BIGGEST POLITICAL WINNER--This category was painfully empty this year, as more people, including good politicians, actually lost. The nominees included Jerry Brown, a Democrat who won the California gubernatorial race for a second time; Scott Brown, a moderate Republican who used a pickup to pick up middle class support to win a Senate seat in Massachusetts; and both Democratic senators named Udall (cousins Mark Udall in Colorado and Tom Udall in New Mexico). But the winner is Lisa Murkowski, the former Republican and newly Independent senator from Alaska, who ran a long-shot write-in campaign and won. What Murkowski actually did was defeat the Tea Party, who had put up an extremely conservative candidate as the Republican nominee. Even better, Murkowski "defeated" Sarah Palin, who had backed the Republican candidate. It has been downhill in popularity and seriousness for Palin ever since.
BIGGEST POLITICAL LOSER--Wow, a filled category. The nominees included President Obama, who went to the aggravating center, compromised on important principles, and pretty much lost his progressive way, probably ending his chances for re-election as his enthusiastic majority faded slowly away. The young voters, who had supported his ideals, didn't like his need to rack up compromised achievements of lackluster legislation and so they didn't vote in the 2010 mid-term election and thus the Democrats lost the House and probably the future. Obama's concept of "change" seems to be replacing one Clinton Administration person with another Clinton Administration person. Doesn't he himself know anyone worthy of political thought outside of Clintonville and Chicago?! Other nominees included David Cameron, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, who showed the UK why conservatives don't lead to progress; the Democratic Party, who lost Nancy Pelosi as the Speaker of the House and three great progressive politicians Russ Feingold, Joe Sestak, and Alan Grayson, all who lost their elections; the Tea Party who put up crazy candidates like Christine O'Donnell, Sharon Angle, and other backward-thinkers who lost their elections; the Republican Party which is burdened by the likes of Mitch McConnell and John Boehner; and John McCain, whose flip-flopping stance on the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy just made him look like an "old fool." But the winner or, in essence, loser in this category is the American people, because of all of the previous reasons.
MOST AGGRAVATING--The nominees included the Republican zeal for rich people as indicated by their demand for the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy despite what it will add to a budget deficit; British Petroleum with its leaking oil well in the Gulf of Mexico which created the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history; the lack of jobs desperately needed by the unemployed; the failure of President Obama and the Democrats to promote a public option for health care; and the Republican denial of global warming despite the weather extremes and records. Many years ago, when I lived in Wyoming, I think my newspaper was the first in the state to recommend that Wyoming adopt the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. The governor at the time, though a Democrat--which often doesn't mean much in Wyoming--dragged his feet and waited and stalled, but finally approved the adoption. But by the time it was done, its passage seemed more embarrassing, for being slow, than triumphant, for being bold. Such was also the case for the December repeal of the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy concerning gay soldiers in the military. It was with a yawn, an "About time!" and finally joining the rest of the world democracies that the repeal got through Congress and to the president. But the winner for most aggravating and generally horrible is the continuation of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, with the loss of lives and the huge cost. The war in Afghanistan goes into its 10th year, the longest in U.S. history.
BEST PEOPLE MOMENTS--The nominees included Shirley Sherrod, the woman who was unfairly removed from her job at the USDA, who showed why the rant and the sloppiness of the right-wing media is destructive; Velma Hart, the woman who spoke her mind to President Obama at a CNBC town meeting concerning the economy and expressed what most of us in the middle class were thinking; when the former insurance executive apologized and described to filmmaker Michael Moore the effort by Cigna and the insurance industry generally to undermine his documentary "Sicko" because the insurance industry didn't want Americans to start a populist movement for universal health care; Anderson Cooper, for an amazing moment after the Haiti earthquake when he came to the rescue of an injury boy; and the inspirational views of Elizabeth Edwards on the Larry King Live show, not long before her death. The winner is Jon Stewart whose speech at his D.C. rally noted the concept of respect and community by using the analogy of drivers taking their turns in traffic: "You go, then you go, then you go." And everyone gets to where they are going on the American highway of opportunity, freedom, and care.
BEST TV NEWS SHOW GUESTS--Howard Dean, Anthony Weiner, Nancy Pelosi, Elizabeth Edwards, and Joe Biden who is probably the best member of the Obama Administration for, as vice president, being able to speak to truth while the president speaks to politics. The winner is Ralph Nader, who showed up on the Lawrence O'Donnell news show. Wow, he had been missed!
THE QUOTE OF THE YEAR--The nominees included the response by President Obama in the Jon Stewart interview of "Yes, we can, but..." It was a "but" that just confirmed why Obama is seen in disappointing ways. Another nominee is the recent "tweet" by Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker that noted "I just doug out your car," a reference to his good work in helping to clear streets of snow but which also shows why politicians shouldn't use Twitter if they can't spell. ("Dug" not "doug" unless it is a play-on-words for a guy named Doug who had a snowed-in car and, in that case, might be clever. Twitter language is supposed to reduce letters to irritating spellings of "u" for you, not increase letter amounts.) And who could ever forget--even if you want to--the quote from a young man's airport security experience, "Don't touch my junk." It was aimed at Pat Down, the ubiquitous airport security person. But the quote of the year is "I am not a witch," spoken by Delaware senatorial candidate Christine O'Donnell, conjuring up ghostly images of Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook." And when O'Donnell uttered the words, she was wearing a black blouse with a black background. All that was missing was a black, pointy witch's hat. Couldn't her PR people have at least suggested the colors of green or pink or blue as the color companion if she were going to go there?
