My New Year’s Resolution by Barry Rosenbaum

I am so ready to say goodbye to 2025—more ready to see a year recede in the rearview mirror than I can ever recall.

This Administration has, in our name, inflicted so much harm. We knew it would be dreadful when Trump was reelected, but could not anticipate the magnitude of the evil that his administration would unleash. But despite witnessing the depths of human cruelty, I have not lost hope for this country. Far from it, since we have also witnessed a growing movement of active and passionate resistance.

Starting with Trump’s reelection and accelerating after last January 20th, I and millions of others have suffered through bouts of profound despair. Yet this has been counterbalanced by glimmers of hope that we still retain the power to put an end to this utter madness.

The outcome of this dire episode of American history is not preordained. However, I am resolute to enter 2026 with the conviction that our resistance will reach such heights and force that it will overwhelm the regime’s leaders, collaborators, facilitators, motivators, and benefactors. Indeed, as dreadful as 2025 has been, we also saw the beginning of a blue wave in diverse regions of this country, a wave with the potential to turn into a 2026 tsunami.

We have now experienced the world of MAGAism long enough to know that it is built on lies, lawlessness, and the lust for power. The Democratic Party, on the other hand, still believes in the binding force of the Constitution and holds the Bill of Rights with reverence. All individuals have rights in this country that must be protected by the rule of law. No single group has any greater entitlement to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness than any other.

But for the Democratic Party to regain power, it cannot be perceived as the same old party. Rightly or wrongly, its brand is stale and discredited. We must adopt a new two-pronged approach.

 First, we must articulate an economic program designed to meet the needs of all Americans—affordable health care, education, childcare, and housing; a living wage; control over personal life choices; and a tax system that the wealthy and corporations will not be able to avoid. This is not socialism. It is what a humane society does for its people. This message must be conveyed by new leaders who do not carry the baggage of the past and who can easily speak in today’s cadence.

Second, the gross illegality and self-dealing of the Trump Administration must be highlighted. The names of Trump, Vance, RFK Jr., Hegseth, Bondi, Noem, Gabbard, and Miller, among others, must be seared in the public’s consciousness for who they are —purveyors of evil and deceit. We must promise that these traitors will be swiftly and appropriately punished in accordance with the law. It is past time for a true accounting. Undue delay will not be acceptable.

I am resolved in this new year to continue to do my part in helping to bend the moral arc of the universe towards justice and away from this tyrannical rule that seeks to drown us all. May we one day soon be able to look back on 2026 as the year that America came to its senses and again pursued a vision of this country deserving of the Statue of Liberty—“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.” That is so true for all of us: we yearn to breathe free once again.

Happy New Year!