Capitol Hill Blue Forums Hot Topics & Breaking News The RoundTable Round Table for New Year's Eve 2008

Welcome to the [color:#FF0000]New Year's Eve edition of the Round Table[/color]



1907 in Times Square - click on the picture


1938

Getting ready for


Click on the picture

Events this date in history

* 406 – Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia.
* 535 – Byzantine General Belisarius completes the conquest of Sicily, defeating the Ostrogothic garrison of Syracuse, and ending his consulship for the year.
* 1229 – James I of Aragon the Conqueror enters Medina Mayurqa (now known as Palma, Spain) thus consummating the Christian conquest of the island of Majorca.
* 1599 – British East India Company is chartered.
* 1660 – James II of England is named Duke of Normandy by Louis XIV of France.
* 1687 – The first Huguenots set sail from France to the Cape of Good Hope.
* 1695 – A window tax is imposed in England, causing many shopkeepers to brick up their windows to avoid the tax.
* 1775 – American Revolutionary War: Battle of Quebec British forces repulse an attack by Continental Army General Richard Montgomery.
* 1831 – Gramercy Park is deeded to New York City.
* 1857 – Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom chooses Ottawa, Ontario, as the capital of Canada.
* 1862 – American Civil War: Abraham Lincoln signs an act that admits West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two.
* 1862 – American Civil War: The Battle of Stones River is fought near Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
* 1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time.
* 1891 – A new immigration depot was opened on Ellis Island, New York.
* 1891 - Samuel Ajayi Crowther, a famous Nigerian missionary dies on this day.
* 1904 – The first New Year's Eve celebration is held in Times Square, then known as Longacre Square, in New York, New York.
* 1909 – Manhattan Bridge opens.
* 1923 – The chimes of Big Ben are broadcast on radio for the first time by the BBC.
* 1944 – World War II: Hungary declares war on Germany.
* 1946 – President Harry Truman officially proclaims the end of hostilities in World War II.
* 1955 – The General Motors Corporation becomes the first U.S. corporation to make over $1 billion USD in a year.
* 1960 – The farthing coin ceases to be legal tender in the United Kingdom.
* 1961 – The Marshall Plan expires after distributing more than $12 billion USD in foreign aid to rebuild Europe.
* 1963 – The Central African Federation officially collapses and splits into Zambia, Malawi and Rhodesia.
* 1981 – Coup d'état in Ghana removes President Hilla Limann's PNP government and replaces it with the Provisional National Defence Council led by Flight Lieutenant Jerry Rawlings.
* 1983 – The AT&T Bell System is broken up by the United States Government.
* 1987 – Robert Mugabe assumes office as President of Zimbabwe.
* 1986 – A fire at the Dupont Plaza Hotel in San Juan, Puerto Rico, kills 97 and injures 140.
* 1991 – All official Soviet Union institutions have ceased operations by this date and the Soviet Union is officially dissolved.
* 1994 – This date is skipped altogether in Kiribati as the Phoenix Islands and Line Islands change time zones from UTC-11 to UTC+13 and UTC-10 to UTC+14, respectively.
* 1998 – Exchange rates between the euro and legacy currencies in the Eurozone become fixed.
* 1999 – Boris Yeltsin resigns as President of Russia, leaving Prime Minister Vladimir Putin as the acting President.
* 1999 – Five hijackers, who had been holding 155 hostages on an Indian Airlines plane, leave the plane with two Islamic clerics that they had demanded be freed.
* 1999 – The United States Government hands Panama Canal control over to Panama as well all the adjacent land to the canal known as the Panama Canal Zone. This act complied with the signing of the 1977 Torrijos-Carter Treaties.
* 2004 – The official opening of Taipei 101, the current [2nd, actually, after the Sears Tower -ed] tallest skyscraper in the world, standing at a height of 509 metres (1,670 feet).
* 2007 – Bocaue Fire. Seven people injured when a fire razed several fireworks stores in the Municipality of Bocaue, Bulacan, Philippines.
* 2007 – The Massive Big Dig construction project in Boston, Massachusetts ends. .... more info ....


New Year's Eve around the world

Australia

Sydney leads the world in one of the first major New Year celebrations each year.

Each major city around Australia holds New Year’s Eve celebrations, usually accompanied by a fireworks display amongst other events. Gloucester Park, a racecourse in central Perth, is the largest and most recognised display in Perth. In Brisbane 50,000 people annually gather at sites around the Brisbane River in the city to watch a fireworks display while events are held in the city and at Southbank.

