The New Years Post

The year 2005 was certainly an interesting one. It has been a growth year here at Middle Earth Journal although we are still a very small fish in a bigger sea. We have seen our daily visits increase about six fold over the last year and we all want to thank you.

MEJ was syndicated by The Pacific NW Portal a few months ago and moved up to the front page a few weeks ago. Thank you Northwest Progressive Institute. We were quoted in Slate Magazine, sorry I lost the link, and have had one or more links on the Memorandum daily. On December 24th MEJ was mentioned on NPR's "Wait, Wait, don't tell me.

A very big thanks to Jazz at Running Scared and a special thanks to my old friend Bill in DC and to IceGuy for their contributions.

There was plenty to talk about this year. I don't think many of us thought that George W. Bush would turn his November victory into what has to be considered a year of defeat. Both Paul Krugman and Sidney Blumenthal had some thoughts on Bush's year on Friday but now I'll give you some of mine.

His problems started when he tried to sell his plan to eliminate Social Security and make no mistake that is what it was. Well that was a no sale from the beginning. We covered that here and over at Running Scared. You can find all of the posts in the Index of posts on Social Security.

We were also on the Terri Schiavo debacle which awakened much of the country. The Terri Schiavo pandering took a huge toll on Bush and the Republicans. Not only did a majority, including a majority of the Republican base, oppose the activities of the Republicans to prolong the existence of Terri's earthly shell the move was so transparently political pandering it made them look like the hacks with no moral compass that they are.

Of course there was the lack of response to the Katrina disaster and the comical nomination of Harriet Miers that further eroded support. No need to elaborate on those.

Although the Cable Tabloid Networks attempted to push it to the back burner by endlessly reporting on Natalie Holloway the big news all year remained Iraq. I suspect it will be even bigger news next year and will indeed be the legacy of George W. Bush but not in the way Karl Rove envisioned.

It is becoming clear that another big story next year will revolve around Jack Abramoff who will probably take many of the most powerful Republicans with him when he goes down. Stay tuned.

It also became obvious that the Source of all evil was the Vice President of the United States, the Dark Lord himself, Dick Cheney. Sidney Blumenthal said it best.

The hallmark of the Dick Cheney administration is its illegitimacy. Its essential method is bypassing established lines of authority; its goal is the concentration of unaccountable presidential power.

A list of posts on the evil that is Dick Cheney can be found here.


Well 2006 is here so hang on to your hats and thank you all for tuning in this past year and have a Happy New Year.