From the election year antics of the GOP, to the Supreme Court's health care decision, to the fiscal cliff and more, 2012 has been anything but a dull year.
Below you can find a few lists of the bests and worsts of 2012, including Team Randi's choices for the topics that made the most news in 2012.
Have a Happy New Year, and may 2013 be even better than 2012.
The Randi Rhodes Show Top Topics of 2012
In no particular order, here are the topics we covered the most in 2012.
Gun Violence In America One of the topics in 2012 we'd rather not had to cover so often was gun violence. Fourteen major shooting deaths made national news in 2012, including the shootings in Colorado and Connecticut. We hope this topic falls off our 2013 end of year list. For now, check out the Five Components of Gun Violence for some of the places we need to start, to solve this troubling topic.
Campaign 2012 The campaign at all levels, from Presidential to Congressional - even a few local races - held a huge amount of our attention this year. One of our most popular articles (in cooperation with Washington Monthly) included the wallet card used this year by many Obama campaigners, 'President Obama's Top 50 Accomplishments.'
- The GOP Civil War From the ugly Republican presidential primaries to the Republican's nearly complete paralysis in Congress, what has been obvious for several years to honest political observers finally became obvious to everyone else in 2012.
Healthcare While 2012 began with extremist Republicans hoping the Supreme Court would strike down the ACA (also known as Obamacare), the Supreme Court looked at all four major aspects of the law, and decided to mostly leave Obamacare alone. Team Randi also broke down what benefits already came about because of Obamacare, and what will still happen between 2012 and 2014.- The GOP's War on Women From transvaginal probes and "legitimate rape", to Rush Limbaugh's attacks on Sandra Fluke, to the attacks on Planned Parenthood, it was obvious that in 2012, the right-wing was all wrong in attacking half of all Americans.
- The War On Workers In the war on working Americans, 2012 was an ugly year in many ways, especially with the attacks of Republican politicans on workers in the Great Lakes region. Still, activists and unions fought back this year, and the actions of anti-worker Republicans may have reawakened the union movement in America.
LGBT Rights From Chick-Fil-A to the end of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell', 2012 marked a watershed year for LGBT rights, and for the way many Americans viewed LGBT issues.- Climate & Environment A topic that that politicians on all sides attempted to ignore, was the topic Mother Nature refused to allow to be ignored. From Superstorm Sandy, to massive wildfires and continued drought, one of the most important - and most under-reported topics - of 2012 continued to be global climate change.
- The Middle East From the ongoing civil war in Syria, to the ongoing change of government in Egypt, to the events in Benghazi, to the UN recognition of Palestine, to Iran and Israel, the Middle East continued to be a source of neverending news, both good and bad, in 2012.
In Memorium: The Famous & Infamous That Died in 2012
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While it's agreed across the board - and factually provable - that the 112th Congress has been the most unproductive Congress since the 1940s, other media organizations also compiled their own lists of the best and worst of 2012, which Team Randi has compiled for you below.
- Ezra Klein's Wonkblog - 2012: The Year in Graphs
- John Nichols: The Nation's Progressive Honor Roll of 2012
- The Washington Post's Top 10 political quotes of 2012
- Mitt Romney's '47 Percent' Comment Chosen As Yale Book Of Quotations' Quote Of The Year
- ThinkProgress' Craziest Republican Legislative Proposals Of 2012
- FAIR's P.U.-litzer Prizes for 2012
- The New Yorker: The Hundred Best Lists of All Time





















































