It’s hard for me to decide what to write about today.

Should I write about the evils of the Republican Party and how I think that the 2024 election really may be the most crucial in the history of the country? I know that someone says this every four years, and until now I have always taken it with a grain of salt, but I think we may have finally reached the point where even I can add my voice. And maybe 2028 and 2032 will be the same, since things now change so fast, and every change has universal effect.

Say what you want about Joe Biden’s age, it is difficult to deny the progress that has been made in two years unraveling the problems create by the Trump administration. Even the southern border has calmed down.

We have seen inflation fall much more quickly than virtually anywhere else on the planet. We have seen job numbers rise and unemployment levels fall. We have seen local manufacturing increase. We have seen supply chain distortions ease.

But we have seen the horrendous problems created by a Republican House of Representatives, which seem to build and build. The latest, of course, are the proposed amendments passed by the House to the annual defense appropriation bill, which would – among other things – require the Pentagon to adopt conservative, right wing religious limitations on women’s health care.

And we have even seen problems with a small Democratic majority in the Senate, where a senator like Joe Manchin, a Democrat in a very red state who is worried about his survival and a man whose personal business interests obviously compromise his voting stances, can derail important initiatives dealing with climate change issues, among other things.

And there is our foreign policy. It has been quite a while since the Republican Party changed the tried and true American principle that politics stopped at the border, and that the President (who ever he is, whatever party he belongs to) is to be supported publicly overseas. Now, American foreign policy, too, is held captive to partisan ranting and bickering.

Take Ukraine and NATO, for example. When Donald Trump was president, he threatened to pull out of NATO (like he threatened to, and did, pull out of the Paris climate agreement, the Pacific trade agreement, and so much more), and openly stated that he trusted the truth of what Putin told him over American intelligence information. If he comes back to the presidency, who knows where we will find ourselves. A substantial number of Congressional Republicans do think we should simply let Ukraine fend for itself, and that we should separate ourselves from Europe.

I am afraid, of course, that the Democrats will not be able to make their case. Why? Because the Republican Party is an amoral party, given praise and credit for their dirty tricks and outrageous positions, while the Democratic Party is a self-described party of principle, purporting to represent all groups – minority and majority – in an ethical manner. Such a party can’t operate as the Republicans operate without stepping outside its own self-definition. In other words, in the Republican-Democratic rivalry, the Democrats have one hand tied behind their back, while the Republicans are ready to use both hands with attached brass knuckles. Not a fair fight for the American people.

But is this what I should write about today? It is so deja vu. But it is so important.