2021 is Here. What's in Store?
Ian Franks
2 Jan

2020 was a year to remember. Image by Prachatai, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Finally, it’s arrived. The dark months of 2020 are behind us and we welcome the New Year with as much enthusiasm as we normally do, albeit with more muted celebrations.

The future is often a scary place to try and see into, yet we often await it eagerly. A year ago, we welcomed this year with the usual hopes, not knowing it would bring a global pandemic that would kill millions and a presidential election that would descend into turmoil with unfounded allegations of electoral fraud.

And, although the electoral college has decided that Joe Biden won the presidency, ending one contentious issue raised by Donald Trump, the pandemic is nowhere near defeated.

Indeed, a mutated form of COVID-19, more infectious than the initial form and first identified in the U.K., has been found globally. It’s likely well established in the U.S. already.

Jared Polis, governor of Colorado, where the first variant strain was discovered, broke the news Trump-style, by taking to Twitter. On 29 December, he wrote: "Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the U.K. The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely.”

The patient is reported to be a man in his 20s, with no travel history or close contacts.

Just how the world is going to cope with these and more variants that are likely to appear cannot yet be determined, but it seems certain to me that the United States needs to have a better response nationally than it did under Trump’s leadership.

Biden needs to hit the ground running to protect the American people. There is no time for hesitation and no time for delays. Action is needed now.

Of course, the one big hope is a vaccine. In fact, vaccines produced by various pharmaceutical companies are now in the distribution phase, and said to be effective against the variant strains of the virus.

On the health side, at least, 2021 looks set for a very bumpy road.

ARIZONA • Signs in support of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at a meet-and-greet event. 24 October. Image by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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And in politics, as always, it’s the same.

Biden’s programme for government, as with any president, depends on his relationship with Congress. There, the Democrats control the House of Representatives but not the Senate - at least not yet.

Republicans hold 50 of the 100 seats and Democrats 48,  with the last two being decided in a run-off election in Georgia on 5 January. This is being held because no candidate achieved more than 50% of the votes in the state, as required by Georgia state law.

Traditionally a Republican state, voters plumped for Democrat Joe Biden in November, with senate elections finishing with one Republican and one Democrat in the lead. If the run-offs end the same way, the Senate will remain red.

But a win for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would divide the senate 50-50, with incoming Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris holding the casting vote. This means both houses of Congress would be in Biden’s camp, making the president’s policies more achievable.

Opinion polls - notoriously unreliable in recent years - coming out of Georgia have both Democratic candidates in the lead, with the gap supposedly growing. However, to me, the race is too close to call and the two parties have it all to play for.

And finally, eyes will be glued to Capitol Hill on 6 January when the electoral college votes are to be certified.

Normally just a rubber-stamp procedure, the process has recently been at the centre of President Trump’s efforts to overturn the result of the election.

Some politicians are threatening to make pro-Trump challenges, but it’s unlikely anything will come of it.

With any luck, Biden and Harris will come through unscathed.

Ian Franks is the managing editor of 50 Shades of Sun.
OPINION
2021 is Here. What's in Store?
Ian Franks
2 Jan

2020 was a year to remember. Image by Prachatai, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Finally, it’s arrived. The dark months of 2020 are behind us and we welcome the New Year with as much enthusiasm as we normally do, albeit with more muted celebrations.

The future is often a scary place to try and see into, yet we often await it eagerly. A year ago, we welcomed this year with the usual hopes, not knowing it would bring a global pandemic that would kill millions and a presidential election that would descend into turmoil with unfounded allegations of electoral fraud.

And, although the electoral college has decided that Joe Biden won the presidency, ending one contentious issue raised by Donald Trump, the pandemic is nowhere near defeated.

Indeed, a mutated form of COVID-19, more infectious than the initial form and first identified in the U.K., has been found globally. It’s likely well established in the U.S. already.

Jared Polis, governor of Colorado, where the first variant strain was discovered, broke the news Trump-style, by taking to Twitter. On 29 December, he wrote: "Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the U.K. The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely.”

The patient is reported to be a man in his 20s, with no travel history or close contacts.

Just how the world is going to cope with these and more variants that are likely to appear cannot yet be determined, but it seems certain to me that the United States needs to have a better response nationally than it did under Trump’s leadership.

Biden needs to hit the ground running to protect the American people. There is no time for hesitation and no time for delays. Action is needed now.

Of course, the one big hope is a vaccine. In fact, vaccines produced by various pharmaceutical companies are now in the distribution phase, and said to be effective against the variant strains of the virus.

On the health side, at least, 2021 looks set for a very bumpy road.

