On the Eve of the New Year

In a few short hours, it will be 2009. I've been waiting for this year since George W. Bush was re-elected in 2004, and lordy, it's taken a long time to arrive! His first term was bad enough, but who really knew the destruction this one man (OK--he did have help) could wreak on a nation? Actually, a world? Molly Ivins tried to warn us many times, but who knew the disaster W was in Texas would be magnified when he reached the national and international stage? The next 20 days cannot pass quickly enough, but if we, as American citizens, are smart, we will not only learn from the past 8 years, but we will punish those who have done the most damage. I suggest bringing Dick Cheney and Alberto Gonzales up on war crime charges as a bare minimum--that action alone would go a ways in restoring our standing in the world.
I feel so sorry for Barack Obama. Can you imagine his first day on the job? They will be using a forklift to bring in all the information on all the problems that need his immediate attention. Good thing Obama is smart and has smart people to assist him. He'll need them.
I don't mean to be all doom and gloom. It's just that there are so many things in this country that seem to be going wrong all at once. When I was a kid, I could trust the adults to take care of things, and as a young adult, I could still trust the real adults to take care of things. But now I'm that adult that kids are trusting to make everything all right, and I'm feeling pretty powerless. I used to be able to focus my worry on one or two major problems facing the country at the moment, but now the major problems are so numerous as to be overwhelming--I don't know what to worry about first. I thought the election season was nerve-wracking, but things haven't changed, only gotten worse, and we still have to hold on for another 2+ weeks.
I'm just grateful my own personal life is going so well. I'm not just grateful, I'm very, very thankful for the love and support of my family and friends. Karen and I couldn't be happier, Erika and Peter are doing well, family and friends are healthy, and I have a job and a home and a car that works.
I guess my wish for 2009 is that the peace and goodness in my own life can spread, and when I write on New Year's Eve next year, I'm bubbling over with optimism.