My interest in politics is mainly because of my interest in policy. Politics is the way we affect policy changes in America.  It’s much like why I am a Democrat.  I’m a progressive and currently the best way to advance the progressive agenda is via the Democratic Party.  If you put the tags attached to my articles into a word cloud one of the most prominent phrases would be Donald Trump.  How could I avoid writing about him?  Outside the Donald Dome the election is behind us.  One way or another sometime after noon on January 20, 2021 Joe Biden will be president.  All our problems will not instantly vanish; far from it.  But the improvement will commence.  This will present me with the opportunity to do much more writing about policy.  With all that in mind, let’s explore. 

Monday morning we were greeted with the news that Moderna has had some very promising results in its vaccine tests. This coupled with Pfizer’s announcement of last week is very good news!  I neither desire nor are qualified to pick winners, but Moderna’s vaccine doesn’t require anything above normal refrigeration which is a huge plus for distribution.  Both are double dose vaccines and are still a ways from mass distribution.  All the negatives stated this is still great news and the light at the end of the tunnel.  There are several problems – including unemployment and the economy – that simply cannot be improved until the virus is contained.

Trump is appearing to recognize that he lost the election. He and his minions are not ready to publically declare it, but the recognition appears to be there.  The most significant sign of it came late Monday morning when it was reported that the Trump administration was facilitating drilling in the Artic.  If Trump thought he was going to be around for four more years he wouldn’t have rushed that.

In my mind there is one of two probable motivations and I can’t ignore the possibility that both are at play. This could be part of Trump’s scorched earth exit.  He doesn’t care about America or the environment and wants to leave Biden with as many “active fires” as possible.  The other could be a last minute scam to extort more money or provide a return on investment for his financiers.  Either way we the people lose.

Over the past couple of years I have largely ignored many issues I feel strongly about. We need organized labor to have a resurgence in America and across the world.  It is long past the time that we stop looking at women as second class citizens.  Time is running out to save the planet as we know it.  Inequity in general needs to be seriously addressed and there are no better examples in America than racial and religious discrimination.  Our health care delivery system is a mess despite perhaps being the most medically advanced country in the history of mankind.  We haven’t paid adequate attention to our infrastructure since the Reagan administration and that needs to stop pronto!  If we are looking for an area of consensus in Congress is there a better place to start?  There needs to be something in a comprehensive infrastructure program for every congressional district and state.  We can bridge waterways simultaneously with the red-blue and urban- rural divides.  We desperately need comprehensive immigration reforms that reflect the current and future needs of the American economy along with the humanitarian needs of the world.  We need gun regulations that simultaneously protect the citizens and do not infringe on their rights.  It can be done.  This was a long paragraph and I’m certain I still missed several critical policy areas.  That is what I hope to be able to spend more time covering after Trump is removed from the scene.

This article will be published on November 17, 2020 which is the release date for President Obama’s newest book A Promised Land.  I will be among the millions buying it on its release date (in eBook form via my local independent bookseller) and putting it at the top of my reading list.  Let’s hope the title is an omen of things soon to come!

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