The two largest New Year's Eve celebrations in Australia are held in its two largest cities, Melbourne and Sydney. In Sydney the celebrations are usually accompanied by a theme which is displayed in light shows and a large symbol in the middle of the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Over 1.5 million people gathered around Port Jackson (Sydney Harbour) for the 2007/08 celebrations, making it the largest yet. The firework display was launched from seven barges on the water, ten city buildings, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Bradfield Highway. The display stretched over 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) and lasted around 14–16 minutes, making it the largest New Year's Eve firework display on the planet.

Melbourne's New Year's Eve waterworks are set on from the Yarra river and from city rooftops. There is an average attendance of around 300,000 people. There was a game of poker occurring in Melbourne's Crown Casino where the loser of each round received a pie in the face.

Brazil

New Year's Eve (Véspera de Ano Novo) is one of the most exuberant holidays in Brazil. In most Brazilian cities, even those of medium size, there is a massive display of fireworks after midnight, and special musical shows. The most famous celebration is at the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, which has an average attendance of 2 milion people. The fireworks display last from 15 to 25 minutes and is followed by music shows set on several stages throughout the beach. In recent years, a display of fireworks has also been set-up in the Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas district.

The city of São Paulo also has a famous worldwide event: the Saint Silvester Marathon (Corrida de São Silvestre), which traverses streets between Paulista Avenue and the downtown area. It is contested by athletes of many countries, including such Olympic stars as the Kenyan runner Paul Tergat, who won it five times. Brazilians have a tradition to wear white for New Year.

Canada

In Canada, New Year's traditions and celebrations vary from region to region. Generally, New Year's Eve (also known as New Year's Eve Day) in Canada is a social holiday. In major metropolitan areas such as Toronto, major celebrations with music and fireworks are often held at Midnight. In some areas, such as in rural Quebec, people ice fish and drink with their friends until the early hours of January 1. Traditions from other countries are also common due to Canada's cultural makeup.

Denmark

The Danes usually celebrate New Year's Eve, or nytårsaften in Danish, with their families or, more commonly nowadays, with their close friends, with fireworks and champagne. The evening meal on New Year's Eve is often more exclusive, and often consists of three courses; traditional desserts include Marzipan ring cake (Danish: kransekage, lit.: ring cake). Danes often watch the Queen's New Year's Speech on television. The climax is when the clock on the Copenhagen City Hall reaches twelve, and the thousands of gathered people at the city square cheer and set off their fireworks. As in Germany the national television station DR1 broadcasts Dinner for One (in Danish: 90 års fødselsdagen (lit.: The 90th birthday)).

France

The French call New Year's Eve la Saint-Sylvestre. It is usually celebrated with a feast called le Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre. This feast customarily includes special dishes like foie gras and drinks like champagne. The celebration can be a simple, intimate dinner with friends and family or a much fancier ball (une soirée dansante).

On le Jour de l'An (New Year's Day), friends and family exchange New Year's resolutions and sometimes gifts.

The holiday period ends on January 6 for the Epiphany. On this day, they traditionally enjoy a type of cake that varies depending on where you are in France, resembling king cake in the United States.

Germany

Germans call New Year's Eve Silvester. Since 1972, each New Year's Eve, several German television stations broadcast a short English theatrical performance titled Dinner for One. A punch line from the comedy sketch, "same procedure as every year", has become a catch phrase in Germany. [1] Every year Berlin hosts one of the largest New Year's Eve celebrations in all of Europe which is attended by over a million people. The focal point is the Brandenburg Gate and the fireworks at midnight centered around that location. Germans have a reputation of spending large amounts of money on firecrackers and fireworks.

China

In China, although the celebrations of the Lunar New Year are not until a few months into the new year, celebrations of the Gregorian New Year are still held in some areas. The Times Square shopping mall in Hong Kong also holds their own send-off to the ball drop held at the Times Square in New York City.

India

Most celebrations take place in the larger cities of India like Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Events such as, live concerts and dances by bollywood stars, Families often get together to celebrate the New Year.

