Now that it’s 2019, I reflect on last year’s crazy, unpredictable events and what the future holds.
Let’s start with the historic Democratic takeover of the House. With a flip of 40 seats, many of which were in the reddest parts of the country, Nancy Pelosi regained the gavel as the only female Speaker of the House in history. She also served from 2007 to 2011. If you thought the last two years were chaotic and crazy, imagine how things will be now that one house of Congress is trying to destroy the president rather than protect him.
And with the energy of their success in 2018, dozens of Democrats are now looking for viable paths toward a run for president in 2020. The Democratic primary could be larger than the 17-candidate Republican-primary pool in 2016, and we all know how chaotic and brutal that became. We have already started to see the vying and positioning of many Democrats, from Elizabeth Warren’s botched Native American DNA test to Cory Booker’s Spartacus moment during the Kavanaugh hearings.
Oh, my gosh! How could I have forgotten the Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination? Whether you agree with Republicans rushing a damaged nominee through the committee just to show how partisan they are, or you agree with the Democrats opposing any nominee by Trump — to the point of looking for support in 40-year-old yearbooks and blatant lies — no one can deny the whole process was a disaster that only damaged the reputation of the highest court in the land.
Meanwhile, with 12 cabinet and federal agency shake-ups last year alone and countless mismanaged crises and scandals, the Trump presidency will continue to astonish. From late-night Twitter rants to foreign trips, mistakes and loose lips hopefully will be minimized in 2019 — but I doubt it.
2018 had two major summits between President Trump and an enemy of the United States; both ended with questions about whether President Trump was too friendly and eager to work with Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin.
Constant trade battles and conflicting economic data have disrupted the markets and thrown the best argument for a continued Republican government out the window. Immediately after Christmas, a 1,000-point rise was followed by a 500-point drop in the stock market. Uncertainty everywhere.
Political violence was taken to another level last year. A Trump fanatic sent a dozen pipe bombs to prominent Democrats and top-tier news organizations.
And we ended the year with the third government shutdown of 2018, because of Trump’s $5 billion obsession with a border wall that will never be approved by the new Congress.
All this is in the shadow of the pending Mueller report that could destroy the Trump presidency.
So despite the chaos, enjoy 2019 as long as you can. Soon, this wild ride will cause more headaches and chest pains. 2018 was intense, but we are just getting started.
—By Blake Lincoln
