Year In Review

We started the year with Jack Abramoff pleading guilty to mail fraud, tax evasion and conspiracy and ended it with the death of former President Gerald Ford and the hanging of Saddam Hussein. Here’s a month-by-month recap of the year.

January

Samuel Alito confirmed as Supreme Court justice, and Tom DeLay resigns as House majority leader.

The Bush Administration is forced to release the names of people held at Gitmo. Bush makes controversial appointments during pro forma Congressional recess. And the Jack Abramoff scandal reveals an op-ed "ethical brothol."

Katrina fallout continues as we learn FEMA ignored offers of help from Interior. A Rasmussenn poll is prophetic: it suggests more Americans plan to vote Democratic than Republican come November. And the Supreme Court upholds Oregon's right-to-die law.

February

Vice President Cheney shoots a hunting companion. Attorney General Gonzalez and Sen. Arlen Specter have contrasting views about the NSA wiretapping program. John Boehner elected House leader. Congress protests foreign management of US ports - the DP World deal, approved by the Administration.

Fallout from 2005 events continue: it seems the White House learned of the 17th Street Canal breach the morning of Hurricane Katrina -- much earlier than the official line. And the Dover, PA School Board has agreed to pay legal fees for parents who successfully challenged the Board's decision to teach "intelligent design." The GAO documents billions spent on Defense Department PR and corporate welfare.

March

President Bush sets a 200 year record for not using presidential veto power. Anti-immigration rhetoric is at odds with data. Most Americans believe global warming "is probably happening."

As the Iraq war moves into its fourth year, political scientists report that long wars favor the attacked. Congress battles the President on DP World ports deal. Andrew Card resigns as White House chief of staff, a position he held for 5.5 years.

April

Rep. Tom DeLay resigns, will not seek re-election. Only one-third of Americans approve of Bush as president. In the ongoing Valerie Plame saga, we learn that President Bush approved declassifying parts of the National Intelligence Estimate in June 2003; he's the "leaker."

Iran joins the nuclear club. Former Illinois Governor George Ryan (R, age 72) is convicted on 18 corruption-related charges stemming from an FBI investigation. John Kenneth Galbraith dies.

May

The Senate confirms Air Force General Michael Hayden as CIA chief after Porter Goss resigns. The FCC investigates Bush Administration use of video news releases. And the Bush phone records story breaks.

A Texas jury finds Enron executives Lay and Skilling guilty. And the US is putting people in jail and prison at a faster rate than population growth.

June

The Supreme Court, in a 5-3 ruling, conclude that military trials set up at Guantanamo Bay violate both US law and the Geneva Conventions. Seven Marines and one sailor are charged with the premeditated murder of an Iraqi civilian in Hamdania.

Former Bush procurement officer David Safavian is the first defendent found guilty in the Jack Abramoff influence scandal. The Civil Rights Act is 42 years old. And 35 years ago, the NYT published the Pentagon Papers.

July - December 2006