Indonesia

Indonesian people often celebrate New Year's Eve spectacularly. The Local Government of Jakarta often holds a music show, a new year's countdown, and fireworks party in New Year's Eve celebration. The events often held in Monumen Nasional, Taman Impian Jaya Ancol, and Taman Mini Indonesia Indah. In Bandung, people celebrates New Year's Eve in Dago openfield and Pasupati Bridge, with their families, siblings, or their friends. Trumpet and fireworks are the most important things for Indonesian people to celebrate their new year's eve.

Ireland

Dublin has a modest New Year's celebration. The display is along the River Liffey. Fireworks are launched from boats in the Liffey or alongside the river.

Other major cities in Ireland such as Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford have New Year's celebrations.

Italy

Italians call New Year's Eve Capodanno or Notte di San Silvestro. Tradition provides a set of rituals for the new year, as dress red underwear or get rid of old or unused items (this one is almost dropped).

Dinner, taken with parents and friend, uses to include zampone or cotechino (kind of spiced Italian sausage) and lentils. At half past eight pm, The President of the Republic reads the television message of greetings to Italians.

At midnight strike, fireworks are displayed across whole Italy.

Japan

The day is a preparation day to welcome toshigami (年神), new year's god. Therefore, traditionally, people clean their home and prepare Kadomatsu and/or Shimenawa to welcome the god before New Year's Eve.

Buddhist temples ring their bells 108 times [1] on midnight, during 31 December to 1 January. This bell rings are called as joya no kane (除夜の鐘) in Japanese which means "bell rings on new year eve's night." Each bell rings represent 108 elements of bonnō (煩悩), defilements, or Kilesa in Sanskrit, which is said people have in their mind. The bells are rung to repent 108 of the bonnō.

On TV, the Red and White Year-end Song Festival is an over 50-year-old tradition involving a singing contest between male and female teams of celebrity singers.

Lebanon

In Lebanon, people celebrate the New Year's Eve by the use of fireworks, and by organizing cheese and wine for family and friend gatherings. These celebrations could also take place at some fancy diners and clubs which are usually fully-booked due to the presence of foreign and domestic popular singers. Game shows are also organized where people can try their luck to win some money. The synchronised final countdown is broadcasted through the leading TV channel and the celebrations usually continue until sunrise.

Mexico

Mexicans down a grape with each of the twelve chimes of the bell during the New Year countdown, while making a wish with each one. On New Year's Eve, those who want to find love in the new year wear red underwear and yellow if they want money.[1]

Other traditions include sweeping the dirt out, taking luggage outside as a symbol of future trips, hanging sheep dolls (mainly made out of wool) in the doorknob for prosperity, among others.

The celebrations are very similar to those of Spain.

They make dolls out of old clothes

Netherlands

New Year's Eve is called Oud en Nieuw ("Old and New") or simply oudejaarsavond ("old year's evening", logical since it's still part of the old year), and is usually celebrated as a cosy evening with family or friends. Traditional snack foods are oliebollen (oil dumplings) and appelbeignets (apple slice fritters). On television, the main feature is the oudejaarsconférence, a performance by one of the major Dutch cabaretiers (comparable to stand-up comedy, but more serious; generally including a satirical review of the year's politics). In Reformed Protestant families, Psalm 90 is read, although this tradition is now fading away.[2] At midnight, Glühwein (bisschopswijn) or Champagne is drunk. Many people fire off their own fireworks, which are on sale from a few days before; towns don't organise a central fireworks display. Public transport shuts down completely (the only scheduled time during the year) between approximately 20:00 and 01:00.

New Zealand

Auckland is 496.3 kilometres (308.4 mi) west of the International Date Line and thus is the first major city to see the beginning of the new year, however it is Gisborne that is the first "city" in the world to see the first sun rise for the year. In common with many other places it celebrates this with large street parties and fireworks displays. Elsewhere in New Zealand, local councils usually organise parties and street carnivals and fireworks displays. In recent years however, liquor bans have been imposed on many of the more popular areas due to disorder, vandalism and other anti-social behaviour. During the day of New Year's Eve, in recent years, the Black Caps have played a One Day International cricket game in Queenstown.

Peru

Peru celebrates a unique tradition on the last day of the year. Elaborate effigies, called Años Viejos (Old Years) are created to represent people and events from the past year. Often these include political characters or leaders that the creator of the effigy may have disagreed with. The dummies are made of straw, newspaper, and old clothes, with papier-mâché masks. Often they are also stuffed with fire crackers. At midnight the effigies are lit on fire to symbolize burning away of the past year and welcoming of the new year. The origin of the tradition is unknown, but is similar to that of the British Guy Fawkes Night. It is possible the tradition began after a yellow fever epidemic left many dead. The corpses were then disposed of by burning.

