The Top Ten News Stories of 2008

It's been a weird year to say the least. One in which history was made on several fronts while issues that were paramount twelve months ago have gone by the wayside.

Here's my list of top stories.

10. The Mumbai Terror Attacks
A small group of Islamic zealots attacked a train station, a Jewish center (where they tortured the Jews) and two hotels and held one of India's most important cities hostage for days. This incident showed once again how a small group of motivated Muslim terrorists can attain maximum news coverage and kill the maximum amount of people including women and children to attain their goals. The repercussions have yet to be completely felt as India and Pakistan are in a hostile mode still.

9. The Irrelevance of Environmentalism/Global Warming Hysteria
Last year at this time, the global warming alarmist's were looking as if they were going to win; they had a huge majority of people convinced that the Earth is getting warmer and it is either the fault of the human race as a whole or the US in particular. Then gasoline hit $4.00 per gallon and every one's sense of environmentalism was tossed to the side of the road. "Drill baby drill" became the rallying cry. Add to that the record low temps experienced in Southern California, Las Vegas and parts of Europe and the words of Al Gore seem to have lost much of their urgency. Global warming has been disproved to all except the worshippers at the altar of Gaia.

8. The Mortgage Meltdown
A recession was already in the offing but the financial crisis got infinitely deeper when many established firms were rocked by a sudden drop in housing prices and foreclosures. Government sponsored entities Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were shown to have been the main contributors along with inane government policies implemented by the likes of Barney Frank and Chris Dodd. Because of their policies, corporations that were big players for a hundred years suddenly ceased existing.

7. Obama Beats Hillary
He started in Iowa and gained traction before crossing the finish line on vapors. Fueled by enormous donations and former Clinton cronies who bailed on Hillary when they saw the wind blowing in Obama's direction, BHO delivered several knock-out blows. His campaign used the race card expertly and that card trumped the sexism card in the end. Amazingly, the media dropped the candidate they've been shilling for since 2004--Hillary--and instead used the same tactics against her that they've been using against Republicans for decades. The schadenfreude was awesome to say the least.

6. Government Bails Out Businesses
President Bush gave the finger to the free market system and bailed out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, Banks and AIG. American auto manufacturers were also given assistance (except Ford) without even providing a clear plan to solvency and sustainability. We, the American taxpayer, became the owners of some of the biggest firms on the planet.

5. Natural Disasters
As in most years, nature will make us remember who's boss. Hurricanes in Texas, Cyclones in Myanmar and earthquakes in other areas such as China killed tens of thousands. While Hurricane Ike caused massive damage to the Texas Gulf Coast, the people of that area managed to pick themselves up and dust themselves off without free handouts from FEMA, concerts played for their benefit or any of the things that were afforded to those who suffered in the aftermath of Katrina.

4. The Downfall of Many (Democrat) Politicians
Rod Blagojevich, Charles Rangel, Wayne Bryant, Vincent Fumo, Chris Dodd, Eliot Spitzer...They all had bad years ethics-wise. The Blago scandal will play out well into 2009 and Obama and Rahm Emanuel will get drawn deeper into it due to the amateurish way they've dealt with their first scandal. It seemed like it was only Republicans getting indicted for corruption (and we had our share), but this year was the year of the Democrat perp walk. Look for more as we move into the new year.

3. Sarah Palin Enters the Political Landscape
Like a meteor or someone with more staying power? That's yet to be decided but Governor Palin electrified the conservative base and turned a landslide Obama victory into just a win. She energized crowds and was credited by Sen. Chambliss with putting him over the top in Georgia. No one has had to weather the withering negative media attention directed at her on issues not even related to politics: her daughters pregnancy, insane, formerly respected members of the media calling into question whether or not her child was actually her child, members of that same group of heathens questioning (and then cowardly deleting his post) whether her pre-natal care contributed to her son Trig's Down Syndrome and myriad other biased attacks. While Obama was not even vetted on the most basic issues, Palin was subjected to a media enema on a daily basis and smiled the entire time.

2. Obama Wins Presidential Election
America is not racist. Who knew? Well, many of us did but it took a man from Chicago's machine politics to prove it. BHO bested the Clintons and whooped an outwitted McCain in the general election while maintaining an above the fray approach thanks to a compliant media. Interestingly, once Obama won he realized that he would be insane to govern from the far-left like he promised the barking moonbats on the left and has nominated a fairly center-left cabinet. The liberals are still insane over this, a fact that makes me very happy.

1. The US Wins the War in Iraq
To the consternation of liberals (and the media) the world over, the American military turned around a certain loss into a rousing victory. The defeat that liberals wanted so badly was in their grasp and President Bush, John McCain and a General named Petraeus constructed a strategy that led to a coalition government with a mandate and the eradication of Baathism in Mesopotamia. Plus, it was the central fight in the greater War on terror and we made a serious statement to al-Qaeda. Our boys and girls did it with skill, brains and guts and should be commended. Note that this barely makes any of the top ten news stories of this year on any major news site. It only goes to prove the bias if you ask me; where else but in America circa 2008 can a nation win a war that was considered lost and it not be the top news story of that year?