06-18-2020, 07:28 AM
I can guarantee that 2020 is the worst year of my life. On top of everything else, I lost my Mom in January from a long cumulative illness. So yup, definitely the worst year ever.
Regarding the topic, I think I am going to stick with 2008. This crisis is a Culture War/Cold Civil War. 2008 was not only the Economic meltdown, it was also the election of Obama. The Obama election made team Blue ecstatic. But it was an existential threat to team Red, who not only saw it as a policy threat, but the harbinger of their demographic fall from power. They've been fighting back tooth and nail ever since.
Much about the years 2008- 2016 seem relatively mild, but there were two extremely reactive elections during that time ('10 & '14) with the "Tea Party" swamping the sleeping Team Blue who only barely woke up for Obama's re-election in '12. It true that for most of that time our individual lives were pretty much business as usual, so maybe those years can be called "Phony 3rd".
Regarding the topic, I think I am going to stick with 2008. This crisis is a Culture War/Cold Civil War. 2008 was not only the Economic meltdown, it was also the election of Obama. The Obama election made team Blue ecstatic. But it was an existential threat to team Red, who not only saw it as a policy threat, but the harbinger of their demographic fall from power. They've been fighting back tooth and nail ever since.
Much about the years 2008- 2016 seem relatively mild, but there were two extremely reactive elections during that time ('10 & '14) with the "Tea Party" swamping the sleeping Team Blue who only barely woke up for Obama's re-election in '12. It true that for most of that time our individual lives were pretty much business as usual, so maybe those years can be called "Phony 3rd".