More Forgetful Things of 2004

Here, again selectively stolen from Arianna Huffington, are additional things about 2004 that I wish I could forget:

That President Bush didn't listen to Richard Clarke. All the precious media oxygen consumed by coverage of the Kobe Bryant, Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson, and Robert Blake scandals. That at a time when America has over 35 million people living in poverty, the issue Christians are most up in arms about is gay people trying to make their lifetime commitment legal. Heaven forbid. Martha Stewart, federal inmate No. 55170-054. That we still don't know who outed Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame. And that the only ones facing jail time in this sleazy affair are reporters. That Bush has underfunded his cherished No Child Left Behind Act to the tune of some $9 billion for the coming year. That the assault weapons ban was allowed to expire, making it a whole lot easier for bloodthirsty lunatics everywhere to carry out their murderous missions. Mother Nature vs. the people of Florida. That half of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq might still be alive if our troops had been given properly armored vehicles. Rathergate. That Disney, which owns radio stations that provide a daily platform to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly, refused to distribute "Fahrenheit 9/11" because, according to CEO Michael Eisner, the company "didn't want to be in the middle of a politically oriented film during an election year." That thing on President Bush's back during the first debate. That DoD's Don Rumsfeld still has his job while NPR's Bob Edwards doesn't.