A Grand and Glorious New Day!

Pictured above are a few of the 100 plus women (89 Democratic, 13 Republican) that will be an exciting part of the 116th Congress.

A grand and glorious new day has begun, especially if you are, like me, a believer in the U.S. Constitution and that its greatest strength is (drumroll please)  CHECKS AND BALANCES!

The natural state of our politics is divided government, where one party or faction does not control all the levers of power.  It requires everyone listening to each other, and a healthy dose of compromise.  

For those firmly on the right or left, that means you have to be understanding when your side does not win you everything you want.  You may have to give and take more than you expect to.  There have been many bipartisan efforts to adopt immigration reform, but they have been repeatedly scotched by those who will broke no compromise.  Yes, we should be able to have a measure of all things- border security, DACA, a path to citizenship, more judges and lawyers to speed the process for asylum seekers, and enforcement against businesses that continue to hire undocumented workers- you know, like Mar-A-Lago does.

Sometimes a unified government is vital to push agenda items that get stuck.  It certainly helped FDR in his struggles to pull our country out of the Great Depression.  And it helped improve civil rights under LBJ. 

Often, however, a unified government can lead to authoritarianism and corruption.  Only the most blindly partisan could look at the atrocious and undignified behavior of the current administration and not think they need a check.  How that check will go is anyone's guess.  Personally, I feel like we have a President that is the most deserving of impeachment in our history.  Will it happen?  I don't know.  Impeachment is a political act as much as a legal act, and Republicans control the Senate, and they vote on whether to expel an impeached President.

The best thing that could come out of this is for the House to pass measures that give the American people a clear idea where the Democrats would take the country.  This would help people vote in 2020 based on real policy choices, instead of personality and tribalistic impulses.

Even though Medicare For All will not become law, Democrats must pass a true universal coverage plan so that everyone knows what's at stake.  It's not going to be enough just demonizing Republicans for the next two years (I'm not worried about them demonizing Trump, because Trump IS a demon).

My conservative friends really need to look at those plans and make serious choices.  Hopefully, the Republicans will offer you carefully thought alternatives, but that may be difficult for them to do with a President who continually changes and spins a new web of lies every day.

My Progressive friends need to stand their ground where they can, but realize that Congressional leadership may have to make some hard choices, some that might not be very pleasing to Progressive ears.  Our time will come, but we cannot leave the nation ungoverned until then.  We have to be part of the team that solves problems.

It will be a very tough year, even with this ray of hope we have been given.  Trump will vilify and lie and rant and blame everyone but himself.  How well he is going to get away with it depends on my dwindling band of Trumpeteer friends.  Do you wake up, or just retreat further into your cult leader's cave?

Conservatives and liberals and everyone in between, let us work together in compromise and understanding, to check the power of an executive branch that often holds his own interests above our own.

Today is a grand and glorious day!  May its beacon of hope brighten the entire year!