Note: This a re-post for when I tried to update the text of the earlier diary, it “corrupted” and nullified the entire diary. I could only see blank spaces and no text.
I have deleted the earlier version.
This could very well be one of the more consequential years in politics, with several major political outcomes uncertain and most people anxiously awaiting definitive answers and resolution to long-festering problems.
Before every section below, I have included a few new laws that will be enacted as well as something new — good or bad — expected to happen this coming year.
Playbook: “And now, we can all look forward to a very quiet, calm year that could (1) see a rematch of the last presidential election, (2) find the Supreme Court deciding if a former president should be tossed off state ballots for being an insurrectionist, (3) feature that same former president prosecuted on nearly 100 charges and (4) witness the current president get impeached for unknown reasons.”
“It’ll be a super easy year, y’all.”
Attribution for the above Calvin and Hobbes comic: Flickr
I expect to post additional editorial cartoons in the comments section. I’ll try to post Part 2 of the diary either late tonight or tomorrow.
In case you missed the last couple of diaries I posted, here are the links.
On New Year Resolutions
Jean Schultz was married for 27 years to Charles Schultz, the creator of the comic strip Peanuts until he died in 2000. In a recent blog entry, she reminisced about how her husband “Sparky” missed the digital age.
I also have to admit that I am a Luddite, and I was okay with a nuisance like getting up to change the channel on the TV. Agreed, it was wonderful a few years later to be able to sit, remote in hand, and scroll through channels.
When we moved to the country, we got a satellite dish, which was pretty cool because we could turn it in a different direction and pull in the whole world, it seemed.
I often try to imagine Sparky, who escaped the digital age, coping in 2023.
I remember in the 1990s when television stations began to proliferate, Sparky’s comment was, “A thousand stations and nothing worth watching.”
Note: Many of you will recall that Charles Schulz played a major role in the early 1970s women’s movement. He was a strong supporter of women’s rights and close friend of feminist icon and tennis great Billie Jean King — and one who vigorously promoted the idea of Title IX through his comic strip. In Peppermint Patty, Schulz found the perfect character from among the Peanuts gang to amplify his message of fairness and equality.
Read more about Schulz and his role to achieve equality in this 2021 diary of mine. It is largely about the 1973 “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match between Billie Jean King and outspoken male chauvinist Bobby Riggs.
Out of Charlie Brown’s Reach
Lovable Lucy Van Pelt
Well, He Tried!
As Garfield Said Above
Try Your Best, At Least
Happy New Year
New York Times: “Whether the 2024 presidential election cycle brings you dread or excitement, there’s no doubt that the table is set for an extraordinary year.”
“The potential for political turmoil has rarely seemed more obvious.
Autocracy is Up
Not So Fast
Trouble Ahead for Rudy
Just Get Through It
Associated Press: “It seems unlikely that Trump could return to the White House if he loses the election. That’s what he failed to accomplish in 2020, and he’s in a weaker position now.”
“Since then, Republicans have lost two of those swing state secretary of state offices — in Arizona and Nevada — as well as the governor’s office in Arizona and control of the state legislatures in Michigan and Pennsylvania. In Congress, lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill closing some of the loopholes in the counting of Electoral College votes that Trump tried to exploit to stay in office, making it harder to challenge state certifications on the House floor.”
“The upshot is it will be far harder for Trump to try to overturn a loss in 2024 than in 2020. The most likely way he returns to the White House is by winning the election outright.”
Not Quite Ready
Nothing Left in the Tank
Phew!
Passing It On
Nate Cohn: “Maybe the criminal trial of Mr. Trump will not go down as ‘the greatest political spectacle of our lives’ or something similarly grandiose, but it’s hard to think of anything like it that’s ever been scheduled on the political calendar.”
“The trial promises to be the political center of gravity for the first half of the year, with the federal election subversion trial scheduled to begin on March 4 — the day before Super Tuesday in the GOP primary — and then possibly lasting through the heart of the primary season, although delays are possible.”
“But there is a way a trial could matter: It might lead to a realization by Republican primary voters and elites that Mr. Trump is likely to be convicted. And whether they see it coming or not, a conviction isn’t the same as a trial or an indictment. It might be far more consequential.”
Not Ready Yet
The Vast Unknown
The Thrill of Victory, Or the Agony of Defeat?
Looking Forward
There is some good news from the Israel-Hamas War, even as PM Netanyahu promises to keep the war going for several more months.
“The Israeli military announced on Monday that it will begin withdrawing several thousand troops from Gaza at least temporarily, in what would be the most significant publicly announced pullback since the war began,” the New York Times reports.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not letting up on his vow to destroy the militant group Hamas as he warns the war will continue for months,” The Hill reports.
Lucky Me
Baby Steps
Will 2024 Be Any Different?
Diary Poll
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