As we get ready to welcome 2010 at midnight Friday, I thought I’d take a moment to bitch-slap 2009 for being such a screwed-up year before I unceremoniously kick it to the curb.
2009 will, in my opinion, be known as the year of Dead Celebrities. 2009 saw the deaths of many famous people- some surprising, some not so much. Especially in the late-summer-early-fall period, celebrities started dropping like flies. Just a few of the famous people we lost in 2009:
- Patrick McGoohan, actor
- Ricardo Montalbán, actor
- John Updike, writer
- James Whitmore, actor
- Ron Silver, actor
- Natasha Richardson, actress
- Marilyn Chambers, porn star
- Bea Arthur, actress
- Dom DeLuise, actor
- David Carradine, actor
- Ed McMahon, Carson sidekick
- Farrah Fawcett, actress
- Michael Jackson, singer and really bizarre dude
- Billy Mays, infomercial pitchman
- Karl Malden, actor
- Walter Cronkite, anchorman
- Corazon Aquino, former president of the Phillipines
- John Hughes, director of countless movies that almost everyone has seen
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver, matriarch of the Kennedys and founder of Special Olympics
- Les Paul, guitar pioneer
- Ted Kennedy, U.S. Senator
- Patrick Swayze, actor
- Eddie Fatu, pro wrestler and cousin of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
- Roy E. Disney, Disney Corporation senior executive and nephew of Walt
- Brittany Murphy, actress
There were many others, but these are some of the more recognizable names (as well as a few that I “remembered” courtesy of Wikipedia). Rest in peace, one and all.
2009 was also the year of the great healthcare reform clusterfuck- I mean, debate. Regardless of on which side of that fence you stand, that whole thing got SO blown out of proportion that it was ridiculous. Public option… death panels… to cover or not to cover abortion… Calgon take me away!!! Between the pissiness, the name-calling from both sides, and everything else, this was perhaps the biggest FUBAR the country faced this year.
Then there was the whole elected officials thing. Governors caught cheating on their wives. Governors being impeached and brought up on charges of trying to sell Senate seats to the highest bidder. Said governors trying to get on reality shows. And speaking of “reality” shows, there was the whole Jon & Kate+Hate fiasco, the balloon boy fiasco, and then, of course, just the fact that the Kardashians won’t go away.
Too many terrorist attacks to mention. The swine flu (a.k.a. H1N1, for those that are worried about being politically correct with regard to pigs, apparently) epidemic. And then there was watching the popularity of President Obama go, from damn near everyone except the KKK canonizing him, all the way down to close to GWB numbers upon the end of his second term. I guess THAT honeymoon is over.
Perhaps the one bright spot came just 15 days into 2009 when Captain Chesley Sullenberger made an emergency water landing into the Hudson River after the US Airlines Airbus A320 he was flying took out a flock of geese, disabling both engines. ”Captain Sully”, as he became known, managed to bring the plane down successfully in the river and saved the lives of all 155 people on board.
So with that, I give 2009 the ol’ “it was fun, I’ll call you” line and send it packing. With any luck, 2010 will be a little better.
Not that that should be too difficult.
I hope.
Although there’s probably little chance (ie., slim and none) that this health care bill won’t pass, I certainly hope a miracle happens and this thing gets stuck in the House/Senate debate over their differences and ends up dying a slow death. If it passes in any form near what the House and Senate have come up with so far, we can kiss the health care we have now goodbye…forever. And those who think that’s a good thing, be careful what you wish for.
Happy New Year, Johann. My cynicism comes naturally, so keep that in mind as I predict that 2010 will be even worse. I think even in the last 15 years or so are we really beginning to understand how ugly this world is under a 24-hour news cycle. But I don’t necessarily agree that ignorance is bliss, either. You’ll have a longer list of grievances and what not this time next year.
I agree with both of you.