Other rituals are performed for the health, wealth, prosperity and protection of each member. These rituals are the following: Twelve grapes: Each person eats twelve grapes before midnight, making a wish with each grape.

Yellow underwear: One of the most popular traditions, yellow underwear are said to attract positive energies for the New Year.

Suitcase: Walking around the block with the suitcase will bring the person the journey of their dreams.

Philippines

Filipinos usually celebrate New Year's Eve with the company of family and close friends. Traditionally, most households stage a dinner party named Media Noche in their homes. Typical dishes include pancit, Hamon and if the family could afford it, Lechon(pig), which is usually considered as the centerpiece of the dinner table. Barbecued food is also an integral part of the menu.

Most Filipinos follow a set of traditions that are typically observed during New Year's Eve. Included among these traditions is the customary habit of wearing clothes with circular patterns like polka dots, this signifies the belief that circles attract money and fortune. Throwing coins at the stroke of midnight is said to increase riches that years. Traditions also include the serving of circularly-shaped fruits, shaking of coins inside a metal casserole while walking around the house, jumping high which is believed to cause an increase in physical height and making loud noises to drive away "evil" spirits among others. Households also spend money to buy firecrackers and pyrotechnics that would be ignited at the strike of midnight.

Urban areas are usually host to many New Year's Eve parties and countdown celebrations which are usually hosted by the private sector with the help of the local government. Notable parties include GMA Network's party at the Plaza Sulayman of Baywalk in Manila. These parties usually display their own fireworks spectacle.

The Former Soviet Union

In the former Soviet Union, New Year has the same cultural significance as Christmas has in the United States, but without the religious connotations. Russian, Ukrainian and other families from former Soviet Union traditionally install at home spruce trees, the equivalent of a Christmas tree. In Eastern Europe, there is the Ded Moroz, who looks similar to Santa Claus, except he wears robes, and instead of reindeer, he is pulled by a troika (i.e. a three-horse drawn sled). Families gather to eat a large feast and reflect on the past year. They have a large celebration, make toasts, and make wishes for a happy New Year. Families give presents to their friends as well as informal acquaintances. This is due to Russians being a closely-knit community, and it is seen as a taboo to not give presents to those the family associates with. Children stay up until midnight, waiting for the New Year. Also, during these celebrations many Russians tune to special New Year shows, which have become a long-standing tradition for the Russian TV.

New Year is often considered a "Pre-Celebration" for the Eastern Orthodox living in Eastern Europe, primarily in Russia and Ukraine, since Christmas is celebrated on January 7 according to the Eastern Orthodox tradition.


Spain

Spanish New Year's Eve (Nochevieja, or Fin de Año) celebrations usually begin with a family dinner, traditionally including shrimp and lamb or turkey. Spanish people believe that wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve brings good luck. The actual countdown is primarily followed from the clock on top of the Casa de Correos building in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid. It is traditional to eat twelve grapes, one on each chime of the clock. This tradition has its origins in 1909, when grape growers in Alicante thought of it as a way to cut down on the large production surplus they had had that year. Nowadays, the tradition is followed by almost every Spaniard, and the twelve grapes have become synonymous with the New Year. After the clock has finished striking twelve, people greet each other and toast with sparkling wine such as cava or champagne, or alternatively with cider.

After the family dinner and the grapes, many young people attend New Year parties at pubs, discotheques and similar places (these parties are called cotillones de nochevieja, after the Spanish word cotillón, which refers to party supplies like confetti, party blowers, party hats, etc.). Parties usually last until the next morning and range from small, personal celebrations at local bars to huge parties with guests numbering the thousands at hotel convention rooms. Early next morning, party attendees usually gather to have the traditional winter breakfast of chocolate con churros (hot chocolate and fried pastry).

Sweden

In Sweden, New Year's Eve is usually celebrated with families or with friends. Few hours before and after midnight, people usually party and eat a nicer dinner, often three courses. New Year's Eve is celebrated with large fireworks displays throughout the country, especially in the cities. People over 18 are allowed to buy fireworks, which are sold by local stores or by private persons. While watching or lighting up fireworks at midnight, people usually drink champagne.

