Best and Worst of 2012

No question that 2012 was a rough year for us conservatives.  Despite the worst recovery in the post war era and despite running moderate candidates for president and for our local congressional seat, we lost both races, enabling progressives to strengthen their claim that resources should be taken from the private sector and turned over to the public sector.  Our country remains as divided as it has ever been since the Civil War.

Still, there were some glimmers of hope and things to be pleased about in 2012--in the arts, music and sports.  So here is my annual Best and Worst of for 2012.

Best News of the Year:  The Housing Recovery.  After several years of precipitous decline, foreclosures, and several false starts, the housing market finally showed signed of sustained life.  Housing prices increased in almost all geographic areas, bringing at least some optimism to a segment of the economy that had taken such a tremendous beating.

Worst News of the Year:  Well, there was a long list to choose from.  But I chose the two Sandys:  Hurricane Sandy and Sandy Hook.  The first was a natural disaster, the second, a man made one, and one so horrific, I couldn't get my head around it. Curiously, progressives chose to respond to the Sandy Hook tragedy with an attack on the 2nd Amendment, notwithstanding the questionable effectiveness of gun control measures.  A more logical national conversation would have focused on the deplorable state of our treatment of our citizens with mental health issues and the fact that people with problems end up on the street or in prison.  That is a conversation worth having.

Best Nonfiction Book of the Year:  Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo.  The writing in this book was so good, I thought I was reading  a novel.   In America, we forget what real poverty is and this book about a family in a Mumbai slum reminds us that by world standards, our poor are not so bad off.

Best Fiction Book of the Year:  Coral Glynn by Peter Cameron.  This novel about a woman hired to care for a gentleman's ailing wife who then takes up with him after she passes was reminiscent of some of the best writing of Somerset Maugham.  Cameron connects superbly with the human emotions of loneliness, isolation, and realities of diminished expectations.

Best Film of the Year:  Lincoln.  Daniel-Day Lewis, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sally Field all turn in masterful performances in Spielberg's retelling of the story of emancipation.

Worst Film of the Year to receive critical acclaim:  Beasts of the Southern Wild.  I actually left this one early.  There is only so much viewing of a cute little kid being verbally abused that one can take.

Best Album:  Babel by Mumford & Sons.  Close your eyes and you and imagine yourself in an English Pub, listening to a modern day version of The Marshall Tucker Band.  I Will Wait is just a fantastic number.  I can't wait... to see them on tour.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGKfrgqWcv0

Biggest Loss:  Isaiah Sheffer, founder of Symphony Space.  I have listened to Selected Shorts for over two decades, on radio and podcasts, where actors read short stories live on stage.  I particularly loved Isaiah Sheffer's readings and will miss his sonorous voice, his wit and his devotion to the arts. Attending a live reading of his was on my bucket list and sadly, I will not have that opportunity.  His work definitely enriched my life.

Worst of America:  There were a number of strong contenders in this category from the Penn State scandal to the Benghazi Scandal.  But my vote goes to Sandra Fluke, who burst onto the scene at the DNC, demanding that the taxpayer underwrite her sex life,  evidently forgetting that the type of sexual activity that puts a woman at risk requires two people and that her significant other also has financial responsibility for all this.

Best of America: Is a young man who you do not know, but who I ran into yesterday.  I got to know him when he was a high school freshman.  He is a graduate of Boys Hope Girls Hope (www.boyshopegirlshope.org) in Chicago, a not-for-profit that provides support (including residence) for at risk kids.  This young man had an absentee father and a drug addicted mother.  He was an athlete in high school and was admitted to a Big 10 school.  Despite the hand he was dealt, he had the most positive attitude I've ever seen, always friendly, always sporting an infectious smile.  He told me he's graduating this spring and already has a job lined up with a major insurance company.  With all the craziness, anxiety, and strife in the world, when you see a kid like that up close, it gives you hope.

Have a great 2013!