The human trait of proclaiming good intentions but failing to follow through is ancient and universal. "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak" appears in red ink in the Gospel of Matthew.

That's the essence of the New Year's cliche: Resolutions are plentiful, but the resolve necessary to keep them is scarce.

Every January starts with declared determination. By February, reality usually reasserts itself. Resolutions feel like a futile ritual, invoking a "maybe next year" sense of resignation.

In a free society, there's nothing wrong with that for individuals.

But for tax-funded government operations and the politicians who lead them, there's everything wrong with serving up the same old vague resolutions, only to lack any resolve to actually change the status quo.

My wish for 2026 is enough public resolve to break this wearisome "broken record" scenario in two areas critical to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

EDUCATION

One of the reasons Abraham Lincoln ranks high as a president is his resolve regarding prioritization of objectives.

In his famous reply to New York Tribune publisher Horace Greeley in 1862, Lincoln made it unmistakably clear that his "paramount object in this struggle is to save the Union, and is not either to save or destroy slavery. If I could save the Union........

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