Does anyone recall seeing Senate minority leader Charles Schumer laugh or even smile lately? His new task is to give serious appearance to an unsettled party in disarray as to policy, protocol and procedure. Its shameful and deliberate disassociation from the rest of “government of the people” during last week’s formal introduction of the new Washington regime sent a discouraging message throughout America. A political party now exposed as the architect of profligate financial recklessness and fraud in its pursuit of dominance is being called to account. The public it supposedly has represented is dismayed by revelations of how imbalanced budgets were condoned to reward loyalists and apply taxpayer funds to dubious causes here and abroad. Schumer now mirrors his party’s fragmentation and lack of credible leadership ability. Transparency rules under the new administration, enabling voters to see the back-room strains of Ukraine peace negotiations, testing evolution of international tariff impositions, identification and purging of bureaucratic waste, and multi-tasking responsibilities of responsible federal governance. Phil Osifer