Welcome to your ultimate Irish football resource


Not Evita, But.

Another strange milestone has passed in myleader when he had been governor of
odd, but colorful life. The new president ofCalifornia and I was simply a teacher in
Argentina, Cristina Fernandez-Kirchner, thegraduate school. More than that, it helped
wife of the incumbent and outgoing president,shape  a  philosophy  of  life.
was elected as expected. And once again, by
happenstance rather than design, I wasMore than sixty years ago, I saw first light
physically  in  Argentina.on the Communist side of East Germany,
followed by escapes and relocations over the
I have always been interested in politics. Inyears, both in Europe and the United States.
a much younger life, I was actually going toMy father had already been killed by the
follow my dream and ego and become seniorcommunists. Fortunately, the rest of my small
senator from California. That ambition wasfamily  escaped  unhurt.
cut short on the realization that a
foreigner, lack of funds, and the anathema ofThat philosophy both gladdened and saddened
being played by someone else's strings didmy  experience  of election day in Argentina.
not  lead  to  a  senate  seat.
It gladdened me because the election, though
Nonetheless, much of my life - such as beingvoting is mandated by law instead of purely
in Argentina on a crucial election in itsvoluntary as in the United States, was
history - was being "in the right place" forgenerally honest, with more than a dozen
potential  historical  events.candidates vying for the spot. It elated me
especially since the country's history has
I was similarly in Warsaw, Poland, in June,been fraught with dictatorial regimes in the
2003, only a few days before that countrynot-too-distant past. For many electors, that
voted to join the European Union. At the samememory was still etched sharply in their
time, NATO had chosen to move some of itsminds. This election saw none of the
operations to Poland, and President Bush paidatrocities  of  the  past.
an official visit. People constantly asked me
whether I was a member of George Bush's team,Yet, the election also saddened me, watching
since he had arrived just days after mythe revelers enjoy themselves with not much
flight. Nothing could have been further fromthought, setting off firecrackers, hugging,
the truth with the beginnings of the war indancing and swaying to the rhythms of
Iraq just a few months earlier! I strictlycacophanous music. Most congregated in large
went to Poland that summer to relax, teach aand small towns simply for the enjoyment.
few classes, and see historic places likeSome may have gyrated in hopes for the
Krakow. It ended up being a fascinatingfuture. Few seemed in sober thought for the
election!troubles ahead for the future. Inflation,
productivity, foreign exchange, crime and
In November, 1992, I was in Little Rock,corruption are as real today as they were
Arkansas at the Capital Hotel to watch Billyesterday. And the seemingly unstoppable
Clinton and wife Hillary revel in hisselfishness punctuating human civilization
victory. Nearly a year earlier, when I hadseems to permeate society, whether in
barely moved to the southern town and knewArgentina or Germany, the United States or
little about Bill Clinton other than that heIraq or elsewhere in 2007 as it did in eons
was a minor governor of a minor state, I waspast.
outside Arkansas' historic state house when
the candidate first made his announcement.Fortunately, I am only a guest in this
Again, seeing, and later meeting thecountry. This simple fact precludes me from
candidate and President were fortunate, butmuch more than observing. Nonetheless, it
not by design. The invitation to thedoes lead me to reinforce my thoughts that,
Presidential Ball in Washington afterwhile the majority of people may not give
Clinton's formal Inauguration came aboutmore than a microsecond of thought to the
through friends both in Arkansas and New Yorklarger issues of life facing each an every
and  California.one of us in the future, constitutional
freedom and elections may perhaps spawn
I was also in Munich, Germany in July,1990 onleadership with results like the United
business. As luck would have it, one of theStates under Presidents Kennedy, Reagan and
greatest celebrations was held in BerlinClinton.
during my sojourn, the concert and
celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall.Wealth and prosperity for the population of
Although I was far in the south of GermanyArgentina does not have to be an elusive
and could not take the time to travel toexercise. Increased education and
Berlin, the celebration was transmittedcommunication, along with a pause to assess
across the world, and people everywherethe willingness to absorb the tradeoffs
joined in the spirit of nearly half a millionrequired, are not materials for a dime novel.
people physically present at Potsdamer Platz.
Whether people in this age and time are
Watching the festivities in Berlin in 1990,willing to make that small adjustment to
and the echo of Ronald Reagan's words of hischange in human nature remains anyone's
"Tear Down This Wall" speech of 1987, broughtguess.
home once more that I had met a truly great



1 A B C D E 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 101 102 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128