The Serious, Sublime, and Silly from 2009
5. It Hurts Her So To Say Goodbye
When Sarah Palin decided to resign as Alaska’s governor in July, the conventional wisdom indicated that her career in national politics should have been effectively kaput. This did nothing, however, to dampen a 24/7 media frenzy surrounding her every move, word, and Twitter Tweet which continues to this day. Speculation abounds concerning her future viability as a candidate, whether she will replace Oprah on television, or be named the next pope. There’s no telling what comes next for the Wasilla Wildcat, but her place as a top newsmaker in 2009 is assured.
4. The Ayatollah of Rock and Rollah
While it didn’t garner nearly as much media coverage as deserved, one of the biggest stories of the year had to be the protests in Iran this summer surrounding their disputed presidential election. It started a quiet but growing movement which continued to play out straight through the end of the year. Some observers still wonder about how much power that official holds in a country where the religious leaders keep all the power cards in their hands, but there is little doubt that we witnessed a change which may wind up reshaping that part of the world for the rest of our lives.
3. Welcome to the Party, Pal
There was a time when the winners of elections made all the news, but 2009 certainly challenged that concept. In an off year when politics often takes a bit of a nap, the sleepy, rural hills of New York’s 23rd congressional district captured the attention of reporters and political addicts around the nation. Despite starting from a position of nearly zero funding and even less name recognition, Doug Hoffman upset the national GOP apple cart. Running on the NY Conservative Party ticket, he energized a national revolt against the Republican candidate, drove her from the field of battle, and came within a few percentage points of winning the election. The media subtext for this story quickly became the Great Republican Schism of 2009, as rank-and-file conservatives took to the streets against a national party leadership which they felt had lost touch with the base.
2. But They Didn’t Invite Alice or the March Hare
The other half of the Great Republican Schism story played out with the advent of the tea party movement and their participation in town hall meetings and rallies around the nation this summer. Marches and angry shouting drew reporters in their masses, eventually resulting in polls finding that the tea party was more popular than both the Democrats and the Republicans. It would have been shocking enough for them to lose to the Libertarians or Greens, for example, but to be trumped by a concept which isn’t even registered as an actual, national political party made the growing strength of the movement one of the top stories of the year.
First Prize: As Long as You’ve Got Your Health …
The top story of 2009 had to be the ongoing debate and legislative battles surrounding health care reform. It dragged out over a long hot summer and a cloudy autumn — and now looks as if it will rage well into next year. Perhaps the strangest subtext of this story, however, is the way that it morphed into the parallel to the last two items. Health care reform became the Great Democratic Schism of 2009, as Blue Dogs pulled from one direction, siding with most of the Republicans on key issues, and the hardcore liberal contingent ripped the Democrats asunder from the other side, insisting on a public option, single payer, and all manner of other wish list items which never made the final cut.
Whether either party actually fractures over these items, however, will have to wait for our list at the end of 2010. By then, of course, we’ll be arguing about why the Democrats lost so many seats in the last election, so all of this may have been for naught. But until then, Happy New Year and stay tuned for an even wilder ride in the next twelve months.
Great list, but I still think Honduras should be one at the top. It is a major big deal when a president of the United States and his Sec of State take sides with the brutal communist dictators of the region to try to bully a free republic into going against its constitutional laws in order to restore to power a dictator wanna-be.
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You own this genre, jazz, fits your style to a T. Correction: that would be Wasilla Warrior, or what we could use in the White House.
Not a bad list if we’re just looking at the US, which #4 leads me to believe we’re not. Agree with JohannS that Honduras should’ve made the list, also a disguised constitution called the Lisbon Treaty forced upon the EU without a vote (except in Ireland, where they got a do-over http://theendisalwaysnear.blogspot.com/2009/10/do-over.html), the non-event in Copenhagen, the British MP expenses scandal or North Korea withdrawing from the 6 party talks or sticking with the States, maybe Ted Kennedy’s death or the decision to send more people to die in Afghanistan.
Do not read Jazz Shaw is my New Year resolution. What a waste of time.
Michael Savage’s ban from Britain and the silence of the Left and Right should be #1. Never have I seen free speech stifled to thoroughly and followed by so much silence.
I think we need to be careful with this “of course” stuff about how many seats the Dems are going to lose. take nothing for granted. we can’t afford to be complacent.
2009 Top Tens You May Have Missed
Enough, already, with 2009 top 10 lists!? Here are a few that may have slipped beneath your scanner:
Top 10 White House Surprises: This subjective, unnumbered, list from Eamon Javers on Politico.com begins with the disclaimer, “Barack Obama’s first year as president wasn’t always exactly what Americans expected:” http://bit.ly/6vQdk5
You can say that again, Eamon! Most conservatives feel his year, our year, was even worse than expected even as some liberals think he wasn’t radical enough since he hasn’t yet declared the nation the United States of Socialist Republics.
Various of Javers’ picks as surprises are less surprising than they are a reflection of the fact that deep down Barack is about as warm and fuzzy as month-old bread. Fuzzy, probably, warm, rarely.
In that category fall such surprises as . . .
(Read more at http://www.genelalor.com/blog1/?p=1401)
[...] But when William “Dollar Bill” Jefferson was sentenced to more than a dozen years in prison, the nation was taught a valuable lesson. [...]
What lesson? I ain’t heard nothin’ about this, the MSM is too busy criticizing Dick Cheney -
Agreed, Honduras and Climate Gate should have been on there too.
Especially Honduras since it was such a stark contrast to the Iran story!
There are no laws that are for military crimes in civilian court. How on earth is it possible to try a military crime in a court that he can get off for something ridiculous. The founding fathers never said anything like that. Maybe they thought it was not to be considered. Before we put anyone in civilian courts we need to have laws to cover them. Much like first, second, and third degree murder. How is that possible to do though?