It's almost the New Year. I think it's going to be a good one. Time for reflection.
2009 was the exclamation point on the Decade of Greed.
The past 10 years was a time when the rich rallied to accumulate and horde as much as they could and the middle class aspired to do the same, pretending that they too were wealthy, emulating the rich with fancy handbags, cars they couldn't afford, homes twice the size as necessary, Biggie-sized TVs. People didn't live in their homes, they used them as ATMs.
Wall Street and bankers took full advantage of home lust, giving us what we demanded, bringing the financial system to a near collapse.
If we don't want to be beholden to bankers and banker salaries, then we need to get out of debt.
Even the people who didn't have much of an income tried to emulate the rich.
In America, there's this belief that we are entitled to certain things. But in reality, we're not entitled to anything.
We may finally be reckoning with that. We're not even entitled to retirement after a full life of work.
Entitlement is another byproduct of greed. Maybe this will be the decade when we're a little more grateful for the things that we have, a little less consumeristic (we can find other ways to prop up our economy). Maybe this will be the decade when we're more open to sharing the things we have.
With that, here's a mish mash of predictions and "of the years:"
Over played story of the year: Sarah Palin
Underestimated person of the year: Barack Obama
Underestimated person of the year: Barack Obama
Overestimated person of the year: Sarah Palin
Biggest coward of the year: Dick Cheney
Biggest threat to the nation: Wingnuts (ignorance), ideology
Person I respected more: George Bush for showing respect and not criticizing Obama
Biggest losers of the year: AIG and the rest of the Greed Mongers
Best trend of the year: People paying down their debt, cutting up credit cards, saving money
Politician to Watch: Olympia Snowe
Obama's focus 2010: Education reform
Person who will soar in 2010: Michelle Obama
Favorites within the Obama Administration: David Axelrod, Hillary Clinton, Arne Duncan, Joe Biden, Eric Holder, Bob Gates (likely to be leaving his post in 2010. He reported that himself in an interview earlier this year)
Best political site: Politico
Worst political columnists: Howard Fineman, Maureen Dowd, Charles Krauthammer
Best political reporters/columnists: Marc Ambinder, David Brooks, Political Animal
Favorite politicians: Sen. Claire McCaskill, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Harold Ford, Dianne Feinstein
15 minute fizzlers: "you lie" Joe Wilson, Joe the Plumber
Thorniest politician: Joe Lieberman
People who will keep bothering us in 2010: Michele Bachmann, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh (unless he retires)
Fools of the year: John Edwards, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Birthers
Most scapegoated: Rahm Emanuel, Larry Summers, Timothy Geithner, Ben Bernanke
Biggest political football: Public option
Best moments in 2009: Sonia Sotomayor becoming a SC judge, Sully landing the plane, Navy Seals rescuing fisherman from pirates.
Best thing that happened in 2009: Obama takes office
Record of the year: John Frusciante's Empyrean & Warpaint's Exquisite Corpse
Song of the year: Empire State of Mind and Billie Holiday
Song of the year: Empire State of Mind and Billie Holiday
Best foodie trend of the year: Nutritious food, gardening (thanks Michelle), local farming
Hottest White House foodie: Sam Kass, White House assistant chef
Favorite gadget of the year: Kindle. Love, love, love.
Social media of the year: Twitter
Social media of the year: Twitter
Show I wish wasn't canceled: Dollhouse
Best shows: Parks and Recreation, The Office, 30 Rock, Medium, Heroes, The Middle, Modern Family, Glee (it was a good year for TV)
Other compilations:
ABC's best political flubs, gaffes
Best and worst in climate change
Rolling Stone's decade of meltdowns in music
Publisher's Weekly's best books
NPR's best books
Spin's 20 best songs
