So, if you’re reading this, you made it to the end of 2010. (Or someone not yet born has really obscure reading habits.) For me, personally, it felt like a hard old year, but not without redeeming qualities. We moved to a new house which probably explains the hard-but-rewarding quality of the year well enough. Our firm brought on an associate. I coached my son’s soccer team. The family had a series of (thankfully) short-lived but disruptive medical issues. My golf game was ignored. My kids started at a new school. My daughter began reading. My son continued to impress me with how bright he is. My wife’s business jumped to a new level. I ran 333 miles. I made a couple of really good pots of chili.
But, the blog fell by the wayside a bit. I won’t do anything silly like resolve to make the blog a bigger priority. For example, I started drafting this post yesterday, and it just didn’t get done. Then, a sentence into resuming the post this morning, I was called upon to help with preparing a New Year’s breakfast for the family. I enjoy blogging, but, as the man said, the world will little note nor long remember what we say here. Better to concentrate on the more important things as they come along.
My predictions for 2011 politics are cynical. The Congressional Republicans will experience the inevitable backlash from actually having people in office instead of merely being some abstract Alternative to the Democrats who had to operate in the real world for the last two years. Congressional Democrats will continue to step in it as they continue to be a mix of disorganized, afraid, and venal.
On the state level, Republicans will suffer from not having Democrats to act as a brake to their throttle. I suspect Hoosiers will be reasonably tolerant of legislation that erodes schools or makes the wealthy and well-connected more comfortable, but less tolerant the more the General Assembly goes bumbling about in hot-button social issues. State Democrats need to find leadership, fast. They aren’t doing themselves any favors drifting along with comfortable guys like Bayh and Bauer. On the front end, I think they need to find someone hungry and charismatic; if anyone like that exists in the party. On the back end, they need to get some organization.
As a practical matter, most Hoosiers won’t see a whole lot of difference in their own lives as a result of legislative activity. Some will, of course, and they’ll be loudest and we’ll hear about them. But, for most of us, legislative activity nibbles along the edges and the main trajectory of our lives isn’t altered a great deal. Never was this more clear to me than when I went to a Blog Indiana conference where it came crashing home to me that political blogging was something of a ghetto of the blogosphere. This is probably a pretty good analog of politics’ relationship to social activity generally. For all the talk of the vitality of politics as a civic duty, in practice it mostly ends up being more of a shabby alternative to team sports. Where lawmakers and citizens simply focus on fixing problems and making our communities function well, politics usually ends up being largely incidental except as a countermeasure to other political activity.
With those cheery thoughts, have a happy 2011 everybody!
Doug, thanks for posting on your blog whenever feasible. On the topic of Indiana governing during the next few months (and beyond as to implicatations): this said as a registered Democrat who has held office and appointments as a member of that party, but one who might better be defined as Independent when it comes to voting and considering issues. Hopefully, the Democrats will find new leadership that is capable of real leadership and not simply being an agrumentative alternative because they think that is what they are suppose to do. At the same time I hope the General Assembly will work out their own agenda and not be totally dependent upon the Governor and the Superintendent of Public Instruction agendas. Admittedly I am not a big fan of the “do it our way” of the two even when the ideas have merit. The next two years will be very interesting ones for the state and let us hope ones in which wise and informed decisions will be made. Predictions: unions are in deep trouble, education is going to be under continued heavy attack, taxation will favor businesses, local government will be in trouble on several fronts even as the state mandates more to be done, and in your area of law practice will continue to be very active.
On that unhappy social note, as I sit here listening to Neil Young’s “Freedom” album: Keep on rockin’ in the free world!
As usual, Doug, I agree with you on all points. I periodically have to remind myself that no matter how insane our politics may be, it rarely has much impact on my own life. (But then, I’m pretty comfortable–I worry about the effect on those whose situations are more tenuous…)
Anyway, have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year, and know that when you do manage to blog, many of us will enjoy reading it.