The new year is once again upon us and it typically includes parties, fireworks, resolutions, and hopes for a good year to come. We also tend to look back on the year that preceded it. I don’t want to be too much of a Debby Downer in the middle of your own celebrations, but let’s just say that I’m not going to be sorry to see 2022 heading into our collective rearview mirror. This has truly been one of the rockiest years for the United States that I’ve seen in quite a while.

We’ve been dealing with multiple crises, most brought about by our own government. The energy grid is faltering and the southern border is nothing short of an unmitigated disaster and humanitarian crisis all rolled into one. Inflation and high prices have gutted what should have been a flourishing economic recovery and the national debt has grown into a monster that would put Godzilla to shame. Corruption in the federal government and particularly inside the Justice Department and Homeland Security has become too obvious to ignore. Crime remains rampant and a generation of children are being swept up in a self-destructive transgender cult craze. And the nation is divided in a way not seen since at least the era of the Vietnam war.

So can we hope for anything better in the year to come? Perhaps. Hope springs eternal, after all. But change for the better doesn’t spring up from the ground organically these days. I’m too much of a believer in this country to simply throw in the towel and abandon all hope, but we have a lot of work in front of us. The bad actors in Washington and too many states need to be removed, preferably at the ballot box. Duplicitous, politically motivated agents inside the FBI, the CIA, the IRS, and other agencies need to be shown the door. We need leadership in Washington that is once again dedicated to the welfare, safety, and prosperity of all American citizens rather than their own seemingly permanent positions of power.

I’m still foolish enough to believe that we can make that happen. I’m not one for making New Year resolutions, but I hope we can all communally resolve to work toward these goals and return the United States to something approaching the sense of normalcy we once enjoyed. This is what I wish for all of us as we plunge forward into 2023 and beyond. And may God bless America.