Dana Blankenhorn

Year of Renewal

Think of this as Volume 12, Number 52 of A-Clue.com, the online newsletter I've written since 1997. Enjoy.

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There is a natural respiration to American politics.

A new leader wants the bad news to come out early in the term, so there is time for recovery before the next election.

This is how Ronald Reagan won re-election overwhelmingly. This is how Bill Clinton beat Bob Dole. Hard times are followed by good times.

In the present case green shoots are already apparent. The Republican opposition dismisses this and focuses on the deficit they did so much to create. But ask some Tea Party asshat whether we should have gone into Iraq or whether we should not have cut taxes eight years ago. If deficits matter, they matter. If deficits don't, they don't. To Republicans they only matter when Democrats are doing borrowing. They know the power of money and fear it when it's in the other side's hand.

The present issue is what any business does when it's in a hole. You either pull back and hope you can increase your profit margin, or you can invest anew in hopes that new profit, and bigger sales, will make the old debt look smaller.

Guess which course winning businesses take?

The Blankenhorn Christmas Letter for 2009

The year 2009 was the most turbulent Jenni and I have ever faced together. Most of it was expected, and the results have been good. But even positive change is hard.

The biggest change is Robin. I have not seen her since August.

But don't panic. This is a good thing.

She was accepted at Texas A&M Kingsville (TAMUK), which has the only program in the nation studying wild cats in their natural environment. She is taking her undergraduate degree there in hopes of joining the program as a graduate student. It's something she has talked about for over a decade – “I want to study cats in the wild or in zoos” – and she is on her way.

Not that we don't miss her. But kids grow up. They get their own ambitions, and must live their own lives. Robin is 21 now, mature in many ways and child-like in some others. She wants to help our planet and protect our ecosystems. This is her path and we all love her dearly for pursuing it.

This did leave John as an only child, of course.