What an incredible decade it has been! Two crazy presidential elections, the first concrete evidence of life on another world, and a world championship pennant finally flies at a certain Chicago National League ballpark. For those of you who have been sleeping for the past 10 years (or who want an enjoyable recap) I present my comprehensive look back at the decade that brought us the near death (and rebirth) of the newspaper, the end of America's longest running prime time comedy, and the prospect of women playing major league baseball. What awesome decade it has been! My recap is in chronology format, with special articles focusing on the big events of the day. Sit back and enjoy! And when you're done, I encourage you to comment on anything I may have missed (which is plenty). So let's have a healthy discussion of the achievements and the failures of the 2010's! And if you like it, please rec up this diary!
2010
The year began on a positive note, with unemployment below 10% for the first time in months. Of course the GOP still bashed Obama senselessly.
2010 crowned a new domestic box office champ. Avatar, with its incredible 3d special effects brought home $748 million at the Box Office (and $1.9 billion overseas). And there was a BIG midterm election.
Focus 2010: A Midterm to Remember
2010 had it all from belligerent tea party protesters to angry progressives (this means you Jane Hamsher!). After President Obama signed the public optionless healthcare bill, all of those on the right (and some on the left) were piping mad. Pundits everywhere announced a Democratic catastrophe, where the GOP would take the House and possibly even the Senate. A funny thing happened to the Grand Old Party on its way back to political domination: life! Unemployment continued to fall, hitting 9% in August and winding up at 8.8% at election time (good news for John McCain?). Then, just 10 days for the election, Mitch McConnell went on a disgusting, off-the-cuff tirade against President Obama that many perceived as racist. This stirred the still-sleeping Democratic electorate and pumped up the president's approval rating (to 57%). In the end, Democratic enthusiasm didn't quite stop the losses, but it prevented the worst fears from occurring. The Dems lost 35 seats in the House, but only three in the Senate (South Dakota, Indiana, Arkansas and Delaware were lost, but Robin Carnahan picked it up with a big Missouri win, and Fisher won in Ohio).
2011
You remember the day. The declared it a victory for losers everywhere. One year to the day after the 2010 debacle, the Chicago Cubs made it to the World Series, playing those dreaded Yankees. Yet this time it was not a replay of 1932 or 1938. Instead, the Cubs won in 6 games, with Carlos Zambrano going all the way on a 2 hit shut out. There was finally joy on the Northside of Chicago.
Focus 2011: The Collapse and Rebirth of the Newspaper
It was a time all of us online news enthusiasts feared most: they took our news away. Well not quite. But in the fall of 2010, Rupert Murdoch began pulling free news from his various online news outlets. Other news outfits (from the Chicago Tribune to the New York Times) began charging for some or all of their online news. Lawsuits were filed against bloggers and others (including some at Daily Kos) who dared publish all (or even significant parts) of articles. But this failed to stem newspapers' decline (because few people could or would pay for the online subscriptions). By 2011, it appeared that newspapers and serious online news would disappear. In the end, a compromise would be reached (at our expense). Under the so-called "Five Dollar Solution", a monthly tax of $5 was added to everyone's internet bill (there were no opt outs). While a few protested, most grudgingly accepted the compromise. News service was restored, and the paper newspaper survived.
Yet the "newspaper" we know today was just getting starting. "Electronic paper", developed in the 00's, and sold mostly through the newspapers themselves (who also charged a subscription price) allowed readers who didn't like reading by cellphone or laptop to hold in their hands a physical booklet of self-updating pages. By the end of the decade, more than 30% of newspaper readers got their news this way. And newspapers became profitable again.
2012
Unemployment continued to fall as the Obama recovery entered its third year. By the summer, it fell under 7% and reached 6.7% by election day 2012. Meanwhile, the Simpsons finally ended after 23 seasons (the final episode drew 42 million viewers).
Focus 2012: The Big Scare
The "tea party" movement died due to its biggest victory. In snow drenched Iowa, Sarah Palin won an enormous victory, gaining 48% of caucus goers in the crowded seven person field. The next day a poll showed Palin losing to President Obama 53-31. The GOP had to act. After convincing a few leading conservatives to oppose her as unelectable, Michael Steele and co. (Yes, he was still party chairman) began a vicious onslaught of attacks. In the end, Sarah Palin's dream of world domination died in Granite state, where she lost the New Hampshire primary by less than 200 votes to.......John Thune. That's right, John Thune. Thune came out of nowhere to be the leading challenger and eventual GOP nominee. He was conservative enough to appeal to the right, but unknown enough to appear inoffensive to the middle. While those on the right wanted a hard-righter (Palin or Bobby Jindal) others preferred Joe Lieberman (who did not run for reelection and had toyed with the idea of running for the GOP presidential nomination). In the end, the GOP chose the path of least resistance, selecting Indiana governor Lee Daniels. The election lacked the drama of 2008. With an improving economy, Obama won by 10 points, 54% to 44%. Electorally, there was little state win changes. Thune took Indiana due to Daniels and also nabbed North Carolina, while Obama gained Missouri and Arizona.
