Remember when HRH Queen Elizabeth II had her annus horribilis? Well, I do, and I wish that I had the honor of presiding over a dinner at Guildhall and making everyone listen to just how horribilis this annus was. Since I don't own a tiara (although I should), I'll just blog about it.
2014 was the year in which a well-financed group of terrorist thugs made sport of beheading journalists and aid workers.
It was the year in which a very nasty scab was ripped off of the wound of endemic racism in the United States and unarmed black males, including a twelve year old boy, were shot and killed by police; black and interracial Americans responded with protests and white Americans responded with everything from sympathy to patronage to confusion (I mean, I voted for Obama. And Deval Patrick. Aren't we post-racial?) to ignorance and undiluted racism. Meanwhile, protests, which were meant to be peaceful and didn't stay that way were met, in many situations, with overly armed and under-trained police officers. The protestors who came out to provoke and to riot managed to give reason to people who think that police forces are under-armed, as we watched violent people spit at, kick, throw bottles at, and otherwise provoke the police officers who were there defending the First Amendment Rights of the protestors.
Then, of course, because of the virtual non-existence of common sense gun laws in this country, we watched as a convicted felon with a documented history of mental illness was able to access a gun and use it to shoot his girlfriend and then take that same gun to New York City to assassinate two police officers. Two good police officers, one of whom wanted to be a chaplain and the other who was an immigrant and a newlywed in search of the American dream.
Sadly, journalists covering wars in faraway places, black Americans, and police officers weren't the only ones who made me hang my head in despair this year. As soon as the issue of sexual assault on college campuses was raised as a national issue and one which must be dealt with as a criminal offense rather than a youthful indiscretion of liquored up frat boys and football players, the pundits continued to blame and shame victims everywhere. Rolling Stone did a great service to sexual assault deniers everywhere by not using the basics of journalistic fact checking in their story about rape at the University of Virginia. Florida State University, alma mater of Aaron Hernandez, became the most egregious example of criminal cover up, rewarding its head coach with another lucrative contract, much of it violent crimes against women.
College campuses weren't the only place where women were serially victimized, as a hotel security camera in an elevator showed the brutal reality of what it's like to be the partner of a professional football player. And another case showed us what it's like to be the four year old child of another NFL pro.
Of course, there were the usual, run-of-the-mill things, like school shootings, a crazy Russian dictator, an even crazier North Korean dictator, more white GOP congressmen debating *legitimate rape*, Ebola in West Africa, the Ebola insanity in the US, and far too many other things for me to note here. NPR warns me about this.
But, hey! The Dow is up, gas prices and unemployment are down, and, despite climate change, the sun still sees fit to rise everyday.
Here's to a better 2015. One with less accusation, less hate, less vitriol, less division, more understanding, more tolerance, more kindness, more peace. Cheers.
