2017 was Trumpism's last gasp

As the year comes to a close, the job of making sense of it begins.

This year, I heard so many people ask, “Is this really happening?” It felt at times as if we were living in an alternate reality. There’s no denying that 2017 was both bizarre and a rallying of all sorts. The question is, who will be left standing when the rally is over?

Will it be the participants in the Women’s Marches all over the world or the neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville? Will political polarization worsen or will bipartisanship return? Will the mass shooting in Vegas stand as the worst in modern US history, or be tragically outdone next year? Will America continue to be punked and manipulated by Russia, or will we start to protect our elections like we do our borders?

Will we remember the brave voices of the #MeToo movement and the ousting of alleged serial abusers like Roger Ailes, Bill O’Reilly (who denies it), and Matt Lauer (who apologized), or will we remember that Bill Cosby had more than 50 women accuse him of sexual assault and he still wasn’t convicted?