It's that frenzied time of year with everyone scurrying to be ready for Christmas and to clean up end-of-year details. It is also a time to be retrospective.
2009 has been, to understate it, challenging and scary. The economy, although suppposedly showing signs of a revived pulse, is still suffering severe unemployment, foreclosures and heart-rending economic problems for many families. The health care issue and the machinations thereof in Congress are mind-boggling, and I, for one, don't know what the hell kind of plan we are going to end up with. Our new President is besieged with these problems, intensified by a right-wing of naysayers who fight him on almost every initiative and offer little in the way of even minimal cooperation. He has stumbled on several occasions of his own doing and suffered sometime from overexposure. Recently he has righted himself and shown signs of assertive leadership.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, especially the latter, are deep thorns in our sides, bleeding and paining us. Reluctantly, I accept the President's decision to increase the troop levels and pray that the tactics will work. At this point, to pull out completely would only exacerbate the problems of the Middle East and Asia. Iran and Israel are powder kegs. The extreme factions of the Muslim world continue to create deep divisions and problems for the world. It ain't a pretty picture...
As a member of the "glass half-full" school of positive thinking, I still hope that American leadership in the world can and will prevail. My most fervent wish for the New Year is that we can find a way to bury our divisions and work together to deal with our many domestic and international problems. In the words of Hamlet, "Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished."
Happy holidays to you all.
From your lips to God's ear.
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