As 2022 begins, four strategic challenges to the post-World War II international order generate the psychological ambiguity — meaning plain old human fear — that fosters ethnic and sectarian slaughter and seeds the kind of bloody “proxy” wars that escalate into major regional wars.

It is beyond galling to hear these gangsters of democracy — these spoiled brats who attacked the seat of government because, heaven forfend, they lost an election — lauded as avatars of country love. No, they are avatars of cowardice, the fear of demographic change. And love? They love the braying of the fascist, the easy answers of the demagogue, the reasoning of the mob, the justice of fists and force, the powerless silence of the disfavored and despised.

The latest pitch for the Democratic voting agenda is more cynical and detached from reality than ever. We are to believe that the only way to counteract the furies unleashed on Jan. 6 is by imposing same-day voter registration and no-excuse mail voting on the states, ending partisan gerrymandering, and requiring the counting of ballots that arrive up to seven days after Election Day, among other provisions completely irrelevant to events that day or afterward.

For too long too many men have escaped accountability for their liaisons with prostitutes and underage girls. While some have faced criminal charges, most appear to have escaped full accountability. When police arrest prostitutes, the “Johns” too often go free, or pay a fine and avoid publicity.

Betty White represented the communal America so many yearn to get back. I will always picture her as Rose at that retro kitchen table, saying comforting things to Blanche, Dorothy and Sophia — and sigh.