As clocks and calendars turn over from the last moments of 2017 to 2018 we can look forward with hope and thanks. Hope for what we will achieve together this coming year, and thanks for the gift we’ve been given by events of the past 12 months. The saving of our Republic is in our grasp, and it’s the very weakness demonstrated over the past year which will be its savior. We can look to the future knowing full well, even if not everything turns out our way this coming year, much will. Let’s walk a path to the future to see what we can do together.
First, the thanks. Thank goodness, we’ve been granted such a blunt instrument by which the flaws and weaknesses in our democratic system have been exposed. Imagine for a moment a competent politician with half a penchant for real policy and mass appeal had been sworn in last January? The battle for the soul of our Republic would be fiercer, and we’d be armed with fewer and weaker weapons. I’m not saying we’re all powerful, as we are not. What I am saying is, we will prevail in the end because we are fighting a foe who has graciously exposed our weaknesses while having many of his own. We can fix our weaknesses, deriving power from the mass of Americans and the world on our side. He cannot change his, as they are fundamental to who he is. Those who support him will find their base of power withering, and the side they’ve taken to be incongruent with the path of our nation. Thank grace for giving us such a warning to get our system to protect ourselves from what could have been a far worse threat.
Now, to the future. We will see the result of the Special Council investigation. We will see the outcome of the Mid-Term Election. We will see what restraints are in place to keep us from going to war. We will see further attacks from those in power in every direction, solidifying a base of power so strong against them they will not realize how weak they’ve become until they are all forced out of office. We will see the rising middle of America say “Not In My Name!” to the policies which divide and impoverish our nation. We will see most Americans rise to say “How Can I Help?” when fellow Americans suffer. We will see communities unite, states align, and nations coalesce into an alliance so powerful hate cannot prevail.
This is what we’ll see in the next 12 months. It will not be easy. It will take endless work, commitment, and a belief that the arc of history bends toward justice. Those who side with justice will find fulfillment in our endeavors. Those who side with our fellow Americans will find partners in the challenges we all face. Those who side with love will find victory over hate. We will say “Me Too” when asked who’s going to help rebuild our Republic. We will stand firm against fear. We will stand strong against division. We will stand tall and proud against those who’ve never served claiming to want to lead.
Stay strong America. We are going to rebuild our country better than it’s ever been because of the chaos we’ve now endured. Our trial may yet become harder, but there is light at the end of this long dark tunnel, and we will come out the other side of it better than we ever were. It’s not about returning to a flawed and fake past. It’s about improving what we have so we may make ourselves better every day. We’re on the verge of a new greatness. It will start this year.