It is a tradition of the Fourth Estate to review the year as soon as it draws to an end. It sells papers, magazines, and brings in muchas advert dollares. Since bloggers are not reliant on ad revenue, I will summarize 2009 now (not beholden to any corporate entity except Google who owns Blogger.Com. For all your blogging needs, choose Google).
2009 saw the first African-American President inaugurated and ammunition and gun sales skyrocket--welcome to "Change America Needs."
2009 saw a drawing down in Iraq and a loading up in Afghanistan. It saw a reup of the Patriot Act and Guantanamo still in operation.
Congress allowed the national debt to increase to 12.4 trillion dollars while 40+ million people continue to not have health care. The health care that is likely to occur in 2010 will cut that number to 24 million.
The Supreme Court welcomed a new member of its rowing crew when Sonia Sotomayor was confirmed despite the NRA, the Republican Party, and others who objected to her. The Supreme Court continues to function, as of this time.
Iowa saw its state income decrease 7.8% at the end of October and 6.7% of its workforce unemployed. The universities of Iowa stimulated the economy by using Federal tax dollars to encourage employees to retire early.
2009 saw Tea Partiers, Birthers, Obamafacists, and come together and Jon and Kate break up. 2009 saw "King of Pop Music" Michael Jackson pass away and Glenn Beck become the king of pop punditry.
2009 also saw Sarah Palin go rogue and Edward Kennedy go underground. It saw a Tiger and a governor lose their marriages and marriage equality to occur in Iowa and Washington DC.
In Johnson County, urban chickens, school plans and closings,curfews, and a bridge to nowhere (actually to Sutliff) were debated ad infinitum. To build or not to build led to the biggest voter turnout of residents in University Heights for a council election, while Iowa City saw the lowest turnout in twenty years. A County Supervisor's passing led to an appointment and a special election. The killing by a sheriff's deputy of a homeless refugee was ruled justifiable, but holding the man accountable who likely caused it was deferred.
Finally, 2009 saw people affected by job losses in record numbers, corporations being bailed out, and housing markets collapsing. So to those of us who escaped 2009 in good shape, remember that 2010 is just around the corner. Happy New Year?
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