One Great Mulligan

In this new century, let’s just say we got off to a bad start and start over.

George Bush made mistakes. He made so many that surely we are owed a barrel of mulligans, but maybe we could lump the entire eight years into a single bag, titled, “One Great Mulligan,” and start over.

To sum up the mulligan we seek: Bush weakened the American presidency with his ineptness, he weakened our economy with his profligate spending and his laissez-faire attitude toward financial markets, he undermined our Constitution with each step he took to trample our rights protected so carefully in the Constitution’s hallowed pages, and he threatened our future by creating new enemies abroad with his reckless and ill conceived foreign policies.

But I don’t want to talk about Bush 43 anymore.

I just want a mulligan.

I just want to start over.

Can’t we acknowledge that a new era does not always begin chronologically but sometimes begins metaphorically – at least as humans track time? If we are allowed “One Great Mulligan,” let’s gratefully take it, tell the world “Our long national nightmare is over,” and begin anew.

As our new President said yesterday, "The time has come to reaffirm our enduring spirit; to choose our better history; to carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free, and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness.

In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted -- for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things -- some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."

Ahhhhh… thank you for the mulligan. Let the new century begin.

Nothing changes...or does it?

New beginnings always have me thinking of old beginnings. I came to Washington as a 28 year old aide to a freshman US Senator in 1973. Swearing in was on January 5 that year. The freshman class had 13 members, including Joe Biden, who turned 30 in December and thus was eligible to be sworn in on January 5.

That first year, 1973, we were so busy; I don't recall seeing the sun shine at all!

On January 22, 1973, the Supreme Court issued its landmark decision, Roe v. Wade, the heat from which has not diminished since. January was also the month that Henry Kissinger signed the Paris Peace Agreement, effectively ending America's military involvement in Vietnam (although President Nixon continued to bomb Cambodia until September). January 1973 also brought the end of the draft and the beginning of the AVF, the All Volunteer Force. And if memory serves me correctly, that was also the month the Senate took up the War Powers Act, a new law aimed at limiting a future President's ability to commit American forces overseas for more than 90 days without the specific consent of the US Congress. (Yeah, well, that's what it was supposed to do.)

And that was just the first month.

Later in the year, the Vice President of the United States resigned his office rather than face federal charges for tax evasion. His name was Spiro Agnew. I remember telling the news to my boss on the steps of the US Capitol, and as I showed him the AP wire report, I remarked, "If we stay here another 30 years, we're not likely to witness again anything so dramatic in our national life." That was the voice and thinking of a young and innocent Senate aide who would never cease to have his eyes opened wider still with each new scandal. Scandals, as we all know, are as much a part of our government as its three branches. As long as we staff government with real people, there will be real scandal. To err is human, of course, but to steal while alleging to serve the public interest is...well, very special.

Oh yes, and in the same year, we experienced the first Arab oil embargo. Politicians filled the airwaves with speeches decrying America's sorry dependence on foreign oil. One after another, Representatives and Senators rose to declare "America must end its dependence on foreign sources of oil. America must become energy independent. We need a national energy policy."

Yep, nothing ever changes.

Until now.

Dare this innocent, now some 36 years older, dream that things can and will change? I don't know. Really, I don't know the answer...but I do know this one thing: 2009 presents the nation with the best chance for successfully addressing some of the most intractable of problems...and all of us must participate in finding and/or supporting the solutions.

A new class of Senators gets sworn in tomorrow, January 6, 2009. They and their aides will be just as busy as we were. The issues are more complex now -- or so they seem -- but the hours will be just as long for at least the first year. The only message I have for them is this: be assured the sun does shine while you toil and the day will come when you can rest...and be thanked for the service you have rendered.

Milestones...and miles to go

When we speak of our nation’s history, many of us often mark the passage of time in terms of universally shared milestones. Many citizens carry lasting psychological scars from The Great Depression, World War II, political assassinations, Vietnam War, the terrorist attack of September 11, 2001 – to mention a few.

But not all milestones of our national life are wrapped in tragedy. In some, we discern hope for a better tomorrow. The election of our first African-American President is seen by many as an opportunity to peer over the horizon at a new America, a country hard at work rebuilding and renewing itself.

In every corner of our land, Americans are hurting. The global economic meltdown is crushing everything in its path – not just savings accounts and retirement funds but dreams of a college education or that first home, sometimes straining marital ties, and even breaking up families through foreclosure. The economic hardship is so severe for some that it has individuals choosing between food for the table and medicine to fight off disease. These are the essentials of which our lives are made. Nothing else matters when these are threatened.

Suddenly the voices that have prospered in political circles for years sowing the evils of oppressive big government are falling on deaf ears. Instead, people are straining to hear the voice of a new leader, someone who will use big government to lift us up – and unite us in the process.

On November 4, 2008, the nation began the process of renewal. Barack Obama said it was time to “turn the page,” and the people agreed.

Americans know their country has lost its way. Our country is not what it used to be. The various and essential systems that support our highways, carry our electricity, and deliver our water, are crumbling. Our educational institutions are turning out illiterates who know more about McDonald’s apple pie than “pi R squared.” Our leaders pander to us by delivering tax cuts we cannot afford. Energy prices dictated by dictators abroad control our economic destiny and no one shouts, “Enough!” – until now.

As 2009 opens its windows, who among us does not feel the excitement that is absolutely palpable. Why else would more than a million people willingly pledge to brave a January winter in Washington to hear a man repeat the same oath of office taken by 43 presidents before him? They could certainly hear it and see it better on television. Could it be they are drawn to an event so important that is the national equivalent of a collective turning of the page for this republic?

Tom Friedman wrote in his NY Times column a few days ago: “John Kennedy led us on a journey to discover the moon. Obama needs to lead us on a journey to rediscover, rebuild and reinvent our own backyard.”

Now that will be a milestone to remember….but we have miles to go before we claim it.