Welcome 2010: Try, Try, Again

I began the year 2009, like many others did, with a good deal of hope. Cautious hope, but hope. And there have been reasons to believe hope was justified. Not many, but any improvement was welcome.

The economy began to show signs of renewed life. Some banks made profits, a few made big profits. A few even gave their chiefs big bonuses while keeping the money spigot tightly shut to borrowers. The job losses slowed (but haven't stopped), and in a few industries people were getting hired rather than fired. I could actually afford an occasional latte at Starbucks again (only a 'Tall', though).

Our government appeared to care. At least in comparison to the last administration, which cared about 'the average Joe' as much as Sarah Palin cared about being governor of Alaska, which is to say only as much as minimally necessary.

President Obama came out ready to cook and immediately stuck his fingers in every pie that needed re-baking or a new recipe. Maybe too much too soon, but he was trying, and he did seem to really care, even if we were left with a few old finger-poked pies where we'd hoped for something new, tasty, and complete. It didn't help that his loyal republican opposition acted like nightmare competitors on 'Iron Chef' who, rather than providing alternate dishes, simply interfered with Obama's cooking by turning off the stove and hiding ingredients.

And the conflict in Iraq has apparently subsided. At least the news media aren't reporting much about it, instead focusing on the increasing mess in Afghanistan. But with Iraq no news is probably good news, so count that as a positive.

On the downside, we are still sending soldiers to fight, kill, and die in undeclared wars against enemies we can barely distinguish from 'friends'. Our politicians are more partisan puppets than ever, with big business and the very rich pulling their strings and getting most of their love. In some very important and sad ways, the more things appear to change, the more they stay the same.

So, if 2009 was a year characterized by 'at first you don't succeed...', then 2010 will have to be the year of 'try, try, again'. Let's hope more tangible progress is made.