In any year, there is so much to be discouraged about, so much to be shocked about, so much to be unhappy about, as we see so many examples of selfishness, greed, hatred, and prejudice in the world, not just the United States.
The concept of fairness, compassion, justice, equality, freedom is always being fought against those individuals and forces that would deny all of these basic principles of human advancement.
So on Christmas Day, it is an appropriate time to point out who has inspired liberals and progressives in the year 2013. In no special order, they include the following:
The late South African President Nelson Mandela
Pope Francis, Vatican City
New York City Mayor-Elect Bill De Blasio
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders
Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy
Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
Delaware Senator Chris Coons
Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley
MSNBC talk show host Rachel Maddow
MNBC talk show host Lawrence O’Donnell
There are others who could make this list, but this is an even dozen, a great start to a list of principled, and inspiring, people who have changed our lives in a positive fashion!