In Congress, the Democrats gained 15 house seats but lost one senate seat (Tester in Montana).
2013
The economy continued to improve,with unemployment falling to 5.5% by the end of the year. Obama's approval topped 60%,but healthcare reform (remember that) was in trouble. Few uninsured people were signing up for health insurance, and insurers had continued to increase premiums. Unfortunately, nothing much happened in 2013 to change that. Congress began the process, but it was not until 2014 that a bill reached the president's desk.
Focus 2013: Technology USA
I picked 2013 to discuss some of the awesome technological developments of the 2010's. 2013 is a good year because in that year, a majority of American cell phone users were on a high speed network (4G/5G or Wimax). Most new cell phones were built with dual video cameras (one facing the caller), and the advent of video conferencing was at hand for most Americans. Meanwhile, almost half of all American households contained set-top internet box hard drives, which allowed people to download movies and watch youtube or Hulu videos on their televisions. Speaking of televisions, 3D tv sets, first introduced in 2011, began to plummet in price, allowing more people to view "tv as it aught to be". Still, few broadcasters put more than first run movies and top sporting events in 3D. Meanwhile, Ultra HDTV, which offered as much as 8 times the resolution of 1080P, was planning its launch (which didn't happen until 2017). And, in a sign of the times, Blockbuster closed all but a dozen of its stores (mostly in senior communities), a victim of the Red Box phenomenon and the set-top onslaught.
2014
The new "healthcare reform" legislation consisted of increased subsidies (to allow more Americans to afford coverage) and a few new regulations. The biggest change was that the insurance companies finally lost their anti-trust exempt status. The Obama boom rolled on, as unemployment dipped under 5% for the first time in a long time.
The Democrats lost 7 house seats, and one senate seat (Mark Begich in Alaska went down).
Focus 2014: A Clear Sign of Life(?)
Possibly the most momentous event of 2014 (maybe the entire decade) was the evidence (though not quite proof) that we are not alone in the universe.
In August, NASA scientist discovered a planet (five times larger than earth) that appeared to have both water and oxygen. But what they saw next truly astounded them. They observed what looked like a moon orbiting this planet. Yet the "moon", inexplicably appeared to leave its orbit around its planet and "fly away", apparently to another nearby planet. It returned three days later. This stunning observation led scientists to announce that a "space ship" might be orbiting an earth-like planet just 27 light years away. While some in the public remained skeptical (and others were just plain terrified) most people (including President Obama) believed humans had made an historic discovery.
2015
A recession clouded the country in 2015. But before Republicans could gain much traction, it receded. Unemployment went from a December 2014 low of 4.7% to a high of 6.5% one year later, before the recovery began.
Focus 2015: The Year of the Citizen Journalist
Time Magazine declared 2015 the year of the "citizen journalist" due to a major technological innovation: most cell phones now had DVD (or even HD) quality video cameras on their phones. Whenever news events (big or small) happened, there were citizen reporters ready to cover them (or at least provide the video minutes or hours before the "mainstream media" could do so). This lead to a few controversies. The biggest was when seventeen year old political blogger Barbara Wie (of "Wie's World" website fame) was able to hide her cell phone in the White House and film the first 15 minutes of a cabinet meeting. That live broadcast was quickly posted on youreport.com (a popular web reporting site) and garnered 15 million viewers before Joe Biden discovered the phone and shut it off. Wie was promptly arrested, but escaped prosecution because she (1) had legally visited the White House that day (at the Blogger Summit) and (2) offered a full-throated apology. It was not the first and would not be the last such moment.
2016
The recession that gave Republicans such hope in 2015 disappeared by 2016, as unemployment fell back to 5.7% by election day. And what an election day!
Focus 2016: Stephanie Who?
The 2016 election appeared to be a great opportunity for Democrats to retain the White House and move the country in a decisively progressive direction. But who to pick for the Democratic nomination? Hillary wasn't running, but Democratic voters had a wide variety of candidates, including former DLC head Senator Harold Ford (D-NY) (who succeeded Schumer as Empire State senator) and progressive hero Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI). Few noticed Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, the locally popular (but nationally unknown) South Dakota governor. Sandlin was unliked by many progressives (due to her votes on a number of issues while she was in Congress).
