2010 Politics in Review by the MOMocrats: President Obama's Trial by Fire

I think there's a musty old law somewhere that impels media outlets to produce some kind of year in review piece each end of December -- or maybe it's just an easy topic to riff on when all you really want to do is recover from one holiday while preparing for the next. At any rate, Karoli and I did our own Year in Review episode on this week's MOMocrats MOMochat radio show.

I prepared for the show by highlighting some of the posts here on the MOMocrats website for 2010, and even though I remember all of these events, I was surprised to see they had all occurred THIS YEAR. And what a year it's been.

Karoli summed up 2010 as "President Obama's Trial by Fire":

JANUARY

• Health care reform had still not passed by the time of the State of the Union (for some reason, I had been remembering HCR as a 2009 endeavor - maybe because it took ALL of 2009 before spilling into the first quarter of this year).

• Supreme Court hands down Citizens United ruling

• Scott Roeder convicted for murder of Dr. George Tiller

• James O’Keefe caught and arrested for dirty tricks at Senator Mary Landrieu’s office

• A 7.0 earthquake devastates Haiti

FEBRUARY

• The Tea Party holds a convention

• Carly Fiorina California senate campaign runs the infamous Demon Sheep ad; will live on forever as historic footnote

MARCH

• Health Care Reform FINALLY passed and signed into law; denial of coverage due to "pre-existing conditions" becomes a thing of the past

APRIL

• Deepwater Horizon explosion in the Gulf results in worst oil spill in US history

MAY

• President Obama nominates Elena Kagan to fill Justice John Paul Stevens’ seat on the Supreme Court

JUNE:

• British Petroleum and the Gulf Oil Spill dominate the news cycle.Michele Bachmann and Joe Barton decry Administration's efforts to make BP pay. MOMocrats runs a series after Deepwater Horizon – Where Do We Go From Here?

JULY/AUGUST:

• Midterm election dominates news cycle – Sarah Palin, Mama Grizzlies, Tea Party candidates become viable (Christine O’Donnell! Sharron Angle!)

• Glenn Beck holds his “restore honor” rally on the Mall

• Combat troop withdrawal in Iraq ahead of schedule… but we “surge” in Afghanistan. And neither operation over yet.

• California’s Prop 8 overturned by Federal Court

SEPTEMBER:

• ELECTION HEATS UP and with it, new efforts to trick those who might vote Democratic to stay home (and unfortunately, it seems to have worked)

• Insurers react to Health Care Reform by withdrawing child-only policies

• Elizabeth Warren appointed to Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

OCTOBER

• Virginia Thomas leaves a message on Anita Hill’s voicemail

• Meg Whitman gets booed at California Women’s Conference

• Teenager Tyler Clementi commits suicide after being harassed for being gay;  “It Gets Better” anti-bullying campaign launches with politicos and celebrities telling their own stories

• Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert spoof Glenn Beck by holding their own Rally to Restore Sanity; we were entertained - but had hoped for more

NOVEMBER

• Democrats get “shellacked” in midterm election – but Harry Reid keeps his job (and Angle doesn’t go to the Senate). Nancy Pelosi continues as minority leader

• Sarah Palin’s Alaska debuts

DECEMBER

• The most productive Congress in recent memory ends with an incredible lame duck session: DADT, START, 9/11 responders among languishing bills that pass

• However – session doesn’t begin until White House gives the GOP extension of Bush tax cuts for ALL income levels (including wealthiest 1%)

• Elizabeth Edwards passes away

Any way you look at it, this year has been a roller coaster of a year.

Fasten your seatbelts for 2011.

Donna Schwartz Mills produces the MOMocrats' MOMochat radio show. She writes about Southern California at CBS Los Angeles and her personal blog, SoCal Mom.

Comments

[Karoli]

Hi Donna,

Great roundup. Here's a link to a post on Shirley Sherrod, since I mentioned it in the show today...http://crooksandliars.com/karoli/what-did-breitbart-know-and-when-did-he-kno

[Linda H]

OFA has a list of the top 10 accomplishments of the 111th Congress, which I posted on my blog. It was very encouraging to read the list, after al the screaming stopped a lot got done.

http://www.whatisworking.com/2010/12/top-ten-accomplishments-of-111-congress.html

[Linda H]

OFA also posted a list of 10 things you may not have heard about, these laws weren't as controversial, but very significant and encouraging.

http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/joshcohen/gGMKKF

[Lisa]

Great overview, thanks for the list of reading.