What’s in store in the brave new 2019?
Are the calendar pages just arbitrary ink on paper or an undeniably good way of keeping track of not just time passing but our societal and personal ups and downs?
That’s one question to ponder as we put 2018 in the past on this New Year’s Day.
But it’s not the question — the Question of the Week, that is. The first QOTW of the new year.
That question for you, our readers goes to your expectations — along with your hopes and fears — for the new year of 2019.
What are your predictions for what will happen politically — in the tumultuous wider world, in our divided nation, and in your cities and neighborhoods?
And it doesn’t have to be a prediction. What’s on your wish list for social change and even a little progress? Internationally, will the saber-rattling, by proxies or otherwise, among the powerful nations of the world quiet down and the swords be slid back into their sheaths? Will Russia, China and the United States stop their more overt belligerency on trade and geopolitics, perhaps?
Wishing won’t make it so, of course.
Here in our own country, a divided Washington, D.C,, with the Senate and the White House still in the control of the Republican Party and the House of Representatives run by the Democrats, will be the new normal in our nation’s capital. Over the years, everyday Americans and even some politicians have actually preferred to see divided rule, as a way of providing checks and balances of power. How will that work out, in policy and in legislation?
As both major parties begin gearing up for the 2020 presidential race, who will unexpectedly come to the fore?
Will any Republican challengers rise to give President Trump a run for his money in the GOP primaries? Will some Democrat who is not among the usual suspects appear as a fresh face?
Or, forget the old parties — will voters tire of gridlock and finally reject the two-party hegemony and turn to a new political organization or personality in disgust?
Email your thoughts to Letters@Trentonian.com. Please include your full name and city or community of residence.
— Digital First Media
Over the years, everyday Americans and even some politicians have actually preferred to see divided rule, as a way of providing checks and balances of power. How will that work out, in policy and in legislation?