 |
| Original cartoon by K.C. Green |
With the year waning, the Washington Post editorial board came up with a list of "25 Good Things That Happened in 2025." Displaying it prominently, on the upper right corner of their web site.
They start with Chicagoan Robert Prevost becoming the first American pope, Leo XIV. Hard to argue that one.
Hard to argue most of their points. A growing American economy, despite random tariffs imposed and withdrawn with mad, Lewis Carol abandon. Overdose deaths and obesity down, alternate energy and tiger populations up.
There was only one thing I completely disagreed with — No. 15: "Idaho, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming adopted universal school choice programs, bringing the total to 18 states." School choice is a sham to direct public dollars into private, often parochial, schools. It benefits those who are already ahead of the game, and leaves those in public schools in an even worse situation.
No, what bothered me most was the exercise. Though the editorial board pointed out that they've done this before, I couldn't help but reflect how the Jeff Bezos-owned Post has drifted Trumpward over the past year. Ticking off everything good that happened in 2025 is a half sly way of saying, "Things aren't so bad!" I thought of that meme of the dog sitting in the burning room, saying, "This is fine."
Everything, of course is not fine. When your house is on fire, you don't list the rooms that aren't burning, yet and admire the as-yet-unsinged curtains. How can you cite China's lowering carbon emissions and rising support for nuclear power without noting that our country has abandoned clean energy across the board?
No mention of immigration at all. Any list I created would cite the good thing of regular Americans turning out, in Chicago and elsewhere, to push back against ICE, to defend their friends and neighbors. I'd say if you mention Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce getting engaged — a joy to the world for sure —that the massive No Kings rallies deserve a place of prominence too.
Most telling is what is missing. Not a word about our president. The name "Trump" doesn't appear in their list of two dozen plus one good things that happened this year. Of course not. Everything Trump touches dies. So a little credit for not trying to spin one of rare defendable actions —eliminating the penny, for example.
They start with Chicagoan Robert Prevost becoming the first American pope, Leo XIV. Hard to argue that one.
Hard to argue most of their points. A growing American economy, despite random tariffs imposed and withdrawn with mad, Lewis Carol abandon. Overdose deaths and obesity down, alternate energy and tiger populations up.
There was only one thing I completely disagreed with — No. 15: "Idaho, Indiana, Tennessee, Texas and Wyoming adopted universal school choice programs, bringing the total to 18 states." School choice is a sham to direct public dollars into private, often parochial, schools. It benefits those who are already ahead of the game, and leaves those in public schools in an even worse situation.
No, what bothered me most was the exercise. Though the editorial board pointed out that they've done this before, I couldn't help but reflect how the Jeff Bezos-owned Post has drifted Trumpward over the past year. Ticking off everything good that happened in 2025 is a half sly way of saying, "Things aren't so bad!" I thought of that meme of the dog sitting in the burning room, saying, "This is fine."
Everything, of course is not fine. When your house is on fire, you don't list the rooms that aren't burning, yet and admire the as-yet-unsinged curtains. How can you cite China's lowering carbon emissions and rising support for nuclear power without noting that our country has abandoned clean energy across the board?
No mention of immigration at all. Any list I created would cite the good thing of regular Americans turning out, in Chicago and elsewhere, to push back against ICE, to defend their friends and neighbors. I'd say if you mention Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce getting engaged — a joy to the world for sure —that the massive No Kings rallies deserve a place of prominence too.
Most telling is what is missing. Not a word about our president. The name "Trump" doesn't appear in their list of two dozen plus one good things that happened this year. Of course not. Everything Trump touches dies. So a little credit for not trying to spin one of rare defendable actions —eliminating the penny, for example.
Still, an unwelcome bit of ballyhoo. A reminder that there are sins of omission as well as sins of commission. The MAGA world stands on chairs and howls their praise. While the bought-off, the compromised, and the oblivious, cough into their fists and talk about California embracing phonics education.
Good things happened in 2025. But so what? Unless some really good things happen in 2026 and 2027 and, especially, 2028, we're still going to be fucked, utterly. Never forget that.
Good things happened in 2025. But so what? Unless some really good things happen in 2026 and 2027 and, especially, 2028, we're still going to be fucked, utterly. Never forget that.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Comments are vetted and posted at the discretion of the proprietor. Comments that are not submitted under a name of some sort run the risk of being deleted without being read.