As 2025 closes I am watching Ken Burns’, Sarah Botstein’s, David Schmidt’s, Geoffrey Ward’s, Buddy Squire’s and George Washington’s “The American Revolution” which frames and intensifies my belief that this year was the worst in the 250 since America broke free from the rule of that other George.  And I reach that conclusion with the benefit of having been present for almost a third of that span.  I have witnessed the testimony of former slaves, civil war veterans and a father and mother who grew up during the Great War, survived the Great Depression and fought among and served our forces in WWII.

Ken Burns

Good riddance to 2025.  I look forward to 2026 with a modicum of hope.  But also, with the thought I’ve tried to capture in the title of this 208th Hopelessly Liberal post.

Every week of 2025 brought a passel of new Trump abominations as in “Chucky/Donald you are an abomination”.[1]  Such as the intensification of an illegal war, rife with violations of its law, Trump’s commentary on Rob Reiner and further emulations of the other George, including defilement of the Kennedy Center and free admission to national parks on his birthday.  All these occurring in just the fortnight that was.

Every one of these weekly, and indeed daily spits in America’s face should be paired with a slap labeled “American voters elected him with full knowledge of who he was and what he promised to do after he failed to steal the 2020 election with an insurrection he led and whose co-conspirators he promised to exonerate.”

Chucky & Donald

The American electorate did their thing with full knowledge of all that because he promised to lower the price of eggs.  And so, what does the hopefully disloyal opposition to Trump have in 2026 to begin saving this nation?  Because anyone who believes we are not sinking must be smoking some really strong shit that last week he reclassified from Schedule I to Schedule III.

Let’s start with the weapons that may help but are woefully insufficient – affordability and survivors.  Yes 2026 will begin with big affordability and survivors thrusts by Trump opponents.  With the sunset of the ACA subsidies, 22 million Americans will either lose health insurance or have to spend the bulk of their income to maintain it.  The rest of us will also pay much more for health coverage.  And because the Trump DOJ has opted for an ongoing violation of the Epstein Files Transparency Act and a drip drip approach to the selective disclosures, January will also include numerous photo ops for Ro Khanna surrounded by Epstein survivors and their friends, relatives and counsel.

Affordability and survivors will likely be enough to wrest the House from Trump’s control, but not enough to take the Senate nor assemble the forces necessary to take the Whitehouse, House and Senate in 2028.  That and more will be necessary to begin the decades required to repair all the damage done in the last nine years – including the ineffectual Biden four.

John Fetterman

One weapon the opposition must wield in 2026 is the discipline to “just say no” and shut it all down in order to get something important for the people.  Hakeem Jeffries understood this, and Chuck Schumer seemed to have learned it albeit tardily and reluctantly.  But Angus King, Catherine Cortez Masto, Maggie Hasan, Jacky Rosen, Dick Durbin, Jeanne Shahen, Tim Kaine and Sweatsuit Fetterman not only dissipated all the momentum their disciplined colleagues had attained but snatched a big defeat from the jaws of victory.

The next opportunity for solidarity and discipline will occur on January 30, 2026.  As with the ACA subsidies, that the gutless eight surrendered last month, there are numerous issues and redlines that Congressional Democrats should demand in return for short-term or extended fundings of the now pervasively corrupt federal government.  Among them is a vote on whether or not we are at war with Venezuela, which will determine whether Trump and Hegseth are murderers, war criminals or both.

The resistance also needs leaders beyond Jeffries.  People who declare very soon that they will seek the presidency.  Beyond obvious are Gavin Newsom’s, Rahm Emanuel’s, Chris Murphy’s, Andy Beshear’s and Kamala Harris’ (delusional) aspirations in that regard.  But it’s time to say “I’m in” with a very specific plan of resurrection that will take a generation.

[1]   Child’s Play (1988).