Hello, 2022! Goodbye, 2021.
What a year! It wasn’t as bad as 2020 but it still had its challenges. Scientists worked 24/7 through 2020 and developed a vaccine in 11 months to protect against Covid-19. As a result, 2021 was the rollout for Americans to receive free shots at free vaccine clinics in the war against the global pandemic. Sadly, a substantial portion of the population refused to be vaxxed so that means we’re going into Year 3 of Covid with a still-vulnerable population.
Why are we here?
In 2020 we lost 350,000 Americans to Covid; this year that number more than doubled to 824,000 deaths. Last year there were 20 million cases of Covid; this year that number more than doubled to 54.7 million. That’s too many illnesses and too many empty chairs at family tables.
Last New Year’s Day I wrote [1], “Trump and Republicans claimed a stolen election and refused to accept the results. … So as the clock strikes midnight on January 1, 2021, two months after Election Day, the battle by Trump and the GOP to overturn the election continues with a plan to challenge the January 6, 2021, certification of Electoral College votes.”
That was a year ago. This year, as we now know, the violent January 6 attack by Trump supporters on the U.S. Capitol is now in the history books. The 1/6 Select Committee is sorting through it all to get to the bottom of what happened on that dark day in America.
Meanwhile, here at Bearing Drift, it’s time to thank those who have built our foundation, offer extra thanks to our writers and background support, express gratitude for our readers, and start out with a clean slate in 2022.
Here comes 2022
Bearing Drift, created by J.R. Hoeft, turns 18 this year as we continue to showcase the talents of our writers and contributors who share their opinions, observations, and knowledge about the political world around us, as seen from our center-right position. With our concentration primarily on Virginia, we sometimes branch out to national and world politics when they affect us here in the Commonwealth.
Our New Year’s resolution for 2022 is to continue to provide quality articles to our readers, and to strive to present new content on a regular basis. We hope our readers will continue to read and add their civil voices to the discussion.
Our writers and background support
As the new year begins, we want to take a moment to recognize those who make Bearing Drift the remarkable organization that it is [2] and their contributions. That consists of our writers and behind-the-scenes folks who have been the wind beneath the wings of Bearing Drift by sharing their time, political experiences, and personalities as we work together on a daily basis. And it is all volunteer, from the writers to the background staff to the content partners.
–Melissa Kenney is our advertising director and managing editor who shares her expertise and also digs into the site to troubleshoot technical issues that may arise.
–Jason Kenney is our webmaster. For an organization like ours, that is just about the most important person in the operation. He troubleshoots issues and is practically on call at all hours of the day and night.
–Susan Sili covers the General Assembly during session, shares entertaining tips, and writes historical pieces about Virginia while covering her home base in Caroline County.
–Brian Schoeneman is our editor-in-chief emeritus and occasional contributor who is always there to provide support and feedback. His wealth of experience includes that as political volunteer and former candidate for public office.
—Shaun Kenney, formerly a contributor and editor at Bearing Drift, is now senior editor for The Republican Standard, and is a BD content partner.
–Stephen Spiker, who is experienced in polls, policy, and campaigns, provides solidly-researched pieces and crunches the political numbers while actively involved with local politics.
–Norm Leahy, who served as BD editor-in-chief in the past and is one of our content partners, writes for Real Clear Investigations and is a weekly opinion columnist at the Washington Post.
–D.J. McGuire, a former long-time contributor, returned in 2018 after a two-year absence. His experience is in foreign affairs and financial issues as well as Virginia politics. As our resident conservative Democrat (leaving the GOP in 2016), D.J. provides a counterpoint and balance to Republican talking points.
—Kristina Nohe brings a wit combined with deep-rooted thoughts on current events and the political world we find ourselves navigating. Her style is cutting edge and fresh, and she brings some much-needed common sense in her writing.
—Andrea Epps has a determination about politics that drives her desire to find truth and expose it in today’s volatile political world.
–Andrew Hull is on semi-hiatus as he works his way through his final year of law school. His writing is thought-provoking with honest assessments of the daily drama known as politics.
–Matt Homer brings with him the experience of a Republican staffer who worked in the 6th District and beyond for congressmen and presidential candidates, with an honest assessment of today’s GOP.
–Rob Schilling, content partner, writes about conservative issues, has his own radio show, and is a former Charlottesville city councilman.
–Chris Saxman, former House of Delegates member who is in charge of Virginia FREE, is a content partner with a wit and knowledge of Virginia politics while staying engaged.
—Scott Lingamfelter, another former House of Delegates member, is a published author and Bearing Drift content partners who brings elected experience to his writing.
—Bill Bolling served two terms as 39th Lieutenant Governor of the Commonwealth and is Bearing Drift’s newest content partner. After spending 22 years in elected office, he is well-equipped to offer observations and opinions regarding all levels of politics.
–Lynn R. Mitchell … and then there’s me — senior editor, photo chaser, and multi-tasker. If it falls through the cracks, I try to catch it.
Thank you to all our crew for making it fun to do what we do, and to their families for sharing them with us. If some are not as visible in their writing, these are extraordinarily historic times we’re living through as the world continues to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, and all are adjusting.
Here’s expecting even greater things for Bearing Drift in the coming year so watch to see where we go in 2022. From all of us to all of you … stay safe, be well, and Happy New Year!
-Lynn R. Mitchell
Editor-in-Chief