But she set out early on to run a populist campaign. She got some big endorsements (including popular former Montana governor Barry Schweitzer) and a well known country singer recorded "Sandlin from the Heartland". Sandlin won easily in Iowa, but narrowly lost in New Hampshire to Feingold. Following a surprise endorsement from popular first term Illinois governor Lisa Madigan (who had retaken the state for the Democrats in 2014), Sandlin pulled a stunning victory in Illinois. But the race was actually decided in the state of New York. There, with a split between Ford backers and Feingold supporters, Sandlin was able to claim a narrow victory. Meanwhile, after cleaning in the Western caucus states (as Barack Obama had done in 2008), she entered the 2016 Miami Democratic Convention with a slight delegate lead. Many progressives were furious with a candidate who, as a congresswoman, had voted against healthcare reform. In order to unite the party, Feingold begrudgingly agreed to serve as Sandlin's running mate and the race was on!
The Republicans had chosen their own controversial selection. Marco Rubio, the talented (but extreme right-wing) Florida Senator, was a hero to tea party folks everywhere. Many on the right felt that the 2012 Thune/Daniels combination had not been conservative enough. Rubio dominated a weak primary field and ran up solid majorities in low turnout. To compromise with slightly more moderate GOP voters, Rubio selected Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson, who had remained in the Senate after losing to Rick Perry in the 2010 Texas governor's race.
The election campaign was filled with continuous charges, from Rubio's low-interest rate home loans to Sandlin's controversial business connections. In the end, the solid state of the economy (and Barack Obama's continued popularity) made the difference. While Rubio attracted the support of many on the far right, many in the middle were frightened of his positions. And despite, GOP claims, most Latino voters went for Sandlin, while a surprising number of southern whites voted Democratic for the first time in decades, whether lured by Sandlin's populist appeal or unwilling to vote for Rubio due to their own racism. In the end, it was a trouncing: Rubio won Florida, Texas, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia, as well as three solidly Republican western states (Idaho, Utah and Wyoming). Everything else went to Sandlin. As part of the landslide, Democrats had a field day, gaining 19 house seats and Senate seats in Nevada, Arkansas, Connecticut (with governor Ned Lamont easily winning), as well as Arizona (John McCain had retired) and Florida (Governor Alex Sink won in the seat vacated by Rubio). The Democrats now had 61 Senate seats and a solid House majority.
2017
It was the end of an era. Barack Obama stepped down on January 20th, and was replaced by a president who many progressives felt alienated from (though she was infinitely better than Rubio). In the end, President Sandlin's first year was relatively easy. The strong economy continued, and she had only one test of her "progressivism": healthcare.
She had voted against the original 2010 healthcare reform bill, but had left Congress by the time that 2014 legislation was passed. Now, problems with healthcare reform continued. Subsidies had helped coverage rates (approaching 95%), but prices had not come down. So Senate Majority Leader Durbin and House Speaker Pelosi backed the so-called "AARP Solution" ("all you have to be is over 50"), allowing anyone over 50 to buy into Medicare. The bill also expanded Medicaid access to anyone making 200% of the poverty rate. With Republicans weakened, and the public solidly behind the reform (due in no small part to hundreds of sit-ins at insurance company offices that got constant coverage from "citizen journalists" everywhere), the bill easily passed Congress and arrived on President Sandlin's desk. Too the surprise of no one, she came through, signing legislation that moved the United States a bit closer to a single payer option progressives loved (and the rightwing feared.
Another major development occurred in the Supreme Court. Justice Antonin Scalia, after holding out the entire Obama administration, decided he couldn't take it any more. He resigned, and as his replacement President Sandlin appointed... former President Barack H. Obama (now that's change we can all believe in!). Democrats gained a majority of the Court for the first time in decades.
Finally, in Hollywood 75 year old George Lucas announced that there would be three more Star Wars movies. The new CGI technology perfected in Avatar and its sequel allowed Lucas to realize his vision for Episodes 7, 8, and 9 (set after the original Star Wars trilogy). The films are expected to start rolling out to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the original Star Wars (in 2027). Let's hope George hires some better script writers (and actors) this time around.
Focus 2017: Final Thoughts on Barack Obama's Presidency
Barack Obama avoided major scandal and, after his first year, maintained approval ratings rising from the mid-50's to the mid-60's. He accomplished many progressive goals, from remaking the Supreme Court to adding millions of new jobs to significantly improving public education. He was undoubtedly the most progressive domestic policy president since LBJ. Yet his record wasn't perfect. He was willing to compromise, to take half a loaf when necessary, and to move ahead incrementally. While the desired result was usually achieved, it took time. On foreign policy, he adopted a humane foreign policy (an end to torture, civil trials for accused terrorists and closing Guantanamo) but refused to reduce (and in fact increased) the Pentagon's bloated budget. While he didn't do everything progressives wanted him to do, he merited their respect and support. Historians rated him among the top five presidents in a 2019 survey.
