Well, that was 2023. Now for 2024.
Of course we have been thinking about this particular year since, well, the particular year of 2020 brought with it a new American president. Hardly had the ink dried on the stories of the 2020 presidential election then there were the 2022 Midterms and the 2024 presidential contest to consider, and whether we liked to or not.
American politics is fraught and breathless, has been for some years. There was a time when a presidential election year simply approached.
Now, and you see these words a lot of late, it "looms" or is "looming." This is not guaranteed to send hearts aflutter with the unbounded joys of democracy.
Our democracy, these times, seems increasingly bounded, uncertain and threatened. There will be a battle for the White House on election day in November. The thing is, that battle might not conclude with the actual election.
This newspaper, of course, must concern itself with the doings of the White House; two of them in fact. The Washington White House, designed by an Irishman, is the center of the most powerful political office in the world.
Áras an Uachtaráin
The Irish white house, Áras an Uachtaráin, wasn't burned to the ground by the British like the American one. It was in fact designed by English architects and constructed by the British as the then Viceregal Lodge. Today, it is the home of the president of an independent Irish Republic, currently President Michael D. Higgins.
While President Higgins lacks the political, economic and military power that the occupant of the American White House can bring to bear, he has a record of applying words carrying moral force to critical issues not only in Ireland, but around the world.
President Higgins, in this regard, had much to say in 2023, a year that will not go down in history as being one of the more peaceful ones. We can expect that he will have much to say in 2024 too.
So will President Biden, from the White House and places beyond it.
Biden visited with President Higgins during his visit to Ireland last April. The nation's 46th president places great store in his familial connections to Ireland. We can assume he will draw upon those connections, and the spirit within them, in the months ahead as he faces into the headwinds of a full-on battle for a second term.
But enough of battles for now. As we bid farewell to Christmas and the celebration of the New Year we should embrace all the hope and optimism that we can muster for a coming year that will be, one way or another, of great consequence. Happy New Year to all.
