We’ve arrived at the last day of this eventful and historical year.  In hindsight, we realize we’ve witnessed much history and have seen things we never dreamed possible.  The country’s largest companies have found themselves struggling just to keep their doors open, political leaders in new scandals from everything from marital affairs to placing price tags on political vacancies and the unbelievable audacity of one businessman’s belief he could get away with the theft of fifty billion dollars.  Below you’ll find a few more newsworthy events from the last half of 2008. The first half can be found here and here.

July 15 - A woman calls 911 to report her granddaughter has been missing for thirty one days. Caylee Anthony, who was two years old when she disappeared, has since been found murdered less than one half mile from her home.  Her own mother, Casey Anthony, was indicted on October 14 for the murder.  Her trial is set to begin in early 2009.

July 23 - Hurricane Dolly makes landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on the U.S.-Mexico border.

August 29 - Republican presidential candidate John McCain announces his running mate.  AK Governor Sarah Palin comes in with a bang and shakes up the entire election.  She’s well-received and

Anne Pressly

quickly gains a solid following from those not only from her home state, but from the country as a whole.

September 13 -  This is the day most analysts agree was day the chains come unhinged as Lehman Brothers announced it was near bankruptcy, AIG announced it was in hot water because of its underwriting practices and the mortgage crisis finally comes into full light and Americans realized just how bad things were on the economic front.

October 2008 - OJ Simpson is finally found guilty of one of his crimes.  A jury determined he was guilty of several felonies committed during a Las Vegas hotel room break-in.  He’s accused of stealing, at gunpoint, sports memorabilia and other momentos.  He’s facing thirty-three years in prison as a result of this guilty verdict.

October 20 - Anne Pressly, an admired Arkansas news anchor, was found murdered in her home.  A suspect has since been arrested and is awaiting trial.

October 24 - Jennifer Hudson’s family, including her mother and brother, are found murdered in their Chicago home.  A few days later, her nephew is found murdered in an abandoned vehicle.  An ex-husband of her sister is now charged with these murders. 

October 2008 - New legal provisions are passed that require insurance companies to provide the same coverage for mental health as they do physical health.  For twelve years, advocates have worked to ensure this law is passed.

November 4 - National history is made as Barack Obama becomes the first black president ever elected and will be the first U.S. president to enter office during wartime. 

Jennifer Hudson

November 2008 - The pregnant man (who is biologically a woman) announces a second pregnancy.  Thomas Beatie, a transgender who has undergone testosterone therapy but still has the reproductive organs of a woman, gave birth for the first time in March of this year.

December 9 - IL Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested for attempting to sell the vacancy left by President-elect Barack Obama in the Illinois Senate.  He’s also been accused of a number of other illegal and unethical activities.  Attempts are now being made to have him impeached from office.

As we head into a new year, we do so in a recession but also with hopes of effective solutions to these problems and with sincere attempts to leave the “one step forward and two steps back” way of doing things behind.

As some of us are anticipating Governor Sarah Palin’s address tonight, it was revealed her seventeen-year-old daughter is five months pregnant and is planning to marry her boyfriend.  I’m still trying to understand why that seems to be the first bullet point when the media is highlighting the sum of her.  There’s so much more to this “dark horse” who came out of nowhere to potentially become the first   Republican vice president who also happens to be a woman.  I am really fascinated by what I’ve managed to find that was hidden under her daughter’s pregnancy status.  She was once a television journalist and beauty queen.  She’s tough as nails in her convictions and just the fact that we are so unfamiliar with her speaks volumes to me.  We seldom hear of any politicians who are getting things done without insisting the media document each step towards ensuring campaign promises are being kept.  Did I mention she’s a new mother?

It’s not uncommon for teenage girls to find themselves pregnant.  It’s certainly not ideal, but it’s not indicative of how this girl was raised. A parent’s success or failure is not based on a teenage pregnancy.  What’s interesting to me is Barack Obama’s response when asked about Governor Palin’s daughter.  He said that a candidate’s family is off limits - and their children are especially off limits.  In a campaign that’s caused more rolled eyes and sarcastic remarks by me to the TV or the dogs or anyone who happens to be within earshot, I’ve finally found something that had me saying, “Ah, it’s about time.”

There’s also someone else who this will affect on a very personal and intimate level.  That person is Bristol Palin’s future mother in law.  Levi Johnston surely has a mother who is trying to come to terms with her son’s sudden image all over the national news.  It was only days ago that not only had we never heard of Bristol Palin, but because of John McCain’s choice of a running mate, we’ve now been introduced to an 18 year old kid whose girlfriend is pregnant and who the media feels the need to announce his impending attendance at the RNC.  It almost seems we know more about Levi than we do Governor Palin.  I’ve yet to find one article on the internet with no mention of her daughter’s pregnancy.  I want to hear about her determination, her views on the war, the economy and I want to know her voting record.  How does she feel about stem cell research?  Taxes?  The budget increases for our military?  How about abortion?  Internet crimes?  The death penalty?  Honestly, I’m indifferent to her daughter’s pregnancy.  It’s just not factored into my decision to vote or not for the McCain/Palin team.

I’m beginning to think John McCain made an excellent choice - even it wasn’t Fred Thompson.  I’m just happy to see she’s human and prone to the same issues the voters of this country are.