2018
President Sandlin remained popular with the public (largely because of the booming economy). In the midterms, however, the Democratic majority fell somewhat, with a loss of two senate and 9 house seats.
Focus 2018: Major League Women
Women in the 2010's continued to make progress in previously male-dominated sports, from Michelle Wie's third palce Master's finish in 2015 to Danica Patrick taking the Daytona 500 in 2014. Yet no women had broken into the big three sports (baseball, football or basketball).
That may soon change. In 2017, the Los Angeles Dodgers signed Chelsea Baker, Jane Watson, and Susan Smith. Jones was a star pitcher, Watson and outfielder and Smith a catcher. Like most minor league prospects, Watson and Smith struggled their first year and were released. Jones, on the other hand starred. With befuddling knuckler, she rode through A and AA ball. In 2019, she dominated in Triple-A, going 18-2 with a 1.97 ERA, and an impressive 287 strikeouts in just 201 innings). She has been invited to Dodger spring training in February. Only 21, she may need another year of seasoning. But most baseball fans are ready to see her play now. An historical moment is approaching.
2019
It had to happen. No presidency is without struggle. On October 17, 2019, the financial markets fell almost 8% as a massive credit crunch hit the country again. Some blamed banking regulations that were still not strong enough. Others said it was just time for another recession. In any event, unemployment mounted rapidly, from 5.9% to 7.0% in just 3 months. The GDP fell by 0.9% in the third quarter, but likely 3-4% in the fourth (first estimates due in a few weeks). The question is how will President Sandlin, considerably more economically conservative than President Obama, respond to this crisis? Will she support the substantial stimulus moving rapidly through Congress? She has been unwilling to make a firm commitment for the last two months, resulting in an angry public and a divided Congress. She is due to give a major speech on the economy next week, at which point we should see how she intends to handle this growing crisis.
Focus 2019: The Youth Rights Movement Comes of Age
It began in the 1990's, with small groups of high school students starting internet-based groups advocating youth civil rights, from lowering the voting age to ending curfews and school zero-tolerance policies. In the 2000's, organizations such as the National Youth Rights Association (NYRA) and others slowly grew in members and funds, all largely below the radar of the mainstream media. That changed big time in the 2010's. NYRA and other organizations, infused with supporters and money, began holding protests and sit-ins on youth rights issues. And the citizen journalists of the era (and eventually their mainstream media counterparts) took notice. The big youth rights issue was lowering the voting age to (at least) 16, in order to empower the millions of teens who worked and paid taxes but had no say on the issues that most effected them. In the 2000's the voting age had been lowered in a few places (Austria in 2006, Ecuador in 2008). In the 2010's that process accelerated. The UK lowered its voting age in 2010, France in 2011 and Germany in 2014. Canada joined the parade in 2017.
No, the voting age was not lowered in the United States, at least not nationally. However, some localities, from Berkeley, California to Chicago, Illinois had lowered it to 16 for local elections. Yet the growing protests began to take America by storm. The turning point for "mainstream media" interest in this movement came one warm Saturday in August, 2016. A crowd of 10,000 marched to the Lincoln Memorial to demand a lower voting age. Two (allegedly) unexpected guests joined the battle. Malia and Sasha Obama appeared at the rally. While they didn't speak on the voting age that day (and would not publicly do so until their father had left office), their appearance and apparent support made the media take notice. Within a month, Time and Newsweek had both featured cover stories covering "the Next Civil Rights Movement". A 60 Minutes feature story was not far behind. The Youth Rights Movement had arrived!
Well, that's it for me. I know I have missed a ton of important stuff. I leave you all to provide the details. In the meantime, welcome to the 2020's! It should be interesting!
Wednesday, Jan 1, 2020 · 6:48:46 PM +00:00
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teenvote
Well- It’s now 10 years later, so I can go through the good, the bad and the crazy.
First- The good- I correctly predicted:
The reelection of Barack Obama
The return of Star Wars
The end of Blockbuster Video
The Cubs Winning the World Series! (Okay wrong year, but the decade was right)
The advent of the “citizen journalist” (everyone has a smartphone with video camera)
The bad-
Failed to predict Donald Trump. But who could have in 2010?
No women playing or almost playing major league baseball. Oh well, discrimination reigns supreme. But that will change.
UK didn’t lower its voting age to 16 (because Labour never won in the decade), nor did Germany or Canada. But Scotland and Wales did! And a majority of House Democrats voted to lower the voting age 16 in the USA. So, this isn’t really bad, just a little early.
The Crazy-
Four words- President Stephanie Herseth Sandlin!
Next I embark on my look back at the 2020’s. It should be interesting!