Happy New Year.

The new year always begins with so much hope, and this year is no different. I hope that my friends will be healthy and happy. I hope that we can solve some of the country's big problems and more of the little ones. I hope that we can come together as a nation and a world and finally realize that we're all in this together and that the deaths and atrocities are a stain on the human race. I hope that I can be a better person, a better friend, a better spouse, a better parent, and a better teacher.

But hope can only get you so far. At some point, you have to fight for what you believe in and for what you want done. On that point, this will be a year of fighting. For justice. For the right of everyone to have a healthy body, a healthy mind, and a full stomach. For the right to exercise the vote. For the right to free speech. For a free, quality education. For economic growth that begins to close the gap between wealth and not-so-wealthy. For clean air and water. For facts.

There is more, but you get the point.

There will be challenges as soon as this week because Congress will begin moving towards legislation that will ultimately strip 20 million people of their health insurance. The assaults on Medicare and Social Security are sure to follow as will the foreign policy meanderings that will be endemic to an administration that only sees raw power as worthy of respect.

The good news? That we will turn our attention and energies to fighting for what we believe in.  That's what this year will be about. More people voted against the agenda than for it. Never forget that.

And have a healthy, happy, prosperous New Year.

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