Inevitable Year-End List of the Year

The temptation to succumb to End of Year lists is overwhelming. Here are excerpts from Steve's take on 2005 at the Guardian News Blog:

Favorite Bush gaffe: Playing Mark Willis's guitar as people died in New Orleans.

Favorite Cheney gaffe: "They're in their last throes."

Best Americans of the year: The Coast Guard rescue swimmers who went with no warning to save the lives of New Orleans residents while no one else did anything.

Worst American of the year: Michael Brown.

Most odious comment of the year by a wingnut: John Goldberg's jokes about people swimming in the Superdome.

Coolest thing done by a famous person: Johnny Depp writing a wonderful eulogy in Rolling Stone for Hunter S. Thompson, then paying for a massive memorial service, complete with ash tossing cannon.

Most pathetic defense: Andy Sullivan reminding us how great the Bell Curve is, or Intelligent Design for racists.

Republican most likely to send people to jail: Jack Abramhoff.

Best Press Conference of the year: Pat Fitzgerald explaining why Scooter Libby was indicted.

Most pathetic performance by a press spokesman: Scott McClellan explaining why they have nothing to say about Scooter Libby being indicted.

Bush's most boneheaded play: Trying to steal Social Security and not getting that people didn't trust Wall Street enough for that.

Which ticking time bomb goes off first contest: Is it the Plame leak investigation or Abramhoff rolling over on his friends.

Worst play of the year: Bush speeding past Cindy Sheehan on the way to a fundraiser.

Best single political moment of the year: Jack Murtha calling for the end of the Iraq War.

Biggest political gaffe of the year: Jean Schmidt using the word coward on the House floor in criticizing the double purple heart and Bronze Star winner Murtha.

Worst judgement of the year: Condi Rice shopping for Ferragamos while people drowned in New Orleans.

And the comment of the year: Barbara Bush's "They probably never had it so good."

Best Single Column of the Year: Maureen Dowd calling for Judy Miller to be fired, and calling her a whore in the process. Who says the Irish can't hold a grudge? Asked to give up a seat 20 years ago, Dowd remembered it all too well.

Three people we'll miss: Hunter Thompson, Peter Jennings, Richard Pryor.

Three we won't: Scooter Libby, Judy Miller, Duke Cunningham.