WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER.

• Author: Boddiger, David
• Position: EDITOR'S NOTE

As we are preparing this last issue of The Progressive for 2022, the results of the crucial midterm elections still hang in the balance, although record numbers of early voters have already turned out, including in Georgia, where a single weekend day of voting saw an increase of 159 percent from the same day four years ago.

At the same time, Paul Pelosi, the husband of Democratic Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, is recovering after being brutally attacked by a hammer-wielding MAGA conspiracy theorist who intended to break the Speaker s kneecaps so that she would have to be "wheeled into Congress," according to a confession by the forty-two-year-old attacker. Republican politicians and candidates quickly made light of the crime, some even celebrating it. Billionaire Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, and Donald Trump Jr. were among those using the occasion to promote more anti-LGBTQ+ conspiracy theories and hate online.

Like the January 6 insurrection, this act of rightwing political violence in the United States only reaffirms that there is no bottom for Republicans, no matter how abhorrent--and criminal--their behavior. Online vitriol stirring this hatred will not disappear, it likely will only get worse. Our media landscape has quickly devolved into two realities: one of nihilistic and sadistic fantasy driven by misinformation, hate, and an incessant need to "own the libs," and another where people still try to report the truth, because without it, democracy is dead.

If we are to save this country, and our planet, from a demise by our own hands, we must thoughtfully and intentionally multitask. In addition to rescuing democracy from the clutches of fascism, we must also address the other problems, sometimes related, that we face in our communities every day, including the effects of the climate crisis, attacks on public education, relentless poverty, inequity, racism, bigotry, lack of workers' rights, ongoing wars, and so much more.

These are exactly the things that The Progressive has covered in its six issues during 2022. Looking back at the year's coverage, some of it seems to foreshadow events yet to come. The February/March issue warned of a "Democracy in Peril" as the extremist rightwing U.S. Supreme Court set the stage for Republicans to steal elections, something they claim the other side is doing. The April/May issue highlighted the steep price humanity will pay for our failure to act on the climate...