2005 in review

2005 a year to remember:

* Pundit Payola — 2005 saw the administration hire pundits to "catapult the propaganda." GOP lobbyists were apparently inspired by the idea, and put a few conservative writers on the payroll too.

* Harriet Miers — To this day, no one's quite sure what Bush was thinking.

* Terri Schiavo — Congressional Republicans exploit a horrible personal tragedy and disgust the nation in the process.

* Social Security — The White House interpreted the 2004 election as a mandate for privatizing Social Security. It's been a long time since a president was this wrong about a signature domestic policy initiative.

* Gannon/Guckert — A male prostitute pretending to be a journalist is repeatedly given a press pass and invited to ask soft-ball questions at White House press briefings. No, seriously, this really happened.

* Jack Abramoff — The most corrupt lobbyist in recent memory got caught and may take down the Republican Congress.

* Tom DeLay — After playing fast and loose with the law and congressional ethics for years, the former bug-spray salesman is under indictment, stripped of his leadership post, and fighting for his political life.

* Plame scandal — For the first time in 130 years, a high-ranking White House official is under criminal indictment and the White House remains the subject of a criminal investigation. And Patrick Fitzgerald is a star.

* Michael Brown — It's a phrase that will live on forever, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job."

* Randy "Duke" Cunningham — Forget the $2.4 million in bribes; the symbol for Republican excess for this decade is the 19th-century Louis-Philippe commode.

* Dems make gains — Kaine wins in Virginia; Corzine wins in New Jersey; and Paul Hackett almost pulls off a miracle in Ohio. A sign of things to come?

* "Mean Jean" Schmidt — Not long after promising to uphold dignity and decorum in the House, Schmidt attacks Rep. Paul Murtha, a former Marine and decorated war hero, as "a coward." And intra-party relations reach yet another low.

* Pat "Hit Man" Robertson — TV preacher causes international incident by calling for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Can't you just feel the Christian love?

* Cindy Sheehan — Looking back, August would have been a lot quieter if Bush had taken five minutes to chat with this woman.

* Snoopgate — Warrants? Bush doesn't need no stinkin' warrants. And the "rule of law" party slips a little further into the abyss….

I'm no doubt missing a few, so feel free to vote for a political story that's not on my list. Keep smiling we have almost three years to go.