At last 2018 is about to crawl away into history and settle into a dark corner of its own. One thing swept along with it into that corner is the majority the GOP has held in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2011. The NYTimes.com has a heart-rending story about the soon-to-be in the minority GOP Reps and the fate they now face as the Democrats take control.

About two-thirds of Republicans returning to the House for the 116th Congress this week have never experienced the exquisite pain of being on the outs in an institution where the party in charge is totally in charge. Majority control runs the gamut from determining the floor agenda to determining access to the prime meeting space. It will be a rude awakening for many who have known only their exalted majority status.

So, they are in for “a rude awakening.”  I’m certainly not crying for them — eh, or laughing … too much. It’s hard not to feel a little bit of the old schadenfreude. After all it is the outgoing 115^th Congress that was so dominated by Ollie North’s NRA gun lobby that voted down any meaningful gun restrictions and introduced, by one count, 75 different bills that would have gutted the Endangered Species Act and undercut or removed federal protections from specific species. And they continued legislative moves to undermine and generally sabotage the Affordable Health Care Act making it harder and more expensive for American families to receive medical treatment and stay healthy. And that’s just two of the strikes against them.

The arrival of a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives will bring dramatic demographic changes to the House on January 3^rd. The 116^th Congress will be the most diverse in history — more women, people of color, LGBTQ, and many younger members: a new generation. Businessinsider.com found: The 115th House was one of the oldest in history, but 2018 midterms also ushered in a wave of younger Gen X’ers and Millennials elected to Congress. Come January, the average age of a member of the House will decrease a full decade from 57 to 47.

The Democratic take-over of the house helps us start 2019 with  more hope than 2018; change is afoot — with a lot more needed. It would be foolish to either over-estimate the advantage a new majority in the House means or to under-estimate the damage the GOP minority can still do. Republicans control the Senate, and there’s Trump’s ongoing  incompetence and corruption scandal that hovers over the country and is likely break next year.

But it’s no small thing being in the minority:  commenting on being in the House minority next year GOP Representative Peter “only two immigrant children have died” King (NY) said, “You control nothing.” Rep. King and  many other GOP Congressmen are going find themselves with a lot less power in the newly minted Congress starting January 3^rd,  and they will  “experience the exquisite pain of being on the outs”

So, why not have a new mint? Could be refreshing! Happy New Year — the glass might be half full!