December 31, 2024

To be honest, I don’t have the energy to summarize 2024. It was supposed to be the year we forever banished Donald Trump to the Old Farts’ Home for Billionaire Rapists. Mexico elected its first female president and we elected our first felon. So much for those White Guys for Harris Zoom calls and all those angry cat ladies. Instead of strengthening democracy, America decided to write the screenplay for the prequel to Idiocracy.

Writing about the hovering threat of fascism from the yam-faced con artist took up most of the space on this blog, as personal matters took a backseat to thinking a well-crafted analysis of Trump’s fragile masculinity could save the country. But I’m social scientist and political Bon Vivant, so I had to jump into the scrum and will continue to do so as long as Elon Musk allows it. The excitement of the Harris candidacy (yeah, for us 1964 babies!) and the belief that competency would triumph over buffoonery kept me moving forward. Now, it’s being a voice for the resistance.

The year started off great with Trump being ordered to pay E. Jean Carroll $83.3 million after a jury found him responsible for her sexual assault and ended on a sad note with the passing of my former political science professor, President Jimmy Carter. Between that was a whole bunch of shit, from Boeings losing doors midair to P. Diddy being arrested for the most heinous sexual exploitation. Oh, and a couple of Republicans tried to kill Trump. In shapes of things to come, North Carolina got obliterated by a hurricane (not a tornado), and America got all giddy because a hot guy killed a health insurance CEO.

It was another year of slow personal growth that often felt like two steps forward, and two steps backward. Andi and I are still separated and I have no idea what 2025 has in store, but I focus on building trust and supporting her journey. I tried a bit of dating but I really wanted to focus my energy on Cozy, our daughter. Cultivating our common love of all things Taylor Swift was without a doubt the absolute best part of 2024, which culminated with seeing one of the final shows on the Eras Tour in Canada earlier this month. It was a wonderful moment we will both talk about forever. Swift got plenty of space in this blog in 2024, and my piece from February, “What Taylor Swift Tells Us About the Fragility of Men: Welcome to the Backlash,” was the most read post of the year. Caring for my sick brother Ron was both moving and heartbreaking. Cozy and I told him about our trip to see Taylor on December 8 and he passed away two days later while I was in Washington DC. Cancer had the final word.

My other great joy of 2024 was seeing our federally funded violence prevention project bear fruit. Cure-PNW held trainings for non-profits, sponsored civility discussions in churches, and hosted conversations between police and activists that helped de-escalate political tensions in the Pacific Northwest. Portland didn’t erupt into mass chaos after election as predicted and that might have been affected by the spreading of credible messengers into the local community. The project also helped me de-escalate after the election as I wasn’t feeling too civil. 

Yeah, 2025 is going to be a major shit show for America (and the world). Trump will take America to some very dark places. You thought the lunacy of “They’re eating cats” was bad, just wait until MAGA thugs are dragging brown people out of their homes. But I will continue to write about it for whoever will read. Maybe the opposition will get off social media and hit the streets, making the second half of the 2020s a new era of social activism and engagement. I expect an explosion of good music that won’t come from a Spotify algorithm. This is not the time to be timid. It is time to rock.

Here are the 32 Watching the Wheel posts of 2024.

Lessons from Joan of Arc – Courage for the Coming Battle (January 6, 2024)

The Moral Arc: Did MLK Get This One Wrong? (January 15, 2024)

What Taylor Swift Tells Us About the Fragility of Men: Welcome to the Backlash (February 1, 2024)

On Turning 60 in an Ageist Culture (February 19, 2024)

Make America Classic Rock Again? The Political Danger of Nostalgia (March 5, 2024)

The End of Democracy and the New Dark Age (March 28, 2024)

Is “Civil War” a Preview of 2025? (April 22, 2024)

Supporting the Right of Palestinians Not to Be Murdered is Not Anti-Semitic, And We Must Confront the Rise in Anti-Semitism (April 27, 2024)

I Would Have Hated the Beatles in 1964, or How My Daughter Made Me a Taylor Swift Fan in 2024 (May 4, 2024)

We Defeated Fascism 80 Years Ago, We Must Defeat Trump Now. It’s Go Time! (May 27, 2024)

The Secret Life of Fourth Grade Girls (June 7, 2024)

June is the Cruelest Month (June 21, 2024)

I Remember America: It Was a Good 248 Years (July 4, 2024)

The Chickens Have Come to Roost: The Assassination of Donald Trump (July 16, 2024)

Will Republican Misogyny Drive White Women to Harris and Can Taylor Swift Help? (July 23, 2024)

The Mulatto Panic: MAGA’s Racial Confusion (August 7, 2024)

Watching Coach Walz and the Painfully Fragile Masculinity of MAGA (August 24, 2024)

Fascism on America’s Doorstep (and are your pets safe?) (September 14, 2024)

Guilty Jews, Black Nazis, and Pet-eating Immigrants: Donald Trump’s Not So New Brand of Racism (September 21, 2024)

Beta Trump: The Day the King Fell Off the Hill (October 12, 2024)

Will America Elect Hitler on Tuesday? (October 29, 2024)

America, I Quit (November 6, 2024)

When Hate Wins (November 9, 2024)

Coming Back from the Ledge of Election Day (November 21, 2024)

The end of the Eras Tour and how Taylor Swift stopped time for my daughter (December 8, 2024)

Remembering My Brother Who Lived in the Woods (December 14, 2024)

Dad’s Top Discs of 2024 (December 18, 2024)

The James Bond Project: #1 – Dr. No (1962) (December 27, 2024)

The James Bond Project: #1 – Dr. No (1962) (December 28, 2024)

The James Bond Project #2: From Russia With Love (1963) (December 30, 2024)

2024: WTF (December 31, 2024)