Rarely there is a politician who saves a country.

When my kid was in Washington, D.C. earlier this year, I told him that the one thing I wished he could do would be to sit down at the Lincoln Memorial and just gaze and contemplate the figure. Maybe somehow something would rub off on him.

I look at South American politics from afar and mostly think of Venezuelan and Ecuadorian politics as stand up comedy, but one who has just impressed me was Uribe in Colombia. It is easy to make the mental connection that he has been the Lincoln of Colombia. His book is out now: "No Lost Causes," Alvaro Uribe Velez.

Anyone interested in how a politician can leave the world a better place might want to read that book (and cringe when you compare him to a lot of American politicians of all political stripes).

Having been to the Lincoln memorial, it is indeed a special place. I understand standing in front of the Vietnam memorial has a similar effect, one I hope to someday experience.

River