I haven’t written for a long time. I have watched with dismay at the behavior of our politicians and many fellow citizens. It was my hope that moving past the Trump presidency we could begin to address issues and each other in a better way. I also believed that the horror of the January 6th insurrection would leave an indelible imprint on Americans of what happens when we leave facts behind and that there would be widespread resistance to continuing in the manner of the last four years.

Unfortunately, I was wrong. Each side has acted as if the zero-sum game must continue. Republicans have decided that they need Trump and to keep him they must indulge his big lie about the election and act accordingly. They feel that branding Joe Biden as a socialist is good electoral politics regardless of the values he espouses. Incidentally, of all the politicians around, Joe Biden has established credentials as a typical American. It would be like calling Ted Cruz the most popular man in the Senate.

Democrats who are fuming over the action of Joe Manchin need to calm down. I think he is unrealistic about what he can achieve with the Republicans, but let’s give him some space and just maybe, after a criminal indictment of Trump, more Republicans will feel free to compromise. If and when that happens, the Democrats need to think about the country and not the party and help establish a bi-partisan approach so that we can actually figure out how we move forward in a way that will not create a whiplash effect when the Republicans have power.

A final note. I am fearful when one of our legacy political parties is afraid to denounce white nationalism and conspiracy theorists instinctively. That is what Trump brought to Republicans and if they fail to move past that, the future is very scary.