Taiwan

Many people in Taiwan celebrate the end of the year with concerts in most of the cities and recently using a big screen on the stage to communicate with cities around the island by shouting Happy New Year to each other. The most crowded city is the capital Taipei where most people gather around Taipei 101 located in the shopping and financial area. People gather around the roads around Taipei 101 and together they shout from 10 to 0. With each number they count, one of the layers of Taipei 101 (eight floors per layer) lights up until 0, the fireworks shoot out from the top of each layer (eight layers excluding a layer under the antenna) in different directions.

Turkey

Numerous decorations and customs traditionally associated with Christmas and Bayrams find a secular translation in Turkish New Year's Eve celebrations, where homes and streets are lit up in glittering lights, ornamented trees, and garlands as well as various traditional Turkish aesthetic practices. Small gifts are exchanged, and large family dinners are organized with family and friends, featuring roast turkey, a special Zante currant-pimento-dill iç pilav dish, dolma, hot börek, hummus, musakka and various other eggplant dishes, topped with warm pide, salep and boza.

Television and radio channels are known to continuously broadcast a variety of special New Year's Eve programs, while Municipalities all around the country organize fundraising events for the poor, in addition to celebratory public shows such as concerts and family-friendly events, as well as more traditional forms of entertainment such as the Karagöz and Hacivat shadow-theater and even performances by the Mehter - the Janissary Band that was founded during the days of the Ottoman Empire.

Public and private parties with large public attendances are organised in a number of cities and towns, particularly in the largest metropolitan areas such as Istanbul, Ankara, Izmir, Adana and Antalya, with the biggest celebrations taking place in Istanbul's Taksim, Beyoğlu, Nişantaşı and Kadıköy districts and Ankara's Kızılay Square, which generally feature dancing, concerts, laser and lightshows as well as the traditional countdown and fireworks display.

United Kingdom

London's firework celebrations centre around the London Eye. At the start of 2005, fireworks were launched from the wheel itself for the first time.

In Edinburgh the cannon is fired at Edinburgh Castle at the stroke of midnight. Scotland celebrates New Year as Hogmanay. Other large cities in Britain such as Liverpool, Glasgow, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham all have large celebrations.

Source- Wikipedia



Party hearty and be safe!

I stayed up past midnight Tuesday night to avoid the rush on Wednesday night!!!

Happy New Year to all! Was in a drug store today and the clerk uttered the hope that next year will be better than the past year has been. I shuddered that there is a possibility it won't be!!!

Thanks for a great opener. Quite a good bit of perspective in all of the above!

Thought I'd stop in and wish you all a very happy and healthy New Year. Here's hoping '09 is the best year of our lives.

Well, hello Elise! Long time no see and always a Pleasure.
Have that husband of yours come around for a visit too if he's feeling frisky, his views are always welcome here (though sometimes contested)
2009 promises at least to be one of the most interesting, if not the very best of our lives.
A grand opener Phil! As big as the year that has just passed and as interesting as the year ahead will be. Well done.

Happy New Year's Eve everyone. We are going to the beach for a couple of days. That's why we live in Florida.

Be safe and have fun.

EmmaG

and happy (*&(*% New Year to you, too, Emma!!

No, truly - have a great time. I mean that. Sincerely.

Hi, Elise!

Hi, everyone.

New Years' Eve is not a holiday I celebrate; it always seems to be a huge buildup with ... no real followup except January. But then, I spent way too much time in school; I'm essentially an academic-year kind of person; September is my true new year (Or maybe it's just that any holiday wish automatically followed by "be safe" just isn't my thing...hmmm.)

I remember when I was working for a college in a position paid by federal grant. For those two years I had to follow four different calendars:
Calendar year (Jan) - for payroll and taxes
Federal fiscal year (Oct) - for grants and financial aid
Academic year (Sept) - for classes and terms
College fiscal year (July) - for budgeting and purchasing!

Had I been brighter than I am, those years I *would* have made a big deal out of New Years' Eve!

For all of you who do celebrate, have a wonderful time, and stay safe. And I promise to stay up till midnight, champagne and all, on Inaugural Eve, which is, what, 20 days away now?

Not a resolution, but a promise to myself: this year there will be fewer interviews and podcasts, and more music, in my life.

