By Ande Jacobson
For the last several years, I’ve given up sending a holiday letter out or posting one on social media or my website talking about what I’d done over the course of the year. Instead, I’ve taken to writing a year-end essay looking at the bigger picture from my vantage point as an American. As I mentioned in my 2024 year-end essay, my personal accomplishments aren’t worth mentioning anymore as there are far bigger concerns that have overshadowed anything I as an individual may have done. Thinking back over the course of the year that is finally ending, too much has happened to us all, far too much for any one person to track though many are trying. It’s been a tumultuous year, one that has spawned far too much anxiety and concern because of the political situation that has unfolded here in the U.S. At the end of last year, much was unknown about how 2025 would progress. Now we know how this is unfolding, and it’s far worse than many of us had imagined it could be. We knew that a second Trump administration would be challenging to say the least, but it’s been far more cruel and chaotic that we thought possible.
Kamala Harris wrote a book about the 2024 election and the fallout from it that is very much worth reading. In it she tells her story without restraint, and one thing that she emphasizes is something that none of us saw coming this year. In efforts to pacify the new president, there has been an unprecedented level of capitulation to his erratic and unhinged demands. It was clear that the traditional news media was willing to sacrifice its journalistic ethics to pacify his ego, but the lengths to which corporate America and even universities and law firms have capitulated has been shocking and extremely damaging to the country as a whole. The GOP members of Congress have also completely abdicated their responsibilities to represent their constituents, and whether out of fear for their personal safety or an actual belief in the regime’s cruel policies, they’ve ceded much of their authority to the executive branch going against the checks and balances that the Constitution enshrined as guardrails against any one person assuming too much power. Even the GOP members of the Senate have ceded their authority by rubber stamping nominations for cabinet positions despite the nominees being wholly unqualified for their positions. As the year ends, some GOP members of Congress are trying to get some of their congressional responsibility back, but time will tell whether it’s too little, too late.
Throughout this year, the current administration, more properly designated a regime at this point, has done significant damage to the country. The president models the absolute worst behavior imaginable regularly spewing invective against more than half of the country based on his perceived grievances, many of which are entirely fictional. He is a vengeful individual concerned with his own power, ego, and wealth over and above all else as he rapidly deteriorates in plain sight.
As an American it’s horrifying to be living through this time. Prior to the start of the first Trump administration, the office of president was an honorable one. Even when its occupants supported unpopular policies, they understood a few basic facts, acted as positive role models for the country, and maintained strong alliances with our traditionally democratic allies. In 2017, that changed, and since then, it’s been a contentious battle for control of the country between those seeking to end democracy altogether in favor of a strict hierarchy where rich, straight, white, Christian males have all the power over everyone else, and those trying desperately to save democracy where all are equal before the law. That story is still being written, and 2026 promises to be another tumultuous year in the political arena. The chaos and cruelty that have become normalized in today’s America are the stuff of nightmares, and if one is paying attention it’s next to impossible not to be affected by it.
Striking a balance between staying informed and just ignoring it all while trying not to get in the way of the chaos is difficult. Having a few trusted, fact-based resources to help sort the flood of information and disinformation is crucial in achieving that balance. Historians have a unique ability to help with that, and one indispensable resource in all of this is Heather Cox Richardson’s Letters From and American. It’s free, and I read it daily along with a number of other sources.
It’s crucial to stay informed and to take the actions we can to help save our democracy, but at the same time, some aspects of daily life continue on for many. People need to live their lives. They need to work. They need to learn. They need to eat. It’s incredibly unhealthy to remain in the constant state of panic that today’s reality can foment. We all need a break from time to time which many find difficult given the urgency, and in many cases personal dangers faced because of our current situation in this country. The regime has worked hard to increase fear by physically threatening various communities, particularly immigrant communities. Even those who are in the country legally and even many citizens are in danger of being scooped up in sweeps by masked government agents and being imprisoned or rendered outside the country without due process. This used to be something that only happened in so-called third-world countries. Now, it’s happening in cities across the U.S.
Throughout the year, I read a number of articles about the importance of self-care especially during difficult times and posted about them on social media. One article written by a behavioral psychiatrist espoused several actions that one could take to make themselves happier. One friend who is actively working to save our democracy took issue with that saying that it’s not appropriate to be happy as we’re losing our democracy. He missed the point. I never suggested that anybody should be happy that we are losing our democracy. There is a lot of work to be done to save it, and we all need to do what we can to help. Collectively all of our small actions add up, and together we can make a difference. What that particular article was suggesting was adopting habits that help to make us happier overall as part of self-care. The things suggested would allow us to be healthier, stronger, and more able to use our energy in productive ways including working for democracy.
Despite the chaos, there is hope going into 2026. The pushback to the regime has been building all year, and now, even the regime itself along with its support base is splintering largely because of the regime’s overreach on its signature issues of immigration and the economy, and its opacity with respect to the Epstein files. Early on, the president insisted that he alone would see that the Epstein files were released and all who were complicit in the sex-trafficking activities documented therein would face their reckoning. Instead, as it became clear that he was integrally involved, he and his DoJ did everything they could to prevent those files from ever seeing the light of day. That infuriated those who were promised that those involved would be brought to justice. The Epstein files don’t just deal with misogyny and sex-trafficking. They deal with extreme pedophilia, and that doesn’t play well with the public.
In addition to the criminality that is evident in the regime including their engaging in blatant war crimes across the globe, the cost of living has been steadily increasing despite the president’s claims to the contrary. With the reality that people can see in their personal finances and his fictional narrative being so far apart, people have had enough.
2026 promises more chaos to be sure, but people are energized to make some meaningful changes which hopefully will including stopping the madness that the regime has wrought. The midterm elections are coming, and people have seen the damage that has been done by the current regime. There is hope that 2026 will be a better year in the end. One thing is for sure. Nobody who is paying attention will miss 2025. It’s certainly been the most traumatic year in my memory, and like many others, I’m very glad to see it end.
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