December 31, 2006
The old year ends
So many articles are written to close the book on 2006 as if life mimics college where exams end the course, you discard your notes, try to sell the text book, take a break, and start over. If life were so simple. Here are my thoughts for 12-31-06.
The story that jumped off my Sunday WSJ is an interview with Deputy Governor Susan Goodwin, the power behind closed doors in the Capitol, and the architect of term number three.
She was asked, "Are you content to stay behind the scenes?" (I'm not making this up.) Here is part of her response:
"I think I could do my job and be more public about it. [No kidding!] It is a reflection of who I am. I'm not here because of me. [Georgia Thompson might express the same sentiment about her current residence.] I don't have a very big ego. I'm not somebody who was really driven to be here, or dying to be chief of staff.
I don't need the attention.
I don't want the attention.
I don't care about the attention."
Okay. Got it. You need the attention. Now, in the spirit of Christmas, throw open the curtains.
The execution. Whenever Cheney and Bush face two choices, they almost always choose the wrong one. Impartial trial in The Hague or a fixed trial in Iraq where the world knows the U.S. calls the shots? Yup. Door number 2. Should they keep him in prison or kill him? Yup! Door number two. Should they hang him on a special holy day for Sunni Muslims or wait a week or two? Yup! Kill him on the holiday.
The NYT said, "This was the first time in modern history that a Sunni dictator was executed by a Shiite." An act that will predictably lead to more violence. And to more statements from the administration that it is not a civil war yet.
Can they deny that we just took the Shiite side in that civil war?
So, farewell '06. Thanks for some good stuff. We can try to forget the bad stuff. Time to discard the notes, sell the text, and dream about peace and publicly financed campaigns in 2007.
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