Mellow, I take your wishes in the spirit I'm sure they were intended!

I will be up with you on the 20th. I've already signed out for the day off and will be parked in front of the tv all day. I also agree with you on your promises: I have not listened to much music this year because my head has been so wrapped around school. This year I will! And I will get back into my post-quitting walking routine, which I have sorely neglected this year. And combining the two -- music and walking -- will surely bring my blood pressure down!

Happy New Year's Eve Everybody.


HA! We are in the middle of a lake effect snow storm (thanks to Lake Erie).

Nice job on the opening Phil, that looks like it took a lot of work.

Hi Elise.

COINCIDENCE? I THINK NOT!



From the Church of Ineffable Stupidity, a good riddance Sermon:

a) George W. Bush
Incurious, unread, willful, and obstinate. One of Colin Powell's top aides compared him to Sarah Palin, and not in favorable terms. His current vacation is probably the only high note from his presidency. His current rehabilitation theme is to claim that America was safe for seven years!

He wants us to ignore the run up to 9/11, the warnings that he personally, and his top aides professionally ignored. It was their job to pick up on threats, to review the intelligence that strongly warned about the attack, and to prevent 9/11 from happening. They did not. Every single person who blew it on 9/11, Condi Rice, Dick Cheney, George Bush, Don Rumsfeld, the colelctive heads of the DIA, CIA, FBI, and other intel units - either they were rewarded for their failure, or in some cases, promoted. More than anyone else, Condi and George bear personal responsibility for 9/11 and never have they owned up to their own failures.

Katrina? IraqNam? Osama Bin Laden? Enron? The Mortgage fiasco? The Derivatives Market? Even the TARP bailout? Lebanon? Palestine?

No matter how hard Condi or Laura try to pull the wool over our eyes, you have been the worst president in America's history, and your upcoming exit is the most welcome gift to America, indeed, to the world.

- - -

b) Dick Cheney
You come in second, but not for want of effort, Mr. Cheney. We should have suspected it from the beginning. Any egotistical, power-hungry, PNAC, war-loving maniac who is given the right to choose America's vice president, should never have been allowed to choose himself.
You lied from the time you took office. Heck, you started SPYING on America, through telcoms, NSA, CIA and FBI even B E F O R E the 9/11 attacks. Then, when you had Americans properly shocked and awed, you used it to pass the Patriot Act, and later, FISA, and you reaped the gains of your illegal surveillance and spying. Who did you blackmail? Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Does that explain their rather curious, spineless, and overall damaging behavior for the past two years? How else did you personally profit, other than Haliburton's no-bid contracts, and the massive contractor frauds that took place in Iraq? Which of your friends cheered on your every move, which ended up so profitable to them, and to you? OH, and do tell. What ever happened to the $6 billion in cash that you ordered sent to Baghdad on a military cargo plane, and why have all investigators into that cash been fired, transfered or gone missing? How many GAO inspectors' careers have you ordered ruined since you became VP? And despite your best shredding efforts, I wonder what other crimes we will find when your records finally become public.

If George was the [censored] of this administration, you were its cancerous, festering, genital cyst.
- - -

c) C is for Condi Rice
We can be certain of one thing. If the NFL wishes to commit hari kiri, the best way for them to destroy the league is to appoint you commissioner. That would virtually guarantee its demise.

Have you no sense of shame or responsibility?
Who chaired the National Security Council, the highest ranking, most powerful, and best informed group that advises the president? you.
Who failed to even educate herself about what Al Qaida was? you.
Who concentrated on a non-existent missile threat from the USSR, even though that country ceased to exist 9 years earlier? you.
Who ignored her own terrorist advisor, Richard Clarke, who repeatedly tried to get your attention with hot intel about an upcoming attack on US soil? you.
Who was the Iraq Invasion's biggest cheerleader, after Dick Cheney? you.
Who lied to the American people about smoking guns and mushroom clouds? you.
Who was assigned the task of fixing the Iraq Reconstruction after Don Rumsfeld's and Dick Cheney's merry band of thieves screwed it up, while profiting greatly the first time? you.
Who ignored Iraq, and your new task, and got promoted to SexState? you
Who proved to be the worst, most petulant, least knowledgeable, most willful, least respected, and most demanding SexState in America's history? you.
Who was assigned the task of Fixing Iraq a SECOND TIME, this time as SexState? you?
And who failed miserably, both times that George asked you to fix Iraq? you.
Let's ignore your hideous, deadly, and frankly, embarrassing behavior during Israel's invasion of Lebanon. Let's ignore your repeated embarrassments and sdiplomatic screw ups in Pakistan, India, Russia, Georgia, Iran, Syria, England, Egypt, Yemen, Zimbabwe, Sudan, South Africa, Venezuela, Brazil, Chile, Haiti, Columbia, Korea (both N & S), just to mention a few.

