No matter how many years pass, I can say that there has never been a dull moment in the wonderful world of politics. That is especially true during a presidential election as crazy as this one. Upon it being apparent to the entire nation during a presidential debate that President Biden was not mentally fit to run for a second term, Vice President Kamala Harris stepped in at the eleventh hour to run for office. Rather than showing she could appease the center, she decided to go to the Left of Biden with such policy recommendations as price controls on groceries, a corporate tax hike, Medicare expansion to long-term care, a tax on unrealized capital gains, and payment assistance for first-time homebuyers.
Barring the criminal court cases that Trump was fighting this year, Trump did not fare much better in recommending crazy policy ideas: mass deportation, a credit card interest rate cap, excessive tariffs, a tax exemption on overtime, removing the SALT deduction cap, and subsidizing in-vitro fertilization. Since Trump won the election, how Trump wants to direct public policy matters way more than how Harris would have ran the White House.
Although economy tends to dominate in an election cycle, I found myself covering the culture war a fair bit this year. Social conservatives were on the warpath about online pornography (see here and here). Another disappointment for social conservatives is that same-sex marriage did not harm the fabric of society. If anything, a meta-study from the RAND Corporation shows that allowing for same-sex marriage strengthened the institution of marriage.
It was not only the social conservatives I scrutinized, but also the Woke Left. Abandoning free speech and opining that exercise is fascism was shocking and blog-worthy. Covering a meta-study showing that "systemic racism" does not exist in U.S. criminal sentencing was also a great day because it shows we are getting closer to a more perfect union, in spite of woke people going on about the unfalsifiable concept of "systemic racism." I also had a blast covering Matt Walsh's documentary Am I Racist because his documentary hilariously exposed the pernicious and divisive practice of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, or DEI (see here and here). In that vein, a study from Rutgers University showed how mainstream, modern-day DEI initiatives increase hostility, racial tensions, and Left-leaning authoritarianism.
Another election topic was covered on my blog: transgender activist extremism. It was not only male-to-female transgender individuals competing in women's sports that got people riled up during the election cycle. There were studies about gender affirming "care," whether it was the Cass Review that showed it is nowhere near as safe as proponents purported or a Dutch study showing that most adolescents grow out of gender dysphoria by adulthood without any medical or psychological intervention. This bad news could explain why England rightfully banned puberty blockers for minors. And then there was a two-part series I wrote about why the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) community should divorce from the transgender activists (see here and here). One thing I can say with cautious optimism is that the American people are fed up with woke ideology. While there is still a ways to go in reversing the woke damage done to American culture, I would surmise that we already reached peak wokeness.
Israel has not only been fighting a military battle in Gaza, but a public relations battle across the world. I would have thought that Hamas attacking Israel on October 7, 2023 would have garnered global sympathy for Israel being attacked in such a brutal matter. At least that is what would have happened if it were almost any other country. Instead, October 7 ushered a spike in anti-Semitism we have not witnessed since shortly before World War II. I have written on Israel more times that I would care to, if nothing else to refute the slander slung at Israel. Gaza is not an open-air prison (see here and here). Fatality numbers coming out of Gaza were false and exaggerated. I ended up writing a three-parter about how Palestine needs to stop playing the victim and take responsibility for the mess in the Middle East (see here, here, and here). I illustrated how the pro-Palestine side would like to become the horrific things they falsely accuse Israel of doing. I specifically had to detail the accusations of settler colonizer (see here and here) and genocide (see here and here).
Not all was bad news. I enjoyed covering Argentinean President Javier Milei completing his first year in office. Given the Peronist protectionism, economic repression, and government largesse he had to face, he has had quite the successful first year by reducing inflation and poverty, removing regulations, lowering housing prices, and ending a recession. If Milei is allowed to successfully implement his liberalization of the Argentinean market, Argentina's economy can experience the prowess it once had before Peronism got its claws on the economy and suffocated it with regulations, taxes, and government bureaucracy. The optimism I have with Milei is that he will be successful and that success will inspire other world leaders to choose freedom over coercion and a market-based economy over government largesse. If Milei could have that spillover effect for 2025, I would say that would be a great improvement over 2024. Regardless of what happens, I look forward to see what 2025 has in store for all of us.
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