Issue #4
Christmas 2001
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Commentary With 2002 approaching with all deliberate speed, what shall we wish for the new year? Certainly not more events of the type that so disfigured 2001. Let's get the litany of past disasters out of the way so that we can express our healing wishes for next year.
The disasters are well known. (In the interest of avoiding outright provocation, I will not list George W.'s inauguration as one of them.) They include a slowing economy, passage of a wildly destructive tax cut, the failure of the New York Yankees to win the World Series, the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, the increasingly insane actions of the Sharon government in Israel, the alarming constrictions of freedom in the U.S. (not only in the aftermath of 9/11, but also with regard to the absurd extensions to copyright and patent law), the rash of anthrax cases (possibly caused by a deranged military lab worker with an animus toward prominent Democrats), and, my personal favorite, endless summer in New York.
For 2002, some of 2001's disasters are likely to be reversed. The recession shows signs of being short and mild; the tax cut is likely to be modified in the light of the now-vanished surplus, though probably not soon enough or drastically enough; Islamic fundamentalism is being dealt severe military, political and public-relations blows, and new buildings will rise on the WTC site; the Administration will be made to back off from the most egregious "anti-terrorism" proposals; and the anthrax killer will likely be identified and caught, given enough time and effort.
Some of 2001's disasters, however, are likely to persist for a while. No real agreement with the Palestinians is likely as long as the Israeli government is in thrall to its fundamentalists, the settler population in the West Bank and Gaza, any more than such an agreement can come about as long as the Palestinian hard-liners have control over Palestinian actions. Endless summer will probably become a staple of the New York scene, with palm trees growing in Central Park and Californians coming East for the winter climate.
As for the Yankees.......
What do I wish for the new Year? For those who lost relatives, lovers and friends at the World Trade Center and Pentagon, I wish an easing of your sorrow and the joy of good memories. For the country as a whole, I wish pride in our achievements, strength in our democratic traditions, and a more progressive House and Senate following the fall elections. For the people of the world, I wish the realization that those who say they have the truth, the whole truth and the only truth are liars out to do harm.
And for my friends, relatives and faithful readers, I wish a happy, healthy and prosperous new year.
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