REFLECTIONS OF 2001
© Robert Shane John Sutliff
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The year 2001 came to many of us with mixed feelings. Some of us entered the new year with joy and adulation. Others felt loss and foreboding. With the dawn of January 1st, 2001, the presidential elections were over, George W. Bush was to become our 43rd president, and the economy was on somewhat shaky ground. The economic slowdown hitting the U.S. manufacturing sector and ending the dot-com boom in 2000 spread throughout the economy. None of us could possibly have foretold, however, the coming year of 2001 would forever go into the history books as one of the most trying times the United States and its citizens, and even the world itself, would ever see.
As Dickens had written in one of his most famous novels; "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. . ." History will recount the year 2001 with high ambitions overshadowed by nightmarish tragedy and loss. History will view the passing year as a time of bonding of the human spirit, and the tearing to shreds of world peace. Bridges were built between nations at war while other bridges were burned, lighting the night sky with trepidation.
Let us reflect on the past year's timeline. Some of the high points of the year that interrupted regularly scheduled television broadcasting with urgent news reports echoing around the world were:
January 20th, 2001--George W. Bush was sworn in as the 43rd President of the United States.
February 27th brought us the news that Great Britain announced it would dedicated $220 million in funds to compensate farmers for their losses due to the foot and mouth disease crises, which resulted in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of livestock in the island nation.
April 1st dawned with Americans learning of a U.S. spy plane that was forced to make an emergency landing in China. The Chinese government's reluctance to release the plane and its contained technology brought diplomatic relations to very strained efforts.
On May 23rd, Senator James Jeffords of Vermont announced he was leaving the Republican Party to protest President Bush's budget plan. Although Jeffords became an Independent and not a Democrat, his decision gave the Democrats a 50-49 edge, enabling them to make Senator Tom Daschle of South Dakota the new majority leader.
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