You don't need a half-wit music critic to tell you it's been a remarkable year for America, one historians will be discussing and researching for centuries to come. War, financial collapse, politics, technology: All have been dinner-table topics for many Americans. Racial barriers in 2008 were demolished by a Midwestern black man, and gender barriers were hurdled by an Arkansan and an Alaskan.Democracy has a few awesome new dance moves rolling into the Obama presidency, and it'll be a feast for
Political math god Nate Silver put together a handy pie chart showing that the career stop for a majority of current U.S. senators is a U.S. House seat. Good news for Kendrick Meek, Connie Mack IV, and the handful of other representatives who might be angling for the seat, but don't expect to see a Meek vs. Mack matchup anytime soon. Looking back on our senators of the past 50 years, which comes out to a nice even number of ten individuals, we found only three have come directly from U.S. H
Every year Time magazine makes a list of the 100 most influential people of that year. It is a big deal, because the American public loves lists. Those you would suspect make the grade: Barack & Michelle Obama, Hillary Clinton, Sarah Palin, and Oprah. A few surprising, but warranted inclusions: M.I.A., Nate Silver, Tina Fay, and Sully Sullenberger. Then there are a couple of 'WTF' choices: Zac Efron, the founder of 4Chan [nsfw], and the ladies of The View. Rounding out that esteemed list is
