NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--A number of stories grabbed national headlines for at least a brief time in the year that now was:

-- The deaths of political icon Ted Kennedy and pop superstar Michael Jackson elicited heartfelt tributes as well as harsh critiques.

-- Likewise, the country's collective conscience was disturbed to learn about Tiger Woods' adultery.

-- Even the swine flu burst into public awareness, but despite dire predictions from the federal government and the United Nations, the epidemic did not rise to the severity of the seasonal flu viruses of 2008.

However, 2009 will not be remembered for the merely tantalizing, or sensational, or even for a deeply emotional moment, but for the promises of enduring hope and change ... and unfortunately for the frustrating realities of "more of the same."

MIRACULOUS BEGINNING

Shortly into 2009, The "Miracle on the Hudson" gave the nation an emotional surge of hope when on Jan. 15 US Airways Captain Chesley Sullenberger piloted his powerless aircraft to an emergency landing on the river, saving the lives of all 155 onboard after losing both engines to bird strikes seconds after takeoff.

AN AMERICAN FIRST

The lifted national spirit was a fitting precursor to the historic inauguration of the first African American president of the United States which took place five days later. Hope was the word of the day or at least the politically correct response as liberals and conservatives alike wrote and spoke reverently of the promise in the Declaration of Independence fulfilled in Barack Obama: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Whatever the true feelings of the political pundits, when all was said and done, it seemed most Americans were sincerely moved by the symbolism of how far we have come in race relations in the U.S. represented in Obama's election by a white majority electorate.

FOREIGN AID OR GLOBAL OFFENSIVE?

However, the political peace was short-lived. Only three days later Obama overturned the Mexico City Policy, an executive order -- originally signed in 1984 and active under presidents Reagan, Bush the elder and "W" -- that previously prohibited U.S. family planning funds from going to foreign non-governmental organizations that perform abortions or "actively promote" abortion as a method of family planning in other countries.