We are nearing a year since Joe Biden took office. One year since he was elected. One year since he took control of one of the biggest economic crises in history. One year since he began presiding over the worst pandemic in history. One year since the oldest president ever elected and the first female and black vice president ever elected took office.

America was promised a return to normalcy. The era of mean tweets was over, and the division between us was ending. Our lives would return to normal.

Fast forward one year, and what we have is anything but normal. The Democrats have increased division to the point that even their own party can’t agree on major policies. The mean tweets from Trump are gone, but in their place is cheap, divisive sniping from all sides. Republicans are shut out from the process in many regards, and if the progressives at the fringes had their way, Republicans would not have a seat at the table even on things like the bipartisan infrastructure bill.

But it’s not just the Republicans they don’t want to work with. The administration has gone after parents, labeling them potential terrorists if they dare to question public education. They have labeled those who defeated them in Virginia “racists” and have delegitimized whatever grievances voters had.

The economy certainly hasn’t gotten better. Inflation has outpaced any wage growth the administration claims to be overseeing, jobs are being filled but supply chain issues and shortages are keeping businesses from making ends meet, much less growing and expanding.

COVID-19 cases are going up again, particularly in northern states/Democratic strongholds. The Biden administration tried to take credit for the development of the vaccines that have inarguably slowed the spread and death rates of the disease, but they also have gone out and shamed anyone who hasn’t gotten the vaccine, and even declared war on their rights by pushing an unconstitutional OSHA regulation.

That historic oldest president elected? He rarely takes questions, isn’t allowed off-script, and continues to make embarrassing gaffes in his public statements. His office is also apparently in a behind-the-scenes war with the office of the historic first black and female vice president. So much so that they have to publicly feign support when rumors of those disagreements hit the press.

The president and vice president are in a race to the bottom for disapproval among voters, and neither really seems to have a floor in that regard. They keep spiraling. Naturally, though, you’re a sexist and a racist if you don’t support Kamala Harris, and you support fascism if you don’t support Joe Biden.

Historic.

What’s really historic is what’s happening across the country right now. Washington Post/ABC polling has Republicans as a 10-point favorite in 2022, which has never been recorded in the history of their poll. A blue state like Virginia lost its legislature and statewide offices to Republicans earlier this month. Voters are feeling the crunch of the economy and have no patience for the political games Democrats are playing right now.

There is a deep division not just between the parties right now, but between the ruling class and the voters. Many Americans who spend too much time on social media, including the media class and the political class, have taken this to an extreme. They have internalized these ideas about the other side not just being their opponents, but actual enemies who are guilty of crimes against democracy and humanity and need to be removed from society at all costs. That isn’t healthy psychological behavior, and things will continue to spiral out of control because we can’t start treating each other, and the political process, in a healthier way.

But at the same time, social media does not represent us as a society, so the problems are amplified in the eyes of those of us who spend a lot of time there, and yet they can seem largely invisible to people who are not there nearly as often. So a lot of this division that we see is one-sided. A majority of the voters out there really don’t hate the other side, or the ruling class, or the media as much as it is the other way around. The voters are routinely just tired of the stupidity coming out of Washington, and they turn away from the status quo there.

The party in power, with all these negatives going around (and, yes, many of those negatives are self-inflicted, no matter what the administration will say), will lose. The real historic part of the Biden administration will be the absolute collapse of his party in just his first term. You could see record gains in the House. You could see the Senate flip again. And what will be really striking is how unprepared the Democratic Party and the Biden administration will be in handling that level of blowback.

You (the voters) will naturally continue to be blamed because you don’t have their vision or their passion. You will be labeled people who want to uphold white supremacy. And you will continue to reject that party and its rhetoric because they can’t help themselves and they’ll continue to push you away rather than accept any blame.