Most of us have discerned by now that our new normal - no matter how many times our local, state and national officials talk about "when we get back to normal" - is likely to be closer to never being normal-as-we-have-known-it ever again.

Right on cue, Republicans who forgot about deficits throughout the Trump administration now are wringing their hands and pretending to care about them once more now that President Joe Biden is pushing a $1.9 trillion COVID relief plan.

On day one, by the end of his first half day in office, President Joe Biden split the time between inaugural pomp and circumstance with getting to work undoing some of the Trump administration's most divisive policies.

Exhale.

It is heartening to see COVID-19 vaccines beginning to get pumped into arms in Hamilton County and surrounding communities. But it's disheartening to see it happening with so much disconnect.

We cannot let go of Dr. King's dream. Our dream. Let freedom ring.

A sign of Joe Biden's leadership is his "go big" plan to confront the coronavirus and revive our COVID-sickened economy.

One could argue (and some have) that Donald Trump — as flawed, terrible, ignorant, incompetent, racist and narcissistic as he is — was exactly what America deserved.

Kudos to President-elect Biden, who on Thursday evening formally introduced his $1.9 trillion coronavirus and downturn relief plan.

Donald Trump makes history again.

As America watched live television in horror last week as a mob swarmed the U.S. Capitol, hiding House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy appealed to Jared Kushner, Sen. Lindsey Graham phoned Ivanka Trump for help, and Kellyanne Conway dialed an aide she knew was standing at the president's side.

Now what?

So the Trump chaos continues. But we're talking now of policy chaos.

Too little and too late, Donald Trump straightened up and made a presidential statement condemning the "heinous attack" on the United States Capitol.

Donald Trump needs to be relieved of duty now.

Later this month, Washington, D.C., will be closer to a Democratic one-party town than it's been in awhile - since the first two years of the Obama administration.

Time waits for no one, as the Rolling Stones used to sing.

While Donald Trump - and Tennessee senators and representatives - sink to new lows in their seemingly bottomless plunge to stay in power, someone is dying of COVID-19 every 33 seconds.

If you're looking for stories with a twist of irony, palace intrigue and stunning corruption, the saga of Donald Trump's Washington never disappoints.

The dark winter is now trending toward spring. The planets tell us so.

Chattanooga Times editorial cartoonist Clay Bennett takes a look back at his favorite cartoons of 2020. Free Press top editorial cartoons of the year will be published next Sunday, Jan. 3.

It is Christmas 2020, and it's a year unlike any we've ever known: Amid the hush of social distancing, COVID-19 runs amok in a time also infected with the most poisonous political climate of our modern history.

We all need help sometimes. Especially when life throws us a curve ball.