Good Riddance, 2007! Hello, 2008!

Being the last day of 2007, I feel I should reflect a bit on the year that was.

I say, "Good riddance, 2007!"

I usually say "good riddance" to the old year, probably because the future, the New Year, holds possibility and promise.

I'm not going to spend time going through all the big events of the past year. (That's what archives are for.)

Charlie Sykes has written a column that sums up 2007, "The Forgettable Year." Read that for an overview of the frivilous and the eventful.

In terms of the news, there are a few stories that define 2007 for me.

Locally, the big one is crime. I think of the innocent children who were killed or wounded, caught in the crossfire of the thugs. I think of the many incidents of horrific violence. I think of gangs and the Bay View crime spree. I think of the violence at Milwaukee public schools, involving students and assisted by their parents or other adults.

Thugs are killing each other. They're killing the victims of their crimes. They're killing bystanders. They're killing Milwaukee.

And the most pleasant surprise of 2007 -- THE PACKERS!

Nationally, the big one is Iraq. Yes, that surge that wasn't going to work, worked. In 2007, things in Iraq turned around and much to the dismay of the Dems, it doesn't appear that Election 2008 is going to be a referendum on Iraq. It seems that Bush might not be on the ballot after all.

I can't begin to predict what 2008 will hold. Of course, like every other year, it will hold its joys and sorrows. There will be events that horrify and that inspire.

We're guaranteed to have a new president. That I can predict.

I don't know why exactly, but I feel like 2008 will be a momentous year, a year of tremendous turbulence and upheaval, kind of a 1968 revisited.

I think that stems from what's certain to be a really ugly election year. And also, there's no end in sight when it comes to the continued moral deterioration of Milwaukee, the country, and the world and the ensuing violence and death. I'm definitely uneasy about 2008.

In less than 24 hours, it will be here.


HAPPY NEW YEAR! (I hope and pray.)