The Path Forward
AJ Robinson

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I/
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Robert Frost

This was a favourite poem of my father. I think of it these days as I contemplate our path forward. The “our” in that sentence is the United States. The year ending, a new one beginning and I wonder what path we shall take.

Sadly, I see a dark path ahead.

We have an election coming up in 2022, which will draw the focus of everyone, most especially the politicians; that means little in the way of the business of governing will get done. Now, I could live with that under normal circumstances, but these days things are anything but normal. The Insurrection isn’t a year old and it’s either being glossed over, explained away or outright forgotten; one thing that is not being done is the guilty parties being held accountable.

My greatest fear is that once the 2022 election is over, we will be in worse circumstances. In Florida, we have Val Demings running against Marco Rubio. Now, please understand, I fully support her; my wife and I will do all in our powers to assist her campaign. Yet, I see little chance of her winning.

I know, sounds harsh. I shall explain. First, she’s a woman; second, she’s a Democrat; third, she’s Black and finally, she’s not perfect.

Todays, those are attributes l think almost guarantee a loss. Then there are the issues Democrats in general face. There’s voter apathy, partially due to the Democrats not following through on their entire agenda and to candidates not being perfect” Republicans, as has illustrated many times over the years, will hold their noses, metaphorically speaking, to vote for any candidate with an “R” next to its name; Democrats are not as forgiving.

Next, there’s voter suppression, voter intimidation and outright voter nullification. Republican legislatures all over the country have learned a lesson from the 2020 election: voters can’t be trusted to vote for the right candidates and, therefore, from now on, it may be necessary to adjust the vote count. That no one is outraged by this is quite sad.

This brings up the next point: rage. Specifically, the voter rage of the Republican base. The Big Lie is still popular with them, no one is countering it and so they’ll be out in droves to vote.

There are the issues.

Again, I fully congratulate Biden and the Democrats for passing the infrastructure bill, various other measures and the American rescue plan. Yet, they’re not crowing about those accomplishments, much. When was the last time Biden or any Democrat brought up all the great things they’ve done for the American public?

As for the Republicans, they’ll harp on inflation and gas prices, problems with the supply chain, Biden surrendering in Afghanistan, Critical Race Theory (CRT) and, possibly, Biden’s failure to pass his agenda: the “Build Back Better.” Many people are still hopeful it’ll pass. I have zero confidence in Biden’s ability to get it across the finish line. Yes, I know, you can call it pessimistic. I call it being realistic.

We also need to keep in mind that the GOP will take credit for everything positive that’s coming out of Washington. Several have already touted the infrastructure plan as if they personally made it happen. Have the media or the Democrats called them on it? What’s worse is that Val, love her dearly, will fall right into Rubio’s trap.

He’ll talk about CRT. The media will ask her what she thinks of it. Instead of simply pointing out that it’s taught in college and not to young children, she’ll launch into some long even-handed speech, which won’t work as a soundbite. The result? The republicans will run endless commercials saying Val wants kids taught to hate their country.

What does the future hold? Well, if we follow this path, I see the 1/6 Committee as being gone come January 2023. The Great Orange will take credit for the GOP wins, which will set the stage for his return in 2024 and this time he and his minions won’t make the same mistakes twice; they’ll see to that he wins.

In the meantime, we can expect endless investigations of the 2020 election, the Biden Administration and his family. With the GOP firmly in control of both the House and Senate no governing will get done, none. Then, in 2024 they can all point to Biden and say what a useless president is he.

Oh, and keep in mind, with the Republicans, when you ignore one of their subpoenas, they know what to do: they throw you in jail. Where will all this lead as the GOP seems to have no interest in governing? They’re like “The Party” in Nineteen Eighty-four; it holds power merely to hold power. Not exactly a recipe for a bright future.

What scares me.

Two roads are before us. Sadly, it looks like a lot of people are going to go down the one they think they know. The one that merely leads to a conservative government. It doesn’t. Not this time and that scares me.