Bye-bye 2008: Things I want to forget
By
Arianna Huffington Read Spanish Version
2008
was a very memorable year, featuring one of the most unforgettable
presidential campaigns in history.
I’d
like to take a moment to focus on the things that happened over the
last 12 months that I’d love to forget. Here is my list:
That
Eliot Spitzer was "Client No. 9." That Eliot Spitzer likes
things "you might not think are safe." The look on Silda
Spitzer’s face.
That
Dick Cheney still doesn’t believe waterboarding is torture.
The
thrill going up Chris Matthew’s leg.
Ashley
Todd, the young college Republican who claimed an Obama supporter had
carved a backwards "B" into her cheek. And I would
particularly like to forget that so many in the media gave so much
play to Ashley’s tale.
Sarah
Palin’s belief that there is a "real America" and
"pro-America areas" of America.
The
Palin Catch-Phrase Collection: "Palling around with terrorists,"
"Team of Mavericks," "Just a hockey mom," "I
put it on eBay," "Thanks, but no thanks," "You
betcha."
Somali
pirates.
That
George Bush blames the economic meltdown on the fact that "Wall
Street got drunk," but never admits it was his administration
that made the last eight years Happy Hour, and kept serving up the
drinks.
That
Alan Greenspan was "shocked" to realize the free market was
fallible.
The
$440,000 spa trip taken by AIG "top performers" a week
after the company received an $85 billion bailout from taxpayers.
That
Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz estimated that, even
using "conservative assumptions," the Iraq war will cost at
least $3 trillion, and likely as much as $5 trillion.
That
China felt compelled to have a 9-year-old girl lip-synch "Ode to
the Motherland" during the Olympic Opening Ceremonies because
the 7-year-old girl who had actually sung the song wasn’t considered
cute enough.
Michael
Phelps’ caloric intake.
That
John McCain claimed "the fundamentals of our economy are strong"
on the same day Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy and Merrill
Lynch was sold to Bank of America.
McCain’s
inability to say how many houses he and Cindy own.
Phil
Gramm’s assessment that America has "become a nation of
whiners," and that the economic downturn was mostly "a
mental recession."
OJ’s
rambling plea for leniency.
What
happened in the basement of Josef Fritzl’s house in Amstetten,
Austria.
What
happened in Orlando to Caylee Anthony.
Thomas
Beatie, The Pregnant Man. That Thomas Beatie is preggers again.
That
Jesse Jackson wanted to "cut" Obama’s "nuts off."
That
Fox’s E.D. Hill dubbed the Obamas playful fist bump a "terrorist
fist jab." That Fox News called Michelle "Obama’s Baby
Mama."
The
soft-shoe Bush did while waiting to give McCain his endorsement.
The
sight of that turkey being slaughtered in the background as Sarah
Palin was interviewed.
The
amount of press Bigfoot hoaxers Rick Dyer and Matt Whitton received.
The
dust-up over Miley Cyrus’ "topless photos" for Vanity Fair
that were nothing of the kind.
Sarah
Palin’s $150,000 wardrobe. Cindy McCain’s $300,000 convention outfit.
Cindy
McCain’s purloined "family recipes."
Ted
Stevens’ Viking gas grill.
McCain’s
refusal to join the 75 senators who voted for the new GI Bill — or
even show up for the vote. McCain’s accusation that "Obama would
rather lose a war in order to win a political campaign."
McCain’s outlandish claim that ACORN was "destroying the fabric
of democracy."
That
the video of Hillary welling up in New Hampshire was analyzed more
closely than the Zapruder film, with the media parsing each quiver of
her lip with Talmudic intensity.
That
Bill Clinton accused Obama of having "played the race card on
me," then denied saying it just a few hours later — even though
he’d said it on the radio.
That
James Carville compared Bill Richardson to Judas for endorsing Obama.
That
Rudy Giuliani spent close to $50 million to capture a single delegate
(the worst delegate bang for the buck in the history of presidential
politics).
That
the GOP hierarchy failed to censure Rep. Steve King after he claimed
that "the optics" of a Barack Obama presidency would
encourage "the radical Islamists" — and that al-Qaida
"would be dancing in the streets" if Obama was elected.
That
flag pins were equated with patriotism.
That
Scott McClellan joined the parade of key Bush administration
officials who have tried to wash the blood off their hands — and add
a chunk of change to their bank account — by writing a come-clean
book years after the fact instead of when it actually could have made
a difference.
The
Movie Multiplex from Hell: "The Love Guru," "Speed
Racer," "88 Minutes," "Drillbit Taylor,"
"The Hottie and the Nottie."
Joe
the Plumber, Ashley Dupré, William Ayers, Levi Johnston, Tricia
Walsh-Smith.
The
Bridge to Nowhere.
"Lipstick
on a pig."
Arianna
Huffington’s e-mail address is arianna@huffingtonpost.com.
(c)
2009 Arianna Huffington. Distributed by Tribune Media Services, Inc.
