Future Hope
AJ Robinson

A recent ruling by a certain federal court got me down. I thought I might ruminate on the future. I actually have quite the hope for the future and it’s for a simple reason.

Right now, life is tough.

The conservative Supreme Court has really dealt some tough blows to our freedoms. The shift toward giving corporations and the rich more and more power is depressing, and yet I still have hope for the future.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I wish things were better right now. After all, I’d like to have a larger pay cheque, have a better job, see our economy grow rapidly and know that my daughter will have a positive future. We can’t always get what we want. Right now, with the GOP stacking the deck in so many elections, and with the insane Tea Baggers doing everything in their power to stymie President Obama for no reason, life is tough.

The future is brighter than you think.

Yet, there is cause to have hope for the future. The GOP has made a very critical mistake and there will come a day when it comes back to bite them in the ass. Actually, saying they’ve made “A” mistake is incorrect; they’ve made a ton of mistakes in recent years.

GOP mistakes are too numerous to list, fully, but let’s look at a few. The war on women, refusing to deal with immigration, shafting veterans, kowtowing to the rich, not raising the minimum wage, exploding the deficit, shipping jobs overseas, voter suppression laws, alienating Hispanics and other minorities, wanting to cut Social Security and Medicare and wasting time and money on useless investigations!

Did I miss anything? I’m sure I did, but those are the biggies.

Anyway, the point is that the GOP is going to see its base diminish in the coming years. Now sure, they’ll continue to gerrymander districts to insure they elect victories, but when it comes to national elections, the GOP can say goodnight. We will not see a Republican president for the near future; that’s my prediction and I’m sticking with it! Just call me Nostradamus.

What does that mean?

Well, it means many things, but here’s the big one fall out. A Democrat will be putting justices on the Supreme Court. Now, think about what that means. All those recent rulings that have been decided 5-to-4 that have damaged our nation: Citizens United, crippling the Civil Rights Act, Hobby Lobby and so on will come up for review and revision.

This is why I have hope for the future. The GOP can put all the roadblocks and damaging legislation in the way of Obama and any future Democratic president they want. Yet, they can’t change one simple fact: a Democrat will name justices to the Supreme Court for at least the next eight years and possibly sixteen. I take solace in that and hope that a more liberal court will help our nation get back on track.

I don’t know that my life will be any better by that, given my age, but it makes me think that maybe my daughter, nieces and nephews will have a greatly improved life. I can’t help but feel some regret at the time we’re wasting with the GOP essentially doing nothing for years. I think Teddy Roosevelt said complaining about a problem without proposing a solution is whining. Well, they can whine all they want, but they can’t fight the future, and the future gives me hope.