Maybe 2007 wasnt the year that history will judge to be a turning point. But 2008 is new and maybe this is the year you will be the person who can play a part in changing the course of history for the better!

Welcome to 2008! A new year always brings new possibilities and the hope of a fresh start. But as William Faulkner famously said, the past isnt dead. It isnt even past. Before getting too wrapped up in where were going, its always a good idea to look back at where weve been.

Its a bit hard to know what to make of 2007. In some ways it felt like the classic lament from Ecclesiastes: What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. There were certainly surprises. Some things which seemed inevitable at the start of 2007 the bird-flu pandemic or a continued escalation of violence in Iraq - looked quite different by December 31. However, with the ongoing war in Iraq, the endless campaigning of politicians, the need to stand against racism and injustice, 2007 often felt like more of the same.

Then again, it may be that well look back at 2007 as a turning point. If left to history, then chances are good that these are the events which we will remember as starting it all:

American Politics:

Following their trouncing of Republicans in the 2006 congressional elections, a Democratic majority House and Senate were sworn in on January 3, 2007 for the first time in 12 years.
The 110th Congressional delegation included 74 women, 42 African Americans, 27 Hispanics, 1 American Indian, and 4 Asian Americans, making it the most diverse in our history.
Keith Ellison, an African American and the first Muslim elected to Congress was sworn in using Thomas Jeffersons copy of the Koran.
Nancy Pelosi was chosen to serve as Speaker of the House, making her the first woman to hold this post.
Congress raised the minimum wage for the first time in almost 10 years.
Late in the year, approval ratings for the 110th Congress had dropped to 19%, well below even President Bushs 30% approval ratings.

Iraq:

At the beginning of 2007, Iraq experiencing intense sectarian fighting and rapidly waning support from Americans.
In mid January, President Bush announced his plans to increase in troop levels in Iraq. This plan quickly became known as The Surge.
The Democratic Congress announced opposition to The Surge and spent much of 2007 trying to craft legislation to force the President to change tactics and begin bringing American troops home.
In February, General Petraeus took over command of operations in Iraq.