Stupid Stories of 2009

Here are, in my opinion, the oddest, weirdest, overblown, bizarre stories of the year. Some are funny, some are sad, some are mysterious, but all are worthy of note.

#10 Mark Sanford

Governor Sanford of South Carolina had refused to take the stimulus money. One weekend, he goes missing. Every one wonders where he went. His staff releases a statement that he was hiking the Appalachian Trail. A few days later he winds up in an airport saying he was in Argentina. He had been visiting his mistress. This basically ruined his political career. I was very disappointed in Sanford, since I had considered supporting him for president.

#9 Indianapolis Colts Throw the Game

It was the Colts versus the New York Jets, Colts had 15, Jets had 3. Head coach Brad Childers benched quarterback Paton Manning and all of the best players. The Jets ended up winning that game. Childers felt that his players needed to get rested up. The Colts had a perfect season but the coach felt it was better to lose some game than to not win the Super Bowl. As a Jest fan, I was happy they won, but not this way. It was a hollow victory.

#8 Jon and Kate Goslin

Those two had a reality show simply because they had eight kids. They last decade could be defined by it's reality shows. People were fascinated by how a big family lives. Several scandals developed about this family, including infidelity by Jon and the over controlling personality of Kate. You could blame the network, since this was pure exploitation to begin with. It is reminiscent of the old circus with the bearded lady. Jon and Cate were not victims because they agreed to it. The only victims are the kids.

#7 Janet Napolitano's Comment

She wanted to be Attorney General but was offered Secretary of Homeland Security instead. This cabinet department was created after the 911 attacks. It's primary purpose was to protect the country from Islamic terrorism. Napalitano said we need to also focus on returning veterans, pro-life, pro-enforcement of immigration laws, those concerned with China, and those concerned over the US' declining roll in the world as potential terrorists. After this statement we feared that she was turning this agency into a group that hunts down political enemies. While she backtracked her comments, this revealed her worldview.

#6 Tiger Woods

On Thanksgiving night Tiger was injured in a car accident. This incident revealed that Tiger was not the clean-cut guy we thought he was. For the time being, his career seems to be over. It was over-covered by the media. It almost appeared that the media wanted to cover up other stories. During this time President Obama was dragging his feet on the issue of sending more troops to Afghanistan. At the same time, a story broke revealing that scientists may have manipulated data on global warming. It seemed that coverage was to distract the American people.

#5 Michael Jackson

When Michale Jackson died, it was like a humanitarian had passed away. In recent years, Jackson had fallen from grace. Now, suddenly, he was considered a great man. The funeral was advertised to be this big event. At the funeral, there were more reporters than there were attendees. His death was a media driven event.

#4 Climate gate

Just before the climate conference in Copenhagen, there were reports that the Climate Research Institute at East Anglia University had cooked up numbers to make it look like the earth was hotter than it really was. This story was ignored by mainstream media. Right wingers like Rush Limbaugh claimed it proved global warming was a hoax. Does that mean that we should drill in ANWR? Does that mean that we should stop recycling and abandon new technologies? Because the media did not cover it, we did not get to debate those issue and we don't know what this really means.

#3 Miss California

At the Miss USA Pageant, Miss California was asked her thoughts on gay marriage by Perez Hilton, a gay activist. Her answer was that she felt that marriage was between a man and a woman. It was a politically correct answer. Perez wouldn't accept it and black-balled her. Christians everywhere were outraged. Even Sarah Palin got into it. As it turns out, Miss California was not quite as moral as believed. But why are Christians supporting other so-called Christians participating in a beauty pageant anyways? This was a non-story.

#2 Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin had been seen as an up-and-comer in the Republican party. She appealed to social conservatives. She made several blunders this year. She took a statement by David Letterman way out of context. She made a mountain out of a molehill. In July she resigned for no apparent reason. She has written a book which is riddled with historical inaccuracies. Even with all of this, she could still end up being the GOP nominee in 2012.

#1 Captain Sullenburger

A plain is hit by a bird and almost crashes into the Hudson. The Captain was able to land the plane safely into the Hudson River. It was called the miracle on the Hudson. He was on the cover of every magazine and was often mentioned. Every time there was an incident involving a plane, Sullenburger came up. There was moment by moment coverage of his return to the air. The media tried to milk this for all it was worth.