Dave Barry's look at 2010: Worst year ever?

Pittsburgh Live ^ | January 2, 2011 | Dave Barry

[Pan_Yan]

Let's put things into perspective: 2010 was not the worst year ever. There have been much worse years. For example, toward the end of the Cretaceous Period, the Earth was struck by an asteroid that wiped out 75 percent of all the species on the planet. Can we honestly say that we had a worse year than those species did? Yes, we can, because they were not exposed to "Jersey Shore."

So, on second thought, we see that this was, in fact, the worst year ever. The perfect symbol for the awfulness of 2010 was the BP oil spill, which oozed up from the depths and spread, totally out of control, like some kind of hideous uncontrollable metaphor. (Or, "Jersey Shore.") The scariest thing about the spill was, nobody in charge seemed to know what to do about it. Time and again, top political leaders personally flew down to the Gulf of Mexico to look at the situation first-hand and hold press availabilities. And yet, somehow, despite these efforts, the oil continued to leak. This forced us to face the disturbing truth that even top policy thinkers with postgraduate degrees from Harvard University could not stop it.

The leak was eventually plugged by non-policy people using machinery of some kind. But, by then, our faith in our leaders had been shaken, especially since they also seemed to have no idea what to do about this pesky recession. Congress tried every remedy it knows, ranging all the way from borrowing money from China and spending it on government programs, to borrowing more money from China and spending it on government programs. But in the end, all of this stimulus created few actual jobs.

[Pan_Yan]

The Greece and Ireland quips are keepers

Agreed, especially when the EU suggests Greece get a part time job.

[Big Giant Head]

Pingy for the Wifey

[WhyisaTexasgirlinPA]

I liked the part about Obammy helping student council elections...then they all lost too.