A TIP OF THE HAT TO...All are winners here: Salvatore Giunta, Medal of Honor winner for heroic service as an American soldier in Afghanistan; Larry King, who retired from his interview show on CNN; Andy Griffith, who became a spokesman for TV public announcements about health care reform; and Leslie Nielsen, who died in December, leaving a movie legacy of deadpan humor and entertaining comedies.
BEST TV ENTERTAINMENT MOMENTS--The nominees included Andy Samberg's songs, often with nasty innuendo but always goofy and funny, on "Saturday Night Live"; the Geico Insurance commercial about the "woodchucks chucking wood;" the clever writing of James Thurber as read by MSNBC news personality Keith Olbermann; and the entertaining CNN teaming of Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin for the New Year's eve show. But the winner is Betty White, whose monologue and comedy-sketch performances as a guest host on "Saturday Night Live" was very amusing. She seems pretty ageless with her sparkle and wit.
BEST ENTERTAINMENT TV SHOW--"Saturday Night Live," "Merlin," "Haven," "The Mentalist," "The Closer," "Parks and Recreation," and "Monk." The winner is "Smallville" though the absence of the character Chloe, played by Allison Mack, was evident this past fall.
ACTORS AND ACTRESSES TO WATCH who are early in their careers, all of whom are winners: Ashley McKay, Yuval David, and Carlo Marks.
BEST NEWS SHOW--"Rachel Maddow Show," "Keith Olbermann's Countdown," "Anderson Cooper's 360," "Nightline," "60 Minutes," "Ed Schultz Show," "The McLaughlin Group," "Need to Know," "Fareed Zakaria's GPS," "Reliable Sources," "Caught on Camera," "Now," "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric." The winner is the PBS News Hour.
BEST NETWORK--MSNBC (except for the crime show schedule on the weekends), CNN, History Channel, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, and the Sci-Fi Channel. The winner is PBS for depth of news and information, music, and historical programming.
WHAT I NEVER WATCHED (not once in 2010): Fox news or commentary shows, most reality shows, "American Idol," "Mad Men," and "Dexter."
BEST BOOKS (from the ones that I read, some of which were written in earlier years): "The GI Bill, A New Deal for Veterans," "Thirty-Eight Witnesses," "All the Devils Are Here, the Hidden History of the Financial Crisis," and "Jacob Riis, Reporter and Reformer." The winner is, but I'm very biased on this category, the sixth edition of the Wyoming Almanac. For digital books: "The Wolves and Short Stories" and "Sage Street."
BEST MOVIE (from movies I watched, some of which were made in earlier years): Not as many good ones as last year that I found, mainly through Netflix. "Avatar" and "Blind Side," which were two from last year that I finally watched. Also, "Daybreakers," and "2:37." For an indie film, the winner is "Entre Nos," a 2009 movie about Colombian immigrants in New York city. Paola Mendoza was the main actress as well as director in a story based upon her mother's experience in struggling to provide for her children. For a major film, it has to be "Avatar," which was excellent and really set a new standard in special effects. (Favorite movies continue to be "Dear Frankie," "Idiocracy," "Bella," "Sin Nombre," "Angel-A," "Children of Heaven," "Evil," "Unleashed," and "Across the Universe," and the segment leading up to the sheep driving the truck off the cliff in "Black Sheep.")
And drum-roll...
HONOREE (PERSON OR ORGANIZATION) OF THE YEAR--Last year, the Sage Street "Honoree of the Year" was singer Pete Seeger. Time magazine named Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, as its 2010 "Person of the Year." Sorry, Zuckerberg didn't even make the list for the Sages. This year, the nominees were:
Elizabeth Edwards, who lived with grace, optimism, and resilience and who died of cancer before the year ended. She also was probably the truest voice among the many leaders in politics and society for progressive action.Jon Stewart, who kept the humor and insight going on his TV show. He continues to be a political power through his sharp perspectives.
Rachel Maddow, who provides meticulous depth on issues on her MSNBC TV news show while she also is smart, likable, has a sense of humor, and can easily smile, which is rather rare and unaccomplishable for most TV talking heads, especially the mean, angry ones on the right.
Paul Krugman, the Nobel Prize winner who writes about economics and politics for the New York Times, who always had insightful views about the economy and recommended an approach more like one from FDR.
The people within the organizations of Amnesty International and the ACLU for continuing the important missions of those organizations.
The winner is the WikiLeaks organization of people who have determined its mission of dedication, as a website, to worldwide governmental and business transparency. It is hoped that Julian Assange, the founder of the site, is correct in defining the criminal accusations against him as false and as a smear campaign. However, the site itself should not be judged by the personal conduct or behavior of one person. The information on the WikiLeaks is probably the most important addition to American journalism since the passage of the Freedom of Information Act.
(To see the first Sage award nominees and recipients, go to the Politics category for 12/29/09.)
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