The Best and Worst of 2010

As we approach the end of the year, we take the time to reflect on what was, what wasn't and what could have been.  So here goes!

What was good:

• Vancouver 2010 - the folks in Vancouver put on a great show to the world and they should be proud of what they accomplished.
• First gold on home turf!  Where were you when Alexandre Bilodeau won gold on the moguls?  Didn't happen in Montreal in 1976 and Calgary in 1988!
• Sidney Crosby and the OT goal heard around the world!
• Who Dat?  The Saints win the Super Bowl!
• BCS Buster!  TCU goes to Pasadena, but will they be smelling like Roses on New Year's Day?
• Mayor Bob Bratina - not the best possible outcome in the 14 candidate mayoral race, but in a race that became one between Eisenberger and DiIanni, he was probably the right choice.

What was bad:

• The Stadium Debate - it pitted neighbour against neighbour, urban renewal against urban sprawl, and lower city again upper city.  It also had ex-Mayor Fred Eisenberger punished for deciding to gamble and losing for it.  And even worse, Chad Collins got away with removing Confederation Park from the short list, the only thing that could have brought Eisenberger's mayoralty back from the dead.  Get ready for a long four years, Chad.
• Raise the Hammer - They say that the road to hell was paved with good intentions.  Ryan McGreal's website is the epitome of these noble intentions gone wrong.  Dissenting comments are suppressed, not because of the tone of the argument, but the direction the argument goes.  Sorry, but if you want a proper debate, you need proper facts even if they go against your ideology.  Urban renewal is something people should buy into, but at the same time, a stadium is not a catalyst for such renewal.  You can't make the downtown core a great place to live until you can make it a great place to work.  With insane office vacancy levels in the downtown core, combined with the continuing neglect of buildings, and a prevailing lack of imagination on the part of city hall, downtown will not be a great place to live unless the city can bring more businesses into the downtown core and be a more active player in its development.  I don't hear them saying anything about that.
• Prorogation - No matter what my brother in law says, the prorogation of parliament by Prime Minister Stephen Harper was an evasive and diversionary tactic to avoid being in contempt of parliament.  Using the Olympics as an excuse, he thought he could get some gains in the polls from it.  No dice.  People still see through him and he will continue to maintain his minority government into the new year, but for how much longer?
• Stacking the senate - While we're discussing Mr. Harper, he has begun using his appointments to the Senate as his latest tools of obstruction.  So any bill that makes its way into Senate, against the Prime Minister's wishes, will be stopped.  Let the outrage begin.
• Tim Hudak - While he's busy complaining about the cost of electricity, a problem that his predecessor's have created and one that the hypocrite would not dare touch, he is also complaining about the HST, a problem created by his federal counterparts.  But he's still getting free passes from the media, something that Dalton McGuinty would never have got if the roles were ever reversed.  If there really is such a thing as a journalist, why aren't there any challenging him on this and if there has been such a challenge, why the lack of reporting on this?
• The rise of corporatism/fascism - Obama was right.  Allowing corporations, who have more responsibilities than individuals, the same rights as individual citizens is a dangerous precedent and allowing their money to muddy the waters of discourse is even more dangerous.  With Pax Americana on the way out, combined with multinational corporations transcending international boundaries and regulations, a return to the age of the robber baron has begun.  Democracy and with it the national discourse are drowning in corporate money.

As for what should have been:

• Confederation Park Stadium - Confederation Park could have been a great site for a stadium.  It has a great position and is one of a few options for GO Transit.
• The Media - Facts have some level of bias, but since when do we need to hear spin from talking heads about current events?  The news media needs to stop putting spin to facts and just start reporting them.
• An End to Tax Cuts for the Rich - I don't mind people making money, but they make it on the backs of others and for that reason should be taking some responsibility for that.  They can afford it and should stop bitching and moaning about it.  How much is it worth to you to have the police ready to serve, the fire department ready to assist and the ambulance to stabilize your condition if you need the help?  Taxes are the charges paid for civilization.  And the governments should not be giving them money either.
• A Democratic House Majority - The Republicans have not been punished enough for their sins, having plunged our countries into a deep recession.  But we know how they took the power and democracy will be further damaged should these authoritarians be allowed to run roughshod over their country.  And speaking of that lost Democratic majority...
• The Death of the Tea Party - a inappropriately named movement, under the guise of  bigotry, stoked by affluent interests and corporate money, their disgustingly overexposed display of ignorance is the embodiment of the religious right's vision of austerity and their apparent need to set mankind back centuries.  The world is moving forward, yet they'd rather go backwards.  Didn't anybody ever tell these neo-conservatives that you can't turn back the clock?

All in all, 2010 was a step back, although it began positively, the so-called recovery stalled and unless something is done, we're on the way back down.  Our economy and national discourse is hopelessly mired in muck and the Conservatives are the last people on Earth that we should count on to resuscitate democracy, let alone the economy, because they are incapable of saving both.