Friday Pre-Inauguration Mailbag!

OH YEAH

Happy Friday.

We made it.

This is the last Mailbag of the Joe Biden presidency. By the time we do this Mailbag next week, Donald Trump will be finishing up his first week as the 47th president of the United States.

Whoa boy.

HUGE change is coming to Washington. And I will be here to cover it all.

Below, I answered a whole bunch of your questions about politics — and other stuff. Everyone will be able to read some of my answers but ONLY paid subscribers get access to ALL of the questions and answers.

What better time to become a paid subscriber then today? Trust me, Washington and politics isn’t going to get any less interesting — or less important — over these next four years!

Here we go!

(And don’t forget to check out my YouTube livestream at 1pm eastern today! And my Substack Live with

Charlie Sykes

at 3 pm eastern!)

Q: I am planning on not paying attention to news for the next 4 years except for my local news. Ignorance is bliss and the nonsense that will transpire after Jan 20 will be ridiculous and scary. I'm still shocked that there were voters out there that just don't care how badly he behaves so I am done. My husband and I left the Republican party and are now registered as Independents.

A: I think this is the exact WRONG approach to the next four years.

When is ignoring something ever the best solution?

I’ve got this lump on my leg but I will just ignore it and it will go away!

My kid is showing signs of depression but I will just ignore it and it will go away.

Hiding under a pile of coats for the next four years is not an option.

It’s just not the right response. If you really hate Donald Trump and believe that he is terrible for this country, you should do everything in your power to oppose him. And the way you do that is by being informed.

I would suggest [ducks] that even that isn’t the ideal approach to take to the next four years. Why not? Because I think it assumes that the 77 million people who voted for Trump are all dead wrong about, well, everything. That they are stupid and racist and misogynist.

That view isn’t going to get us where we all want to go. Someone disagreeing with you does not necessarily make them a bad person. Or an idiot.

If anything, I believe we need to have MORE conversations with people we disagree with over these next four years. We need to read MORE stuff that doesn’t just affirm our views. We need to be MORE willing to raise questions about our own beliefs and biases.

Am I optimistic this will happen? I am not. But, for my part, that’s what I am going to be doing.

Q: For those of us who get stressed out about the thought of the next four years (and beyond), how do you suggest we cope? What are some things we should remind ourselves?

A: That politics — and life — always goes on.

Despite all the predictions of how we are going to become a dictatorship, I think there are already a few signs that the separation of powers and checks and balances will hold.

Matt Gaetz, a clearly unqualified nominee, lasted only 8 days as the Attorney General pick. Republican Senators made clear to Trump that Gaetz was NEVER going to get their votes — despite him being the incoming president’s preferred choice.

The Supreme Court refused to cancel the sentencing of Trump for his 34 felony counts in New York. Yes, the sentencing was in name only — Trump paid no fines and will serve no jail time — but he clearly did not want to have to sit in front of Judge Juan Merchan one last time. SCOTUS said he had to.

These are early signs — to me at least — that our democracy is strong enough to cope with Donald Trump who, to be clear, represents a radical change to how the executive has thought and acted in the past.

Q: You've criticized the Dems for being out of touch and not communicating well (along with lots of people). Should the Dems focus heavily on simply criticizing and blaming Trump for everything - like he did for Biden? For example, he had a list of things he will do on day 1, so do they start using their platforms and surrogates to pester him when those things don't get done. Every morning starting Jan 22 I would list what happened in the war he claimed he was going to end on Day 1. Just mock him mercilessly about his unkept promises.