Time to look forward and define a better future, together

How craven, corrupt and egomaniacal must a man be to hold the office of president of the United States and incite violent insurrection against another branch of government? Exactly as craven, corrupt and egomaniacal as Donald Trump. If all went according to plan, however, on Jan. 20, the new president, Joe Biden, and vice president, Kamala Harris, will have been sworn in to take over the executive branch by the time these words appear in print. It’s a previously unthinkable sentiment that looking several days into the future one may not be confident in the peaceful transition of government in this nation. Yet, here we are. 

Still, even as our identity as Americans suffers, Connecticut holds it together in ways other states are not. Of that we should be proud. And there are other things we all still love about our country. Now is the time to think about those things and look forward to the future with Trump out of national office. 

Because this is the time of year when people traditionally look back on the past 12 months, then forward to the next, it only makes sense to think of resolutions that will help make the year ahead better. What shall we resolve this year? Not to start another pandemic until the current one is mitigated through vaccination and extremely careful personal interaction and hand cleansing? Not electing any governmental officials who don’t believe in truth, justice and  unselfish public service? Not accepting violence and warped beliefs in conspiracy theories and fringe ideologies like white supremacy and Nazism as part of American life?

Are those resolutions all too negative, though, too based in what we should not do? What positive steps can each of us take to make this a better time? Certainly Americans took positive steps leading into the Nov. 3 elections, voting in historically high numbers. Yet all those who voted, on either side of the tickets, have since had to think about whether their votes were counted correctly, with the legitimacy of the outcome questioned daily, hourly, by Donald Trump, even before Election Day. Yet with all the court cases and recounts across the country coming out supporting the outcome as stated, voters should feel they made a difference and the election was secure. That’s a positive thing.

So one resolution would be to keep voting, every year, in those same high numbers, and keep connected to real information about what is happening in our country. It seems impossible that the violent, blood-thirsty mob that attacked Congress on Jan. 6 represented anything more than a deluded minority of our electorate. 

Now is the time for decent, truly patriotic Americans of all affiliations to step forward and become or remain as active as possible to take the country in the right direction, that is, toward equality and respect for their neighbors, no matter where they live. Let’s negate Trumpism, as McCarthyism was finally negated in the 1950s, and relegate it to the dust bin of history.