Winner of the Year | Round 1: The Leaders

Last week, we crowned the Loser of the Year. RFK Jr. took it by around 20 points. It wasn’t even close. That’s not totally surprising, as he seems set to remove protections against infectious diseases that we’ve taken for granted for decades.

Have a look at the rise in measles cases this year alone.

Obviously, this chart shows correlation and not causation. We can say that RFK, Jr, showed up, and measles cases skyrocketed. We can’t say that he caused that to happen. But it’s suspicious, isn’t it?

Whatever is causing the spike in measles cases, we can say for certain that RFK, Jr, isn’t doing a whole lot to stop it. But worse, perhaps the policies, opinions, and actions he’s standing on are driving a cultural attitude that makes it okay to skip vaccines & the doctor’s office in favor of doing your own research.

Some call it the RFK, Jr. Effect. He’s not injecting your children with the measles. He’s just creating an ecosystem where diseases like the measles can flourish.

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Loser of the Year!

Sam Osterhout · Dec 8

De Tocqueville said, “If men are to remain civilized, the art of associating together must grow and improve.” Calling the other side a bunch of Losers might, I admit, go against the spirit of artful association, as de Tocqueville intended.

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Enough about him. We’ve got about two and a half weeks of this bananas year left, and we need to end it on a high note.

For the next two weeks in this column, you’ll get to vote on six candidates for Winner of the Year — that’s three this week, and three next week. On Monday, December 29th, I’ll reveal your choice for WotY.

But first, some caveats, explanations, digressions, and excuses.

It’s a little hard to imagine anyone “winning” this year. It was a hard year, and we need to acknowledge that. The pace of change was a shock. It was like watching a building implode in slow motion. Once he was inaugurated, the charges went off, and there was virtually no stopping the destruction that lay ahead.

But some people and organizations were able to hit the brakes. No one — yet — has the power to swoop in and stop all of the destruction all at once. There is no Neo from the Matrix, who suddenly sees the entire system of chaos clearly and is able to fight back. There are heroes who have seen injustice in their own little (and sometimes large) spheres and who have said … No.

The six contestants you’ll read about over the next two weeks are by no means an exhaustive list. Selecting candidates was tough. For that reason, I encourage you to write-in your favorite heroes if they aren’t listed in this column.

Some suggested write-ins: Marc Elias from Democracy Docket; Sky Perryman from Democracy Forward; Independent Media, like those of us on Substack who are not beholden to oligarchs — MeidasTouch Network; The xxxxxx; Crooked Media; Lincoln Square; and so many others. ...