I LOOKED FOR A GOOD PIECE TO RECOMMEND TO OUR READERS AS A YEAR ENDER, AND SETTLED ON SOMETHING BY MICHAEL GOODWIN OF THE NEW YORK POST, ONE OF THE BEST "TRADITIONAL" JOURNALISTS WRITING TODAY: 

Even to a jaded journalist, the New Year inspires hope that anything is possible. In that spirit, here are my three wishes for 2023.

No. 1 is Joe Biden announcing he won’t seek re-election. It would be the first thing he’s done to fulfill his pledge to unite the nation, with a decision to retire worthy of bipartisan celebration.

Biden is a bumbler, and always was, even before cognitive decline turned his appearances into spectacles. The big achievement of his tenure has been to prove the wisdom of two warnings about him.

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates famously said Biden “has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades,” while Barack Obama cautioned nobody should “underestimate Joe’s ability to f–k things up.”

Unfortunately, Biden continues to be uniformly wrong and f–ks up nearly everything he touches.

On the home front, he’s been singularly awful, from helping ignite historic inflation to opening the southern border to virtually all comers. He has fanned the flames of racial animosity, done nothing to stop the crime wave and flipped energy policy on its head by chasing a radical green new deal. 

In addition to destroying good-paying jobs in oil and natural gas production, he undercut national security and energy independence. His push for Saudi Arabia and Venezuela to pump more oil while restricting domestic producers illustrates the incoherence. 

On the foreign stage, he consistently projects weakness, starting in Afghanistan, and our adversaries are carving up the world to their liking. The strong possibility the president is compromised because he shared in his family’s lucrative influence-peddling schemes casts a shadow over his policies and diminishes the credibility of the Department of Justice.

Still coming into focus is the extent to which his administration used social-media platforms to restrict free speech and spy on citizens. Thanks to Elon Musk’s revelations at Twitter, we already know this sordid effort was far larger than suspected.

Although the president’s defenders credit him with uniting NATO against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, it is a fact that America increasingly shoulders the bulk of the cost, with Germany and others pulling their usual disappearing act when the donation plate is passed.

The claim of NATO unity is thus meaningless without all members having serious skin in the game, yet Biden doesn’t complain about the shirkers as he loads American taxpayers with more debt.

The prospect of his being in the Oval Office for six more years is inconceivable, and many of his supporters surely would be relieved not to have to defend his cringe-worthy behavior and Walter Mitty-like claims to bravery and brilliance. While there is no clear alternative for the 2024 nomination, the race begins as soon as Biden does the right thing.

An added plus of his departure would be the exit of Vice President Kamala Harris, a featherweight for the ages who makes Dan Quayle look like a genius.

The odds of Biden bowing out: 50-50.

Join the retirement party.

COMMENT:  Read the rest.  It is well worth it, as Goodwin announces his second wish, that former President Trump end his campaign for the presidency, and his third, that America have a press it can trust again.  Whether you agree or disagree, Goodwin presents his arguments in a thoughtful, civilized manner.  Unusual these days.

December 31, 2022