Meet at Midnight: A Cliff Here, the Proclamation ThereIt was amazing enough to make an ink-stained wretch like me weep: Washington on New Year's Eve as midnight drew near. The fiscal cliff and the Emancipation Proclamation were about to meet "in the moment." There I was — in the citadel of the Capitol and at the National Archives, a short ride up Constitution Avenue. The Proclamation was on a rare display, the marble building open until the wee hours. To see the president's handwriting on parchment was free. Never have I felt so chagrined and moved at once. Past and present met at a mixed moment, midnight on Jan. 1, 2013. A convergence that puts irony to shame. Abraham Lincoln's law freeing 3 million slaves collided in time with — um — a desperate deadline measure by lawmakers and President Obama to impose some discipline on themselves. The modern result wasn't pretty to watch. You see, the stroke of midnight fell heavy on each scene because the E.P. of Jan. 1, 1863, was turning 150 years old, precisely at the first moment of the new year. Back then, Bostonians breathlessly awaited the news by telegraph as they gathered at Faneuil Hall late into the night. People rejoiced and church bells pealed all over the Northeast and anti-slavery Ohio. When word of mouth reached freed slaves in the Confederate states, many wept with joy and large numbers joined the Union Army. The Civil War's brightest hour, it was the greatest advance in the journey of American justice by light years. It was a different story inside the funhouse of the U.S. Capitol, as the lantern burned bright and the Senate's Ohio Clock tick-tocked. Frustrated senators were dealing behind closed doors, trying to avert the "fiscal cliff" midnight deadline.
Don't ask. Well, we know House Republicans, including several tea party freshmen who had been defeated, almost thwarted an agreement. Senate Democrats wisely refused to revisit their hard-won package with them. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell seems to be the man of the hour, since he negotiated directly with the White House. Speechless, luckless, voteless House Speaker John Boehner seems to be the man of the dour. He may not last the year where he sits. Then we come to the president. His name is Barack Obama. Once again, he flinched in the face of fire. He promised he'd hold out for the Clinton tax code rate for the wealthiest — defined as those making $250,00 or more. "Under no circumstances," he said, would he go as high as a household income of $450,000 — which is what he gave in to in the end, under heavy Republican artillery. Whoever said he was like Lincoln? It's sad Obama can't stand firm when the stakes pale compared to a bloody rebellion. When I arrived at the Archives at 11:00 on the eve of the new year, more than 4,000 people had already been there. Since the state of the Senate was choppy and punchy, I needed to escape the funhouse. Was I the only person in the capital to see the contrast that night: the majestic and the absurd? So close in space; far in time. Nell Minow, a white Washingtonian who lined up to see the E.P., broke into tears at the momentous "thenceforward, and forever free" document. An African-American security guard said to her, "Yes, I understand how you feel. " Enough to make you weep. Either new year's midnight scene — or both. Onward to 2013 we go. To find out more about Jamie Stiehm, and read features by other Creators writers and cartoonists, visit www.creators.com COPYRIGHT 2013 CREATORS.COM 
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