Economic Crisis and Fiscal Incompetence
While it is obvious that the decline in the economy and the rise of unemployment above 10% make one of the most important stories of the year, the government response to this crisis is really an even bigger story. The decision to address the crisis with uncontrolled and poorly directed spending, causing further economic decline and an exploding debt which may be impossible to resolve without defaulting on debt obligations, will have consequences which last for decades. Gross fiscal irresponsibility including bailouts for favored industries, handouts to political allies and the largest budget increase in history while continuing to escalate the war in Afghanistan showed such economic ignorance, greed and irresponsibility that it actually woke the sleeping voters and may lead to one of the greatest political upheavals of our times in 2010. More coverage.
The Rise of the Liberty Movement
The economic crisis spurred the emergence of a powerful non-partisan movement for smaller government, fiscal responsibility and individual liberty. The people rose up in the millions and shouted "stop" at a government they view as out of control. This was manifested in the Tea Party protests and a rise in activism from independent voters as well as a pronounced political shift to the right on economic issues in the Republican Party. As the people expressed their displeasure in the streets and in the polls and in raising spokesmen like Glenn Beck to national prominence, Republican legislators actually heard the message and stood firm in opposition to every major spending measure in the Congress in a remarkable show of political resolve. More coverage.
Climategate
When Russian hackers released a decade worth of emails between top climate scientists it stopped the efforts of global socialists to implement draconian environmental regulation dead in its tracks. The evidence of a conspiracy to manipulate, misrepresent and conceal scientific data was impossible to write off and it eviscerated the Copenhagen Climate Conference and left Al Gore hanging in the wind. More coverage.
The Health Care Debacle
The health care debate exposed the dark and rotten underbelly of partisan politics to the public in a way which hadn't been seen since the days of Richard Nixon. An awakened electorate got to watch Democrat leaders engaging in every kind of bullying and bribery to pass legislation to which their constituents were overwhelmingly opposed both on the right and left. The issue served as a vehicle for exposing partisan corruption of the media and the disdain of legislators for any interests but those of the political class. As voters watched in horror their eyes were opened to the blatant corporate takeover of the establishment left and the gross corruption of the political process. More coverage.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Christine
It's been a tumultuous year in politics.
That is for sure! Wonder what 2010 has in store, lol.
Happy New Year, Dave!
2 - Dave Nalle
2010 promises more of the same, I suspect.
Happy New Year to you and to all as well.
Dave
3 - roger nowosielski
Happy New Year to both of you, Dave and Christine. May your wishes for better future and happier humanity all come true - however different your conceptions might be.
4 - Dr Dreadful
Happy 2010 to Dave and his reader. ;-p
Pretty much on the money as far as identifying the most significant (from an American POV anyway) political happenings of the year, although I'm sure I won't be the only one to take issue with some of your accompanying commentary!
5 - Dave Nalle
If you brits would get off your asses and vote that globalist tool Gordon Brown out of office I'd put you on the list too.
Dave
6 - roger nowosielski
There you go again, Dave. You just can't help but think that the world and its future is inextricably bound with the fortunes of America. It is a passing illusion, and trust me, the sooner it will be discovered for what it is, a mere illusion, the better.
We had had our place in the sun and obviously we failed miserably. We're on our ass now. So don't try to recover the lost past, It ain't gonna happen.
Happy New Year.
7 - Dr Dreadful
Dave, I've never voted for either Gordon Brown or any candidate from his party, so don't come crying to me!
8 - Silas Kain
Dave, you left out the death of Ted Kennedy which I think should be in the Top 5 of political events of 2009. Insofar as Political Hero of the Year your Whole Foods choice is nice from an ideological point of view but really has no impact on the National debate. Personally, I would award that distinction to the Health Care Lobbyist. The Health Care Lobbyist has proven, without a doubt, that money in Washington talks while actual health care reform walks. The Health Care Lobbyist has succeeded in remaining as invisible to the public as Osama bin Laden has been invisible to US Intelligence.
