Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009 | 2 a.m.
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Out with the old, in with the new. Not so fast.
As we limp toward the end of 2009 — to misquote Frank Sinatra, “not a very good year” — there is a tendency for most people to wish the few remaining days away along with the horrible memories of a year that does not bear repeating.
But, before we say goodbye to 2009 and welcome 2010, along with some fervent hopes for a much better year, I have some thoughts that run contrary to the urge to “start anew” without regard to what is good and, therefore, worth taking with us.
First, let’s talk about CityCenter. Very few people wish for anything but unabashed success for the $8.5 billion, one-of-a-kind project, which has the potential to transform the Las Vegas Strip. Those few who feel critical toward the project are, I suspect, the same people who would wish failure on most things that are good for Las Vegas.
That aside, it is easy to forget that CityCenter was conceived in great times, started in good times and is opening in really bad times. If there is criticism, it is only the kind that some in this town have leveled at all entrepreneurs and dreamers of each decade. Those are the folks who built this city and continue to make it better, building bigger and bolder, risking more with each effort and, almost always, reaping the rewards reserved for those who take the plunge.
Criticizing is easy. Doing takes effort.
It is far too early to tell whether CityCenter will be the success first envisioned, but it is not too soon to congratulate MGM Mirage and its major shareholder, Kirk Kerkorian, for stepping up to the plate and swinging for the fences.
At the very least, 12,000 people are working today because the MGM Mirage folks managed against all odds to open their dream. The old-time values of determination and grit come to mind as we look forward to a new year. They are values most of those in my generation have had to find for the first time and, as far as I am concerned, we should keep them around.
There is another value that seems to have been misplaced and is threatened with expedient extinction as our country heads into a more polarized 2010.
There was a time when politicians gained the respect of citizens, not because they said or did that which was popular, but because they acted with wisdom, clarity and reason regardless of whether the people agreed.
It was not uncommon to pull the lever for a public servant with whom we agreed only some of the time, but for whom we had a deep respect because he or she acted on a set of principles we understood. Agreement was just the icing on the cake. Responsibility and rationality were the criteria required for re-election.
That’s not the case today, no matter how much the majority of Americans tell themselves and others that it should be. Instead, politicians who tell us the truth, politicians who vote their consciences and politicians who do what their oath of office commands them to do are usually the first ones to incur the wrath of the modern-day voter.
Instead, those who tow an ideological line, regardless of the rightness of the cause or the reasonableness of the vote, are rewarded with another term. Those who stand on principle are sent packing. And we wonder why government doesn’t work for us anymore!
I don’t know what ultimately will happen with health care reform legislation working its way through the U.S. Senate, but what I do know is that if it weren’t for Harry Reid, the bill — whatever it looks like or says when it is done — would have been dead on arrival in the Senate.
Despite what some would have us think, Nevadans overwhelmingly desire significant changes in the way we receive or don’t receive our health care. We all know the system is broken; what most of us are arguing about is how best to fix it.
What is amazing to me is that Republicans, just like they did during the first term of President Bill Clinton, have decided to sit on their hands and not take part in the debate that affects every American citizen.
With not one Republican vote committed to support a health care reform bill, the answer must be found entirely within the Democratic Party. That means the most liberal elements of the party are given a voice much stronger than their numbers deserve.
If a few moderate Republicans would enter the discussions to be part of the solution, there is little doubt in my mind the final bill would be better. But that is not the case. In an effort to kill health care reform at all costs, Republicans are “just saying no” even to the good ideas.
When Clinton acted because he knew it was “the economy stupid,” he did it without help and only harm from Republicans.
Many good Democrats lost their jobs the following year because people took out their fears on those who made the difficult votes. And they did it just a couple of years before the legislation kicked in and everyone had a pretty significant uptick in their net worth — especially my Republican friends who decried the Clinton plan as communistic, socialistic and whatever other names they could throw into the public debate.
Does that sound familiar?
The good news is that if health reform gets passed, it will be in large part because of the hard work and skill of one man, the majority leader of the U.S. Senate. So, whether you ultimately agree with what will be passed — and I suggest you wait a couple of years to see if it works — an olden-day value would be to respect the courage, tenacity and determination of the person who made it happen.
In this new world, some people want to punish a person who votes his conscience and takes his oath of office seriously. I don’t think that’s the way this democracy is supposed to work.
If you aren’t sure, check with the Founding Fathers. They can be instructive on what it takes to make hard decisions that people don’t like, don’t understand and don’t think they want.
Until it all works.
And finally, not that she is old and giving way to the new, but the news that Carolyn Goodman is calling it quits next summer at the Meadows School is the kind of news that can shake the world. At least my world.
My wife, Myra, and I were there at the beginning when Carolyn had an idea for a college preparatory school that honored diversity and challenged our young people to be the very best they could be. She had a dream that the Meadows could fulfill young people’s desire to go to college when our school system was being challenged just to graduate students, let alone prepare them for advanced degrees.
Over the past three decades I have had the good fortune to interview students who desired to attend Georgetown University. The students applying to Georgetown from the Meadows were always among the very best Clark County had to offer. I am certain those who interviewed for other top universities had the same experiences.
Somehow, I just assumed Carolyn would always be at the Meadows because that school is such a large part of who she is. The fact that she feels comfortable leaving speaks volumes for how well she has prepared the next generation of leadership.
There is no “out with the old” in Carolyn Goodman’s case. Her ideas were time tested but her attitude was always at the edge of whatever was new and improved.
Wherever she goes and whatever she does next, her heart and soul will remain at the Meadows. And Las Vegas will be the better for it.
So, as we head toward a new year for which we all can’t wait, let’s take some old values with us. We need to value risk-taking and determination. We need to value decision-making and opinions that are deeply felt, even if we don’t agree. And we need to value those who value us and our children.
Pretty simple stuff. Pretty hard to do. How about we try?
Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun.
