I need a HAZMAT outfit to protect myself from the elements.
The Presidential election is going to be bad enough. The vast majority of the GOP and the political media are predicting that Trump will be the Republican nominee for the Presidency.
I suspect that, unless something very unexpected happens, Joe Biden will be the Democratic nominee. So we will have a rematch of 2020. (Bring your gloves, shake hands, and come out swinging!)
There just seems to be this malaise hanging over the US that nothing seems to dissipate. Statistics show that inflation is down and unemployment rate is low . . . and that does not seem to matter. The media are holding their breath waiting for the stock market to crash and for another Great Depression/Recession, etc.
I live in the Atlanta area, one of the places where Donald Trump will be tried for election interference.
And two states, Colorado and Maine, are keeping Trump off the ballot due to the third clause of the 14th Amendment of the US Constitution, which reads:
“No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.”
I’m not a lawyer, so I can’t say whether this clause applies to Donald Trump. I am a legal proofreader, and between that, court reporting school, and maybe Law and Order, I might be able to score decently on the LSAT! To me, whether this clause applies to Trump should be decided by the Supreme Court, and I hope they would use the rule of law to decide rather than their feelings about Donald Trump.
There are people I don’t talk politics with because it just is not a safe subject. And that saddens me.
At the moment, we also have two major wars going on; one between Israel and Hamas and one between Russia and Ukraine. February 24 will mark two years of violence and bloodshed between Russian and Ukraine.
On the home front, I find myself continually trying to balance work and running a house, trying - and too often failing - to write, and I badly need to take care of my health. Tomorrow I have my annual physical, and I may or may not need to assume the position in order to have a Pap done. I need to tackle my weight. I do have a Planet Fitness gym membership and will use it this year.
The one piece of good news that stood out for me in 2023 was that we’re two-thirds of the way towards paying down my student loans. I’ve been seriously working at it since Matthew was about sixteen. He’ll be 25 next month.
The world may not be in the shape I see it in; there may be better things going on than I am willing to admit.
But on the other hand, I sort of feel like Bette Davis’ character in All About Eve.
To paraphrase her most famous line from the movie: “Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy year!”
And please do NOT take your HAZMAT suit off. Because, if past events are any predictor of future performance, you will need it!
Just my .04, adjusted for inflation.
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