Another story with far reaching political impact which seems to have avoided the MSM microscope is this situation in Uganda regarding homosexuals and capital punishment. Any successes made by the US Far Right financed Ugandan Christian politicians have impact which spread across the entire African continent. Anyone with a reasonable head on their shoulders recognizes that the African Continent is virgin territory ready to explode in a new age economy. The Far Right wants to maintain their control over Africa for their own financial and ideological purposes. Bottom line? The White Christian Far Right has found a new method of enslaving Africans and are doing so with the King James Bible as their guide. It's frightening. It's disturbing. It is the darkest side of Christian "morality".
9 - zingzing
this is definitely top-10 from the american right wing... even from that perspective, #1 should be "obama takes office, right wing eats own testicles for power."
10 - El Bicho
How could Palin return if she never went away?
Obama winning Nobel was turned into a big political story.
11 - Silas Kain
GREAT point from zing. The ascension of Barack Obama to the Oval Office is the #1 political story of the year and the decade. I am so sorry that I neglected to recognize the significance of Obama's rise. I hope that doesn't brand me as a right winger. I'm a government conservative but a complete bleeding heart social liberal.
El Bicho also makes a great point about Governor Palin. She never did really go away. In a sense, she learned quite a bit from her own mainstream media experience. She took the McCain Veep slot and sucked all the capital and advantage from it she could. Perhaps she is the quintessential example of a die hard capitalist. Inasmuch as she's about as foreign to the womens movement as Larry Craig, women should study the phenomenon which is Sarah Palin.
12 - Baronius
Sotomayor, Steele, and the Revival of the Politics of Race?
McCrystal and the Destabilization of Afghanistan?
Daschle, Geithner, and Richardson?
Burris and Blagojevich????
13 - Dave Nalle
Obama taking office was not the story, Obama getting ELECTED was the story, and that was in 2008 and therefore not qualified for this top 10 list.
If this were really a right-wing rant, as Zing suggests then I would have put the ridiculous Nobel prize on the list. And as for Ted Kennedy's death, dying isn't really an accomplishment. What good things Kennedy did were in the past, not in 2009.
And the choice of Mackey is enormously important, because he symbolizes the new America which transcends the traditional ideology of right and left and embraces entrepreneurial capitalism without the corporate mindset. He's symbolic of where this nation ought to be going and it's very telling that his hippie capitalism is so at odds with the state-corporatist establishment.
Blagojevich? You've got to be kidding, Baronius.
As for the rest, write your own list.
Dave
14 - Baronius
The President's old Senate seat was up for sale. The governor of a large state was driven from office. Among conservatives, this set the tone for the "corrupt Chicago pol" narrative. Among liberals, the increased scrutiny sunk Caroline Kennedy's bid for a Senate seat. And (although I may be overly optimistic about this) the whole affair brought some negative attention to the 17th Amendment.
15 - Dave Nalle
But it's all too tawdry and trivial. Just the same old corruption from the same old people. It would be more of a story if Blago had not been crooked.
Dave
16 - Arch Conservative
The death of Ted Kennedy?
This may come as a shock to you Silas but MA isn't the center of the Universe. Hell, even we just north of you in NH do not share your zeal for Kennedy. Not only that but if I were making a list of the year's top ten political events I'd include only things which had a real effect on the lives of the American people and Kennedy's passing in no way rises to that level.
I would never have included Nalle's 5, 6 and 10 in my own list.
My number one would have been despite the fact that we have a new president who promised change...nothing has changed.
This is not a remarkable event in that it happens every year. Big governement, the international bankers and corporatists get together and find new ways to fuck us all.
Or how about Obama violating section 9 of the Constitution by chairing the UN Security Council?
How about Obama continuing to waste billions of dollars in Iraq and Afghinistan?
That certainly affects more Americans than the Scozzafavre sideshow. Can someone please tell me what the hell we stand to gain in either of these endeavors. I don't think anyone is buying the tired old neocon argument that we will be overrun by islamic terrorists the day we leave Iraq.
