2004, The Year That Was

[ringmasterrob]

The quote, "A Week is a long time in Politics" has come often on this forum and as Critique itself has been up since February 2004 then we have seen quite a few weeks. As 2004 draws to a close (in just under 45 minutes as I write this) then I wondered what news items had the most profound effect on you this year, what captured your interest, what angered you and what could lie in store for 2005. Obviously speculation is welcome, however unreliable, because it's just a bit of fun.

To start the ball rolling then I must say the developments over the Ukraine election really interested me. For the elections to suddenly turn into a near divide was quite an interesting thing to see and the fact that Yushchenko has finally claimed his rightful victory is even better news. The story provoked me to research in depth, the result of which ended up of course as my Ukraine article. Other news stories to interest me(just to name a couple more) were the departure of two big names, David Blunkett from Labour and Boris Johnson from Conservatives and the tragic news of the still unfolding tsunami sadly takes 2004 out on a concerned, tragic note. That's enough from me, what else does anyone have to say about the year that was?

[HStorm]

For me, the bit that angers me the most (and heavens wasn't there a lot of competition for this title?) has to be the amazing stupidity of the US electorate. In the face of everything that's happened, how can they be so dumb as to give Bush another four years?!

Something that still makes me laugh - and laugh and laugh - well I'm sure most of you can probably guess it's the demise of David Blunkett. It was the moment that rekindled my hopes, however faint they may still be, that we are not yet on an unstoppable slide into totalitarianism.

What's in store for the next year? Well for us in the UK, the biggest issue must be the forthcoming election. Thanks to recent events I don't think it's quite as much of a sure-thing as it was looking a few months ago, but at the same time, with polls now showing that Blair's lead is even wider than it was when IDS was in charge of the Tories, it would have to go down as the most amazing upset in British Electoral history for Michael Howard to turn things around.

[Naselus]

Don't even talk to me about:

Bush
Any elections
Iraq
Elections
Nadia from Big Brother
Cocking US elections
Ohio
Saddam
Elections
Iraqi elections


Other than that, not too bad as years go.

[ooohcarrots]

hmmmm 2004.....

a year of learning that you dont like watching/reading news till you dont have it any more, and then you get incredibly excited in an airport when you finally find a british broasheet (and its sunday's no less) and you read every single tiny article in it (even the boring ones) and it feels so good to know that your country is definitely still there.....

i miss tv.... having a constant source of knowing whats going on in the world without having to read the flippin' metro every day....

maybe thats just me, what a weird year 2004 was....... actually the metro isnt that bad... the letters page is always good for a laugh....

[Naselus]

At least the Metro is better than blasted US elections. Grr.

[Slider]

Ah, 2004. Not the best, but definitely not the worst. We saw a historical point in the Israel peace process, the re-election of one of the most un-popular (at least in British eyes) American leaders in recent years, and a downfall in popularity for British Politics, thanks to a certain piece of legislation (coughcoughtuitionfeescough) and the blunder that is the war in Iraq.

Happy new year, 2005.