oh

and, um, happy new year.

in commemoration of the event, take a look at this article by Alexander Cockburn on political events of the past year, from the death of Gerald Ford (whom Cockburn considers the best American president of the twentieth century) , to troop escalations in Iraq, the (attempted) character assassination of Jimmy Carter, the indictment of Michael Vick, and, of course, the recent surge in popularity of Republican presidential nominee Mike Huckabee.