How about Obama violating the Constitution the same way Bush did by using signing statements?
How about Obama and his merry band of New World Order thugs doing everything they can to devalue the dollar and bring America to it's knees through bogus climate treaties?
How about Congress actually having a moment of silence for the passing of a pop icon pedophile. Are you fucking kidding me?
There a lot of things that should be on the top ten list that aren't because people are too busy watching Dancing with the Stars.
17 - zingzing
archie: "How about Obama and his merry band of New World Order thugs doing everything they can to devalue the dollar and bring America to it's knees through bogus climate treaties?"
yep. those in power of countries really want to destroy the source of said power. and the nwo really exists. and other incredibly stupid things. nuts.
18 - Arch Conservative
Yeah I'm nuts.
I mean it's not as if the EU has greatly weakened its member states' sovereignty in favor of a trans national governing body huh?
Keep your head in the sand where it belongs zing.
19 - roger nowosielski
But that the implicit idea behind the EU and all such, Archie. For the EU to grow, the sovereign states must weaken as a result.
20 - Arch Conservative
And you don't see the harm in that?
21 - roger nowosielski
Honestly speaking, Archie, I don't, because I truly believe that the notion of nation-states has outlived its usefulness. Consequently, I have to anchor my hopes in some other geopolitical configuration.
What's wrong with "The United Federation of Planets," Arch? I always thought it was a great idea. We should only live long enough to see it.
22 - zingzing
so... america is now part of the eu? or are you talking about something else? i'm not getting the connection.
you should explain WHY someone with power would want to weaken their own power. that's the thing that bothers me the most about such talk. the idea that someone would want to do this is implausible, yet you act as if it's obvious. the fact is that it's obviously not the case, yet you keep screaming that it is.
it's very strange.
if my head is in the sand, yours is in the clouds. maybe i miss a few things, but you just make shit up.
"And you don't see the harm in that?"
and you don't any benefits?
23 - roger nowosielski
That's right, zing. Unfortunately, it's a trade-off. So we do lose a sense of common nationality and whatever else comes with it. But yes, I'm thinking of the gains.
24 - Silas Kain
This may come as a shock to you Silas but MA isn't the center of the Universe. Hell, even we just north of you in NH do not share your zeal for Kennedy.
Arch, are you so consumed with hatred for Kennedy that you can't see the forest for the trees? I honestly believe that had Ted Kennedy lived through this health care debate things would have been dramatically different. Take off the blinders, Arch. My naming Kennedy had nothing to do with my so-called "zeal". Regardless of his ideaolgy, Ted Kennedy had an incredible knack for trying to forge compromise between the aisles. If you remove yourself from the hate for a second and even listen consider the opinions of your Conservative American Idols you may actually agree that Kennedy's death has a major impact on the way business is executed in the Senate.
This is not a remarkable event in that it happens every year. Big governement, the international bankers and corporatists get together and find new ways to fuck us all.
On this point I heartily agree, Arch.
And now, Arch, let's get to brass tacks. This may come as a shock to YOU, Arch -- you and I probably agree on more than you're human enough to admit. I am very concerned about the direction this country is taking -- and not on ideological grounds. If we take that upon which we agree and capitalize on making progress perhaps we can forge compromises on those issues which we differ. That's the American thing to do.
This is going to be a pivotal year for our country, Arch. Lord only knows if any of us will be here next New Year's Day. In my case it's highly unlikely so with whatever time I've got left I've decided that I'm shying away from that which incites and I'm going to try and promote reconciliation. There are right wing politics and then there is the Christian agenda. I'll fight to my dying breath to assure that right wing points of view are given a fair hearing but when those politics are driven by Christian money changers I will fight just as ferociously to insure their demise. There is a political war of Apocalyptic proportions brewing in the United States -- 2010 is the year. This soldier is on board and has every intention of being part of the military command as opposed to a mindless Christian foot soldier.
25 - Baronius
Eh, you guys are too cynical and/or too much time has passed. A governor was taped conducting a bidding war for a Senate seat. That was huge.