Random Thoughts on 2009

Time Magazine named Ben Bernecke Man of the Year yesterday, and Barbara Walters has crowned the year's 10 most fascinating people. These are the events that usually herald the end of another 365-day stretch of human history, the time when we pause to look backward and relive our trials and triumphs.

Here is my take on 2009:

• It has been a rough year for almost everybody, yet most of us will make it through. I have learned that the things we dread most are usually not as bad as we feared, especially if we face them head-on and refuse to allow them to overtake us.
• The weather has been anything but normal -- not even close. Georgia went from drought to floods with barely a time for transition. But our water bills have risen steadily. And the debate over global warming drones on.
• It is one thing for a political leader to pass a bill, state a policy or institute a new program. It is quite another thing to get the money out to the people, the jobs created, the banks to make or modify loans.
• The 2-party system of government doesn't work for anyone except those who choose to play in the governmental sandbox. The rest of us are incidental beneficiaries or victims, depending on our luck.
• The Swine Flu pandemic has been bungled badly by the CDC and we saw it coming. Heaven forbid we should face biological warfare!
• The death of Michael Jackson and the fall of Tiger Woods have punctuated my belief that Fame and Fortune are more of a curse than a blessing. Michael died lonely and isolated. Tiger is alive, lonely and isolated. Their money hasn't helped.
• Being a superior athlete (Governor, Senator, rock star, actor, whatever) does not translate into being a model husband (wife, father, mother, citizen, leader, etc.)
• "Sully" the pilot came the closest of anyone to being a bona fide hero when he landed that aircraft on the Hudson River.
• Sarah Palin, train-wreck that she might be, appeals to an awful lot of Americans on a level that is just plain frightening.
• Guantanamo Bay put a blazing spotlight on the conflict between the American philosophy of warfare and the philosophies of our enemies.
• Justice Sotomayor prevailed and added another level of diversity to the U.S. Supreme Court. Slowly, but surely, America is moving toward the realization of its original promise.
• Flawed as we are, Americans are lucky to live in a country that is based on the freedom to protest when we disagree with the direction the country is taking. Watching Iran handle its citizens' protest of the rigged presidential election reminded us of how lucky we are.