Enough despair. We cannot be victims of excessive expectations.

Enough despair. We cannot be victims of excessive expectations.

By Jennifer Rubin

Columnist

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Yesterday at 7:45 a.m. EST

Most of us expected more from 2021. The year started with new vaccines that promised to remove the coronavirus cloud hanging over us. And the defeat of former president Donald Trump suggested the threat to our democracy was behind us.

That optimism was premature. The pandemic raged with new variants as an anti-vaccine cult impeded lifesaving measures. The former president instigated a violent insurrection and continues to lead the effort to gaslight the country about the election. The attempted coup set off a nationwide Republican onslaught of state laws to suppress votes and subvert elections. Unhinged House Republicans have winked at political violence and normalized full-throated racism.

Meanwhile, the 50-50 Senate is paralyzed while large portions of the president’s agenda remain stalled. Inflation is a real threat, supply chains are still clogged and employers are struggling to fill jobs. Economic anxiety persists despite a recovering economy.

The Supreme Court gave up the pretense of impartiality as its right-wing justices, who swear they are not “partisan hacks,” implemented a Republican agenda with little regard for precedent. The constitutional right to access to safe abortions, and with it a critical aspect of women’s self-determination, will likely vanish. The court made hash of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, as it did previously with Section 5.

Internationally, the Trump administration’s blunder in pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal allowed Iran to race ahead with its nuclear enrichment program. Russia is poised to invade more of Ukraine, and democracy is in decline around the world. China shows no sign of easing its domestic oppression or its aggressive tactics on the world stage.

All that said, the constant doomsday headlines and the public’s bleak outlook disregard bright spots throughout the economic and political landscape. It takes time to turn a country around and squelch a pandemic.

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Unemployment has plummeted to 4.2 percent. The United States leads the world in growth, and wages and corporate profits have soared. The child tax credit cut child poverty in half (hence, ending the credit would amount to policy malpractice).

Meanwhile, the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow produced meaningful progress on climate change. America’s alliances are on the mend, the war in Afghanistan is over and we are leading the international response to the pandemic. The U.S.-Australian-British security alliance provides a new and substantial check on China’s regional ambitions (and the spat with France over the United States poaching a submarine deal with Australia is in the rearview mirror). And let’s not forget, President Biden helped broker a quick truce in another Israeli-Palestinian conflict, avoiding a prolonged war.

America once more has a decent, informed and pro-democracy president. He confronts foreign autocrats. He is championing, not belittling, human rights. The Justice Department is prosecuting hundreds of Jan. 6 rioters and Stephen K. Bannon for contempt of Congress; the department appears ready to pursue others who flout subpoenas from the House select committee investigating Jan. 6.

Lower-level federal judges not only handed down tough sentences for insurrectionists, but also demolished the “big lie” of a stolen election. State and federal judges have exacted fines and sanctions and recommended discipline for Trump’s flock of lawyers for filing frivolous lawsuits that sought to undermine our democracy. Lawyers are on notice that participation in future schemes will cost them financially and professionally.

That brings us to a surprise standouts for the year: the Jan. 6 committee and Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.). She spoke the truth about the coup attempt, refused to buckle under to the bullies and censors in her party (losing her leadership post as a result), helped drive the committee’s investigation and elevated awareness of the threat to democracy more successfully than any other political leader. She will likely lose her seat, but her place in history is secure.

The committee has obtained testimony from hundreds of witnesses, received thousands of documents and established links between members of Congress and coup plotters. We can expect a detailed and complete picture not only of the insurrection but also of the entire Trump coup plot. Justice Department documents confirm Trump’s extensive effort to pressure the department to enable a coup. Those bemoaning the apparent lack of an FBI investigation miss the point: The Jan. 6 committee is acting as investigators; the Justice Department will be able to use its findings to initiate criminal prosecutions.

Furthermore, attacks on democracy have energized a serious response. Pro-democracy advocates have litigated in support of voting rights, exposed authoritarian attacks on the fabric of democracy, uncovered corruption, defended press freedom, and educated lawmakers and voters about the perilous state of democratic values and institutions.

A number of organizations exemplify the best in active citizenship, including Protect Democracy, the Center for Election Innovation & Research, the Campaign Legal Center, the Brennan Center for Justice, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, Freedom House, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Democracy 21, POGO, Stand Up Republic and FairVote. Such organizations and Senate Democrats are doing their best to push for a change in filibuster rules that would allow for meaningful voting reform and urgently needed guardrails of democracy.

Finally, we have made enormous strides in the battle against the coronavirus. More than 200 million Americans are fully vaccinated, schools are open and lockdowns are not in the cards. With boosters, almost all vaccinated Americans can regard covid-19 as a manageable disease. If the coronavirus becomes analogous to the flu, most Americans can get on with their lives.

Those who expected immediate solutions to these grave, complex problems are bound to be disappointed. Media coverage that holds the administration to a standard of perfection will inevitably find fault — especially if it treats Republican opposition as “just politics” or worse, takes MAGA complaints as legitimate. (At least the mainstream media are now taking the threat to American democracy seriously.)

Democracy and economic recovery are works in progress, and there is much to celebrate. Weariness and frustration are understandable; despair is not.

I will be off until Dec. 28. Have a very merry and healthy Christmas!