Happy New Year — By John Reed

Happy New Year!
I won’t be making the usual resolutions this year. Losing weight, walking more, spending less…I haven’t had much luck keeping those, so I’m going to try something else: positivity.
Fifty years ago, Spiro Agnew spoke words written by William Safire that struck a nerve then and are even more relevant now. Speaking at the California state Republican convention in 1970, Agnew said:
“In the United States today, we have more than our share of the nattering nabobs of negativism. They have formed their own 4-H Club — the ‘hopeless, hysterical hypochondriacs of history.”
Certainly those words are even more descriptive today, from national media outlets to local letters to the editor.
Those who truly know me know I’m basically an optimist, so my resolution is to share that optimism, on a variety of topics. I firmly believe the glass is half full, with all the potential in the world to get even fuller. I’m sure the grand poobahs of hopelessness and fear will attempt to strike back, but maybe I can bring a little light to the darkness and despair some seem to see around every corner.
It’s going to be a great year!