Looking Back on 2010

Looking Back on 2010

How well do you remember the events that shook up–and let down–America in 2010?

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How well do you remember the events that shook up–and let down–America in 2010?

1.

2010’s highest-rated TV program was:

A.

The Apprentice Gets a Shot at Love: in which the members of a talk show’s production staff vie to be selected as the host’s mistress.

B.

American Death Panel: in which judges Simon Cowell, Michelle Bachmann, and Dr. Conrad Murray audition ailing contestants competing for the right to extend their treatment.

C.

The Balloonies: a television show in which families who have been on television compete to come up with stunts that will get covered on television in hopes of getting them back on television.

2.

The highest-grossing touring attraction of 2010 was:

A.

Paint the Ice Rouge: The Sarah Palin Skating Experience.

B.

Tango Appalachia: The Tony-winning musical about a lonesome governor and his romance with a woman hot from Buenos Aires.

C.

The Budweiser Rockin’ Beer Summit Concert Series, featuring Weezer, Daughtry, Pat Buchanan and Cornel West.

3.

The year’s most-talked about news from the Supreme Court was:

A.

The landmark free speech decision that allows Kanye West to shout loudly in a crowded theater.

B.

When the Commerce Clause ruled to uphold the right of the Google to do, quote, “whatever.”

C.

Sonia Sotomayor’s resignation. An anonymous source quoted her as saying, “If I’d wanted to sit in a room with conservative white men all day, I’d just go back to Princeton. Or Yale.”

4.

The year’s top-selling National Enquirer cover was headlined:

A.

Miley: Billy Ray Made Me Sell My Soul to Disney (Exclusive Contract Photos Inside!)

B.

Ashton: Demi Left Me For Patrick’s Ghost!

C.

Finally, an American: Brad and Angelina to Adopt Jen!

5.

The most disappointing celebrity memoir was:

A.

Wait, I’m Supposed to Be More Famous By Now, by Carrie Prejean

B.

Second Wind: Making the Most Out of Retirement, by Brett Favre

C.

“You Lie!”, And Other Great Stuff I’m Known For, by Joe Wilson

6.

The year’s most embarrassing scandal was:

A.

Captain Chesley Sullenberger tweets photos of himself rescuing a baby panda from drowning, later admits they were Photoshopped.

B.

Wired editor Chris Andersen, author of Free: The Future of a Radical Price, caught at Borders removing “Sale” sticker from his own books.

C.

Birther investigation reveals Lou Dobbs is adopted, originally born in Guatemala.

7.

The top sports story of 2010:

A.

Soccer roughneck Elizabeth Lambert leaves University of New Mexico, becomes headliner in the WWE.

B.

Hoping to capture some of the Kate Hudson magic, the Mets sign Tara Reid to a three-year deal to serve as the team’s utility good luck charm.

C.

Tiger Woods returns to golf and wins The Masters, but grows surly when faced with reporters’ questions about “playing all seventy-two holes” and “maintaining his stroke on the back nine.”

8.

The summer movie box office champion was

A.

Prime Crime, the horror/thriller about a once popular late night talk show host who gets shunted into prime time and wreaks his vengeance by killing the entire network.

B.

Twitterformers, Michael Bay’s 144-character masterpiece that lasted three hours and took $225 million to make.

C.

The Gate Crashers, the comedy about a ditsy blonde and her bumbling escort who crash a state dinner but end up joining the cabinet after brokering a deal to get the president’s healthcare reform bill passed.

9.

The most popular iPhone app was:

A.

Humidity Report, which tells you the dew point, barometric pressure, and when Glenn Beck is about to cry.

B.

Goldslice, which tells you how much of any transaction would end up as part of a Goldman Sachs’ banker’s bonus.

C.

Google Hookup, the new service that tracks who has ever slept with whom.

10.

The public’s favorite new Federal initiative is:

A.

Cash for Freeloaders, in which no-longer productive family members can be traded-in for hard-working, appreciative, apparently legal immigrants

B.

The deficit-conscious second phases of the Stimulus/Healthcare Reform Programs, in which every American received a tube of lip balm and three free iTune downloads

C.

Sin-o-mite! Bilingual translation of street signs, government forms and financial documents into Chinese eased America’s return to colonial status.

We cannot back down

We now confront a second Trump presidency.

There’s not a moment to lose. We must harness our fears, our grief, and yes, our anger, to resist the dangerous policies Donald Trump will unleash on our country. We rededicate ourselves to our role as journalists and writers of principle and conscience.

Today, we also steel ourselves for the fight ahead. It will demand a fearless spirit, an informed mind, wise analysis, and humane resistance. We face the enactment of Project 2025, a far-right supreme court, political authoritarianism, increasing inequality and record homelessness, a looming climate crisis, and conflicts abroad. The Nation will expose and propose, nurture investigative reporting, and stand together as a community to keep hope and possibility alive. The Nation’s work will continue—as it has in good and not-so-good times—to develop alternative ideas and visions, to deepen our mission of truth-telling and deep reporting, and to further solidarity in a nation divided.

Armed with a remarkable 160 years of bold, independent journalism, our mandate today remains the same as when abolitionists first founded The Nation—to uphold the principles of democracy and freedom, serve as a beacon through the darkest days of resistance, and to envision and struggle for a brighter future.

The day is dark, the forces arrayed are tenacious, but as the late Nation editorial board member Toni Morrison wrote “No! This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”

I urge you to stand with The Nation and donate today.

Onwards,

Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editorial Director and Publisher, The Nation

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