This was the year . . .
- American soldiers continued to die in Iraq, though the troop "surge" President Bush's lackey General David Petraeus championed resulted in fewer casualties, if not more peace.
- The War on Terror took a nasty turn, with the turmoil in crucial U.S. ally Pakistan reaching new depths with the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto.
- People were horrified to discover that the Democratic majority in Congress they voted for turned out to be as spineless as conservative talk-show blowhards had claimed, bowing down to a supposedly lame-duck president.
- Karl Rove, Tony Snow and Alberto Gonzales (among others) left their jobs as White House apologists.
- The CIA destroys videotapes of torturing suspected terrorists for fear of identifying agents, while having no problem wrecking Valerie Plame's career. Meanwhile, designated fall guy "Scooter" Libby sat in prison for awhile before being released.
- Plans for a war with Iran had to be postponed for lack of evidence that they had a nuclear weapons program.
- Virginia Tech, a school in Cleveland and a mall in Omaha became the next Columbines.
- Thanks to an Idaho senator using a Twin Cities airport men's room, we found out more about "wide stances" that we ever wanted to know.
- Al Gore won an Oscar and a Nobel Peace Prize.
- It was possible for an animated snowman to ask questions at a presidential debate.
- O.J. Simpson returned to the courtroom, and his book was actually published.
- Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie went to jail, if only for a few minutes.
- Britney Spears made a spectacle of herself. Now her pregnant 16-year old sister is following in her footsteps.
- Kids still read books, even if it was Harry Potter.
- Striking writers threatened to kill the TV season.
- Amy Winehouse could only stay out of rehab for so long.
- Parents broke the bank so their daughters could watch Miley Cyrus sang as both herself and as her TV character Hannah Montana in concert.
- Notre Dame football was no longer must-see TV.
- Boston became the new city of champions, sometimes at Minnesota's expense.
- David Beckham was seen as the second coming of soccer in America. Uh, no. But his wife's old group, the Spice Girls, reunited.
- Players on a men's lacrosse team and a women's basketball team had their lives ruined by false accusations.
- Barry Bonds answered the question: What if somebody broke a cherished sports record and nobody (outside of San Francisco) cheered?
- New Gophers football coach Tim Brewster made people nostalgic for the glory days of Glen Mason and Music City Bowl appearances.
- Kevin Garnett was the difference between a Timberwolves team worth watching and one that wasn't.
- The NHL's TV ratings spike when a violent incident makes the evening news.
- Michelle Wie decide to quit playing in men's tournaments.
- A major newspaper was bought by an investment group, which then proceeded to fire most of its staff, hired an executive who stole secrets from the competitor he was leaving, and shortchanged its readers in news coverage.
- Cable providers could claim that they offer every sport there is, except for the games people really wanted to see.
- Norman Mailer, Kurt Waldheim, Anna Nicole Smith, Merv Griffin, Evel Knievel, Jerry Falwell, Luciano Pavarotti, Tammy Faye Bakker-Messner, Art Buchwald, Kurt Vonnegut, Joey Bishop, David Halberstam, Molly Ivins, Boris Yeltsin, Bowie Kuhn, Ingmar Bergman, Bill Walsh, Eddie Robinson, Phil Rizzuto, Don Chevrier and Gump Worsley died.
Now let's see where 2008 takes us. Happy New Year.
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