And we thought 2016 was bad.
Of course, at this time in 2016 many people thought “how could 2017 get any worse.” No one is suggesting that about 2018. In fact, there is a growing realization we are walking along the precipice, or as @fmbutt (Farooq Butt) said on Twitter the other day, “we hugely underestimate the fragility of modernity.”
The usual sense of optimism for the new year is muted this year. I believe this is partly because 2017 was packed so full of news that portrayed democracy under grave threat. Amy Siskind’s “The Weekly List: This Is How Democracy Ends” has been cataloging the abnormalities under Trump for more than a year.
So much has been crammed into this year that it is hard to keep up with how many outrageous things have been normalized. In a year this full, the only way to see it off is with a good digestivo. Lots of choices as Italian amari have gained a lot more attention lately. I’m a big fan of Ramazzotti (though a Polish honey mead works well here, too, maybe just my Chicago upbringing).
Tonight, though, an anisetta con la mosca should do the trick because those three flies — (con la mosca) coffee beans representing health, happiness, and prosperity — are a symbol of the hope for 2018 as we let the anisette settle our digestion of 2017. The hope is not Mueller and his investigation, important as it is, but the reaction of so many Americans that are standing up to the kleptocracy, incompetence and the degradation of our traditions that Trump and his GOP enablers represent.
Meletti is my preference for anisette, but whatever you’re drinking tonight, raise a glass to the ideals that actually make America great, and to the work ahead in 2018.
Happy New Year!
Cheers!
Gin & Bitters 