Looking Back, Looking Ahead

It is almost that time of the year to look back on the year we are leaving behind and to look forward to the year ahead. It was a good year with some recoveries from past economic lapses, and it was a year to do a little blaming and learn from some of the errors we made. The election was partly an effort to blame our current leaders and a time to try a few new ideas, and visions, and people. But voters did not go for the totally new, and kept in some of the old, and more tested and true.

We have a basis for an optimistic look ahead with some victories at the end of the year for compromise and reason at the end of the year for the President and the Congress, and hopefully for all of the people. We hope to build on these victories and work on new compromises and understandings and new ideas and reasons.

For me, it was a time of new and old discoveries, with a monumental trip to Auschwitz, and Krakow, and Berlin, and of course, Detmold, and with a trip to help present the United States' human rights records and to look ahead to help build on the record and make it better and help make the world a better place for all people.

Now as I watch Sunday Morning's summary and tribute to some of the momumental people who died this year, I think of all of those who passed our way this year. Here is short list of those who passed away this year:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/12/24/ap/national/main7181544.shtml?tag=mncol;lst;3

Hopefully, their lives will inspire us for 2011. Let's go for it together and more unified with less disagreements.