According to Eugene Robinson of The Washington Post, 2017 was an "awful, rotten, no-good, ridiculous, rancorous, sordid, disgraceful year," ["Voters should use ballot box to control Trump in 2018," Dec. 24].

I wonder if Mr. Robinson noticed the stock market is at an all-time high, unemployment is near a record low, manufacturing jobs are coming back, the GDP is now growing at a 3 percent per year, the mandate to buy health insurance is gone and America is again respected by friend and foe alike.

Mr. Robinson would probably argue that only the wealthy are benefiting. But look at the stock market as an example. About $5 trillion have been added to the value of American companies since Election Day. These dollars are shared by all who have IRAs, 401(k) retirement accounts, pension funds and even endowment funds of churches and nonprofits.

If this is an example of a terrible year, we can only hope and pray that 2018 will be equally bad!

Jerre Wilson, Lakeland