I have been struck by the amount of debris that piles up after we are visited by the scourges of wind and rain called hurricanes in this part of the world.  I am also reminded of the ruins of towns and cities I marched through in Belgium, France and Germany just at the end of World War II.  Wars throughout the ages have leveled empires and these have not lasted long but are important markers to historians in the march of civilization. It is curious that the technology of warfare has often been credited for changing the fortunes of both the winners and losers in those frequent conflicts which never seem to burn out and disappear.  They just keep rolling along and leave behind the wreckage of people’s lives and hopes.

My often repeated desire is that when I grow up I want to be an archaeologist.  I am drawn to ancient civilizations and the huge public works that have left their imprint on the land.  I have wanted to be the “scientist” or perhaps the historian who found what the Bible says is the ambition of Nebuchadnezzar to have himself worshipped as a living god through the erection of a golden sheathed pillar topped with an image (it does not say, but assuredly it is presumed to represent the King himself.)

Speaking of things which last – those that have been made of stone, have been buried by earthquakes or left to be covered over by the dust of time and newer cities crowning their mounds – what will the eight years of George W. Bush have accumulated as his heritage and his time on the stage of history?  Not much, I guess.  All of the hullabaloo about this election to pick his successor has obscured the march of history in other parts of the world. The critical events shaping up to pull the U.S. down from its image on top of a pillar of golden success that has made our country the envy of the nations of the world have gone unnoticed although remarked upon by intellectuals of both parties and the everyman and everywoman on the streets of this reeling country.

We don’t think too much about the debris and detritus left behind after an election.   The signs remain pasted on walls and telephone poles and even on some people’s lawns.   But, they soon disappear and will become the subject of some academic research resulting in the publication of a paper or book – that is if we are still reading papers instead of consulting our feature packed telephones or pocket computers. The search through the junk of ages is indubitably addictive.