Condi, when history properly calls George W. Bush the worst president in our country's history, they will call you his second worst assistant/advisor. Only Darth Cheney served himself better, and this country and his president worse than you. But really, such comparisons are like comparing turds in the toilet before you flush. And On January 20, we get to flush you away.

- - -

d) The D list is tough.
Don Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, John Yoo, Scooter Libby, Dave Addington, Richard Perle, and so many more to add here.

Who could have imagined (to paraphrase Condi) that a sick and ailing John Ashcroft would become the first, best defense of the Constitution of the United States, in the face of VP and presidential aides demanding martial law powers over the privacy of American citizens? Ashcroft, the religious maniac who draped the firm, pert, brassy breasts of Lady Justice. The man who lost a campaign to a corpse. An unlikely hero, but a hero nevertheless.

--

e) Nancy Reid and Harry Pelosi.
Wait. That's wrong somehow. But it is also instructive in that it is impossible to tell them apart, at least when you measure them against any living creature with a spine. Hell, earthworms have more substance and integrity, compared to these two. Even with a majority, even though they had been lied to for 6 years, EVEN WHEN intel experts said there was no crisis, you guys managed to extend FISA, fund Iraq, take impeachment off the table, and effectively cover-up many high crimes and misdemeanors of the Bush Administration.

Of course, let's not talk about your $250,000 in AIG stock, Nancy, money which you would have lost, but for the socialist bailout by the US citizens. Loved your disclosure of that conflict, by the way.

- - -

f) Today's GOP.
It wasn't just the Regent U fools you put in charge at Justice. It wasn't just the flat-earthers in NASA. Nor the damage done to the EPA, and pretty much every other federal agency. It wasn't even how your foreign policy marching orders came from AIPAC, or how the rights of individuals meant less than the ability of large corporations to increase their profits. It wasn't even your efforts to force a particular religious creed into government, when it suited your plans.
No, instead, let's just talk convictions. Republican Convictions.
Kinda like indictments, but one step further:

Feb. 22, 2008: Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., indicted on charges of extortion, wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes in an Arizona land swap that authorities say helped him collect hundreds of thousands of dollars in payoffs.

2007: Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, arrested in a bathroom sex sting at the Minneapolis airport. His original guilty plea now stands.

2007: Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, sentenced to prison for graft and bribes from Jack Abramoff.

2006: Rep. "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., sentenced to eight years for bribes from military contractors.

2005: Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Texas, laundering money and bribes.

2003: Rep. William Janklow, R-S.D convicted of vehicular homicide and sentenced to 100 days in prison.

Other Republicans in trouble? Scooter Libby, Jerry Lewis, John Doolittle, Duncan Hunter, Roy Blunt, Tom Foley, and most of the Bush White House aides.

- - -

g) One GOPer stands out and deserves special mention. Wassilly Sarah Palin
This shining example of education, intellect, political curiosity and knowledge, who has an awe-inspiring grasp of constitutional issues, this family values conservative, whose single 17 yr old daughter gave birth to a baby born to a family of drug dealers, this outstanding citizen who took an offer to buy a TV suit and turned it into a $500,000 joke, not counting accessories, this self-serving, unethical, idiot who thinks that Africa is a country.

The one new year's hope for every democrat is that the GOP continues to view Sarah Palin as the future of their party. If that is the case, Democrats will stay in power for a generation.

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h) Eternal vigilance is necessary.
Democrats are neither immune to K Street bribes, nor inoculated against their worst personality flaws. Rod Blagojevich, William Jefferson, Charlie Rangel, and others can waste this great opportunity and take down the party. There is too much work to be done, and personal gain must take a distant second place until our nation is back on track. So, let's start off the new year with this warning: To any democrat who acts like a republican, to jail with you.

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May 2009 not only be an odd year, but a better year than 2008.

Happy New Year Elise, and everyone. Good to "see" ya here.