A Season of Lights, A Season of Hope From IP Tom Buffenbarger

This is the season of lights. In almost every faith and spreading to virtually every corner of this globe, the darkness is shattered by the twinkle of candles or light bulbs. And those lights warm our hearts and renew our hopes. As we pause in our labors to celebrate and rejoice in this holiday season, let us reflect on the challenges we face and our history of meeting them forcefully. And, in this season of lights, let us re-dedicate ourselves to join in solidarity with all the peoples of our world and in so doing, bring Peace on Earth and let Freedom ring. Clearly we face challenges from the global economy at a time when our political leaders are consumed with petty policies that reward the rich and ignore working families. We see them promising bold leadership, but proposing trite policies from a discredited past—policies that caused soaring budget deficits, rising unemployment and domestic despair. We see a callous disregard for jobless workers teetering on the brink of financial ruin, and the shabby spectacle of an ambitious Senator so blind to the hurtful, hateful misguided mistakes of history that his political fate hangs by a thread. And yet, even with the cascading darkness, there is hope. Our undying commitment to bring social justice and economic dignity to all is a light that shines brightly this year, every year.