2005 Awards

Okay, here they are, my awards for last year. Perhaps some of the others will join in.

Biggest Loser: Arnold Schwarzenegger. He went up against the entrenched powers in California and was utterly defeated. Not one of his four propositions succeeded. Serious reform in California is dead.

Biggest Winner: John Roberts. Not the most likely pick, was in the right place at the right time for an easy confirmation, and will now be Chief Justice for quite a while.

Biggest Scandal: Constant leaks of secret information that regularly undermine the war on terror. That those who leak are not only safe, but lionized, is the scandal.

Biggest non-Scandal: L'Affaire Plame. No underlying crime, nothing much happening.

Biggest Story: Continued good and bad news out of Iraq.

Biggest non-story: The idea that there's some sort of religious war going on in the US. There are real religious wars going on elsewhere--the best way to spot them is all the dead bodies littering the ground. (Second place is the potential impeachment of Bush, which loses since no one but nuts seem to take this seriously. Perhaps this will be a bigger non-story in 2006.)

Biggest failure: Bush's inability to move forward on social security reform.

Biggest Success: Those who convinced Bush to pull Harriet Miers before she could do more damage.

Most Overrated Issue: Personal privacy, which 1) is pretty much the same as it was under Clinton and 2) if the Dems wish to push this issue, will be a big loser for them.

Silliest Issue: All the struggle over a little drilling in Alaska.

Stealth Issue: After years of being on deck, perhaps one of the parties will be able to figure out how to take advantage of immigration.

Dumbest Comment: Pat Robertson threatening anyone who doesn't support intelligent design.

Worst Press Coverage: Hurricane Katrina. Facts were wrong, context was wrong, analysis was wrong.

Most Overrated Person: Tie. Patrick Fitzgerald--did research on non-crimes and found almost nothing of interest./ Jack Murtha--a solid American who got in over his head.

Biggest Fizzle: Cindy Sheehan. The anti-war side wanted to ride this poor woman's bandwagon as long as possible, but she was too nutty even for them.

Defining Moment: Election(s) in Iraq.

Potential Defining Moment in Future: Riots in France.

Biggest Celebrity Meltdown: A lot to choose from, but gotta go with Tom Cruise on Oprah.

Worst Political Move: The Democrats both press their slight advantage on Iraq and, worse, shift focus to loser issues (pulling out, domestic surveillance).

Best Politician: Without saying or doing much, Hillary remains the only potential viable candidate (sorry, Al) for her party in the next Presidential race. (She's got to keep up her Scylla and Charybdis maneuvering for a couple more years, though.) Followed closely by Barack Obama, who does even less and gets even better PR.

Worst Politician: Howard Dean, whose mouth is no longer attached to his brain. Followed by Karl Rove, who proved not to be as omniscient as claimed.

MIA: Tom DeLay. (And Bill Frist.)

People Of The Year: All those in the Middle East--not just Iraq, but Egypt, Lebanon and others--who are putting it on the line for democracy.