Dear Friends,

It's New Year's Eve, so Happy New Year to anyone who might be reading this post. It's customary that we use this time to reflect on the year that is quickly passing into history and ponder what the new year might bring. It's also a time when we (somewhat foolishly) make resolutions that we know for the most part we have no real hope of keeping. If we were going to keep them, they wouldn't be resolutions...they would be habits already, wouldn't they?

That doesn't stop most of us from thinking about how we would like to improve our stations in life, though, whether it is through making healthier life-style choices or making more money by getting a new job or going for a promotion. And I happen to think that considering those things is good for us to do. After all, if we didn't set goals for ourselves--and lofty ones at that--where would we be?

At the same time that I am considering what resolutions I might like to make for 2013, I am watching the news commentary about what is going on in Washington, DC and I am alternately shaking my head  in disgust and dismay and yelling at the TV. I know that yelling at the TV doesn't do any good. In fact, I might consider making it a resolution that I not yell at my TV in the new year. But it is definitely frustrating listening to the guys who have been refusing to make a deal now blame the President for not being willing to make a deal. Really? The same guys who refused to vote last week are now slamming the President for being unwilling to make a deal. Incredible (she writes as she shakes her head again in disgust and dismay).

What I find really fascinating is that what is happening today isn't totally different from what was happening when Lincoln was trying to broker the deal to get the 13th Amendment to the Constitution passed through the lame duck Congress of 1865. (See the movie if you haven't already. It's great.) What is even more fascinating is that according to the biography of Lincoln, Team of Rivals,  in the late 1840's and early 1850's, a party formed itself in response to the unprecedented flood of immigration from Europe (especially Ireland and Germany) during that same time period. The party that emerged in reaction to this influx of immigrants called themselves the "Know Nothing Party" (you can't make this stuff up) and their goal was primarily to delay citizenship for the new immigrants  and bar them from voting. Sound familiar?

So, it seems to me that the current "Do Nothing Congress" is not so far removed given the "Know Nothing Party" of the mid-1800's. Indeed, it would seem that they share many of the views and philosophies of the current Tea Party who has shown a penchant for similar ideas. I have often considered that the more things change, the more they remain the same. Change is hard, and change forced on those who are ultra-resistant to it because they prefer the safety of the known to fear of the unknown makes it that much harder. So, I resolve no more yelling at the TV and staying mindful that the seeming unreasonableness of those in Congress who are determined to obstruct moving into the future are just afraid and deserve my compassion instead of my disdain.

Hmmm. Wonder how long that resolution will last?

Until next time.

Kitty