ARIZONA • Signs in support of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at a meet-and-greet event. 24 October. Image by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

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Thanks for subscribing to The Locus!
Something went wrong. Sorry about that.

And in politics, as always, it’s the same.

Biden’s programme for government, as with any president, depends on his relationship with Congress. There, the Democrats control the House of Representatives but not the Senate - at least not yet.

Republicans hold 50 of the 100 seats and Democrats 48,  with the last two being decided in a run-off election in Georgia on 5 January. This is being held because no candidate achieved more than 50% of the votes in the state, as required by Georgia state law.

Traditionally a Republican state, voters plumped for Democrat Joe Biden in November, with senate elections finishing with one Republican and one Democrat in the lead. If the run-offs end the same way, the Senate will remain red.

But a win for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would divide the senate 50-50, with incoming Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris holding the casting vote. This means both houses of Congress would be in Biden’s camp, making the president’s policies more achievable.

Opinion polls - notoriously unreliable in recent years - coming out of Georgia have both Democratic candidates in the lead, with the gap supposedly growing. However, to me, the race is too close to call and the two parties have it all to play for.

And finally, eyes will be glued to Capitol Hill on 6 January when the electoral college votes are to be certified.

Normally just a rubber-stamp procedure, the process has recently been at the centre of President Trump’s efforts to overturn the result of the election.

Some politicians are threatening to make pro-Trump challenges, but it’s unlikely anything will come of it.

With any luck, Biden and Harris will come through unscathed.

Ian Franks is the managing editor of 50 Shades of Sun.
2021 is Here. What's in Store?
Ian Franks
2 Jan

2020 was a year to remember. Image by Prachatai, licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Finally, it’s arrived. The dark months of 2020 are behind us and we welcome the New Year with as much enthusiasm as we normally do, albeit with more muted celebrations.

The future is often a scary place to try and see into, yet we often await it eagerly. A year ago, we welcomed this year with the usual hopes, not knowing it would bring a global pandemic that would kill millions and a presidential election that would descend into turmoil with unfounded allegations of electoral fraud.

And, although the electoral college has decided that Joe Biden won the presidency, ending one contentious issue raised by Donald Trump, the pandemic is nowhere near defeated.

Indeed, a mutated form of COVID-19, more infectious than the initial form and first identified in the U.K., has been found globally. It’s likely well established in the U.S. already.

Jared Polis, governor of Colorado, where the first variant strain was discovered, broke the news Trump-style, by taking to Twitter. On 29 December, he wrote: "Today we discovered Colorado’s first case of the COVID-19 variant B.1.1.7, the same variant discovered in the U.K. The health and safety of Coloradans is our top priority and we will monitor this case, as well as all COVID-19 indicators, very closely.”

The patient is reported to be a man in his 20s, with no travel history or close contacts.

Just how the world is going to cope with these and more variants that are likely to appear cannot yet be determined, but it seems certain to me that the United States needs to have a better response nationally than it did under Trump’s leadership.

Biden needs to hit the ground running to protect the American people. There is no time for hesitation and no time for delays. Action is needed now.

Of course, the one big hope is a vaccine. In fact, vaccines produced by various pharmaceutical companies are now in the distribution phase, and said to be effective against the variant strains of the virus.

On the health side, at least, 2021 looks set for a very bumpy road.

ARIZONA • Signs in support of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris at a meet-and-greet event. 24 October. Image by Gage Skidmore, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

And in politics, as always, it’s the same.

Biden’s programme for government, as with any president, depends on his relationship with Congress. There, the Democrats control the House of Representatives but not the Senate - at least not yet.

Republicans hold 50 of the 100 seats and Democrats 48,  with the last two being decided in a run-off election in Georgia on 5 January. This is being held because no candidate achieved more than 50% of the votes in the state, as required by Georgia state law.

Traditionally a Republican state, voters plumped for Democrat Joe Biden in November, with senate elections finishing with one Republican and one Democrat in the lead. If the run-offs end the same way, the Senate will remain red.

But a win for Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock would divide the senate 50-50, with incoming Democratic vice-president Kamala Harris holding the casting vote. This means both houses of Congress would be in Biden’s camp, making the president’s policies more achievable.

Opinion polls - notoriously unreliable in recent years - coming out of Georgia have both Democratic candidates in the lead, with the gap supposedly growing. However, to me, the race is too close to call and the two parties have it all to play for.

And finally, eyes will be glued to Capitol Hill on 6 January when the electoral college votes are to be certified.

Normally just a rubber-stamp procedure, the process has recently been at the centre of President Trump’s efforts to overturn the result of the election.

Some politicians are threatening to make pro-Trump challenges, but it’s unlikely anything will come of it.

With any luck, Biden and Harris will come through unscathed.

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