The threat of fascism will hardly disappear when Donald Trump moves out of the White House in two weeks. On Capitol Hill, the Republicans who’ve made clear their utter contempt for democracy will retain powerful leverage over the U.S. government. And they’re securely entrenched because Trumpism continues to thrive in much of the country.

Yet, in 2021, progressives should mostly concentrate on challenging the neoliberalism of Democratic Party leaders. Why? Because the neoliberal governing model runs directly counter to the overarching responsibilities of the left -- to defeat right-wing forces and to effectively fight for a decent, life-affirming society.

[BREAKING NEWS UPDATE 1.4.2020: A UK court ruled today Wikileaks co-founder Julian Assange is not psychologically fit to face extradition to the United States, as he is a suicide risk, but endorsed the US prosecutor's legal theory that effectively criminalizes journalistic activity anywhere in the world. The US intends to appeal the ruling, and the UK is keeping Assange detained until the outcome of the appeal. Amnesty International put out the statement: "We welcome the fact that Julian Assange will not be sent to the USA, but this does not absolve the UK from having engaged in this politically-motivated process at the behest of the USA and putting media freedom and freedom of expression on trial."]

Former Wikileaks Editor and co-founder Julian Assange faces a UK court ruling Monday January 4th on his extradition to the US for journalistic work published overseas.

I appreciate Congresswoman Joyce Beatty's annual commemoration of Rosa Parks on December 1. At the time of Ms. Parks' death on October 24, 2005, Ohio's 3rd District Congresswoman Beatty acted to declare December 1, Rosa Parks Day in honor of her actions on that day in 1955, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

We must continue to speak up for the voiceless in Black History and current events. Claudette Colvin is another one of those unsung (s)heroes. At age fifteen Ms. Colvin preceded Parks' action by nine months when she refused to give up her seat on the bus on her way home from Montgomery, Alabama High School. When asked why she did not give up her seat, she referred to Black History and answered: "it felt as though Harriet Tubman's hands were pushing me down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth's hands were pushing me down on the other shoulder. https://www.southernliving.com/culture/claudette-colvin

The story of 2020 is that not much happened and everything happened.

It started as a presidential election year with much at stake and is ending with an existential threat to democracy apparently repelled.

Just when the Democratic Party primaries were heating up in mid-March, many of us got cooled down with what amounted to two months confined to quarters.

The Land of the Free became the Home of the Quarantined.

About the time many of us were running short of toilet paper, Joe Biden was running up the score in the primaries and emerging as the Democratic Party nominee to take on the Mad King, the COVID-19 denier-in-chief and carnival barker telling us a slug of Clorox would kill the virus.

Those of us with a modicum of common sense turned to medical doctors, scientists and public health leaders and followed their advice, often brought to us by trustworthy news reporters and commentators.

We started wearing masks way before Halloween this year and we began washing our hands way more often than before meals.

To many, social distancing was a new concept. Not to me. I first experienced it at junior high school dances.

By now, most people are aware of the US obesity statistics. In 2016, almost 70 percent of US adults were obese of overweight says the CDC. That means normal sized people are in the minority. (Some are even considered "anorexics.")