Pretty good year for some …

A good year for …

Democratic Party       

While we all should be thankful for the loss of the Republican majority (whew!), it should be noted that the Democrats won by default. Had the Republicans not been so completely incompetent, Democrats might not have been so lucky. And new faces like House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi, the first female Speaker of the House, give us great hope.

Mark Dantonio

John L. Smith is out, and hopefully that means the same for the MSU football team's losing streak. Dantonio is packing his bags to head for Spartan country and is gearing up for recruiting season. With a $1.1 million annual paycheck and a five-year contract, we can only hope the university has made the right decision this time.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm

Voters said no to Amway Corp. heir Dick DeVos, despite his multimillion-dollar campaign budget, and yes to another term for Gov. Jennifer Granholm. With law school debating skills far superior to those of DeVos and laudable stances on issues like gay marriage and the MCRI, it's no wonder voters favored the Canadian-born incumbent. We're excited to see where she'll lead us during her second term as Michigan's governor.

Political scandals

Jack Abramoff. Mark Foley. The CIA leak probe. It has been a good year for political scandals, especially regarding the party formerly in power. Had they not allowed their power to corrupt so disastrously, the GOP might have held on to at least one Congressional house.

Lauren Spencer

She didn't win, but we loved seeing Lauren Spencer, a social relations sophomore and Green Party member, on the ballot for the MSU Board of Trustees. It's wonderful to see students getting involved and partaking in important local politics. Plus, she came in a strong fifth with more than 100,000 votes — not bad for a sophomore.

Allyssa DeHaan

Allyssa DeHaan, the almost 7-foot tall freshman MSU women's basketball center, is on track to beat the record for MSU freshman blocks. Plus, she was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Dec. 4 — this is the type of athleticism we all hope to see from Spartans sports.

Detroit Tigers

They didn't make it all the way, but the Tigers did make their first appearance at the World Series since 1984. Although they suffered a disappointing loss to St. Louis, you've got to love Detroit's heart, and seeing them make it that far gave Tigers fans everywhere a reason to be proud of the Motor City.

Borat

Sacha Baron Cohen's brilliantly portrayed Kazakhstan character, Borat, makes him an obvious winner this year. "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" pokes fun at the ignorance of American culture — and it's kind of embarrassing.

James Bond

The James Bond franchise was reborn this year after Daniel Craig took on the part and proved just how terrible the Pierce Brosnan films had become. Craig didn't need an invisible car — his smooth delivery and rough, bloody fisticuffs were enough. And when he emerges out of the ocean? Sort of feels like payback for more than 35 years of objectifying Bond girls.

Rosie O'Donnell

She filled Star Jones' shoes just fine, she's beating Barbara Walters to the punch every day and she even called Kelly Ripa homophobic — Rosie O'Donnell is taking over daytime television, and we're loving every minute of it. Before Rosie joined "The View," it was stale, but her lively personality has made it more entertaining. And her stint on "Nip/Tuck"? Hilarious.

A bad year for …

President Bush

This one rather speaks for itself, doesn't it? From losing Congress to losing Iraq, there isn't anything he has won.

Iraqi people

Getting invaded and having your entire infrastructure destroyed is bad enough. But getting embroiled in civil war and suffering through increasing violent, civilian-targeting terrorist attacks on a daily basis? After three miserable years, 2006 has the distinction of being the worst year yet for the Iraqi people.

The Republican Party

With a president whose approval rating hovers steadily at the 30 percent mark and an increasingly divisive and expensive war overseas, things were grim for the GOP. But losing both houses of Congress to a woefully inept and disorganized Democratic Party was the final nail in the coffin for the Republicans in '06. Let's hope it stays that way.

Minorities, women and civil rights

Thank you, MCRI. Thanks to your passage, jobs and admission to colleges will no longer be so cruelly wrested from the hands of whiny, white people. Equal opportunity is so 2005, anyway.

Dee Cook and Dave Porteous

Two down, six to go. Losing to Faylene Owen and George Perles demonstrated that the voters wanted some fresh blood on the cloistered and stagnant MSU Board of Trustees. Porteous and Cook lost because they were out of touch with voters — or maybe it was because the majority voted a straight Democratic ticket on Election Day. Doesn't matter for MSU — the more incumbents removed from office, the better.

Michigan Open Meetings Act

Speaking of the board, a big loser this year was the act that stated the board — and other publicly elected bodies — hold open, public meetings. They just aren't doing it here.

Civil liberties

With a decrease in legal privacy protection and phone tapping and domestic spying programs endorsed by our president, 2006 was a bad year for the principles of privacy and those crazy liberal reactionaries who don't appreciate the government listening in on their phone calls.

Spartans football team and former coach John L. Smith

No group of people at MSU has endured more disgrace than this lot. After half of an abysmal season — which only got worse — coach John L. Smith was unceremoniously fired by the MSU Board of Trustees and President Lou Anna K. Simon.

The MSU Board of Trustees and President Lou Anna K. Simon

Firing John L. Smith midseason was a move that at once was considered tacky and completely tasteless. Smith needed to go, but not in such an inexcusable and embarrassing manner. To put it mildly, 2006 was a bad year for Spartans football. In addition, we hope the trustees enjoy spending our tuition money on $64 bottles of merlot. Next time they vote to raise our tuition, we expect one of them may shout, "Let them eat cake!"

College students

Students are the big losers in 2006. With tuition costs in the stratosphere, help came in the form of a massive interest-rate hike on student loans. Higher education has never been so charmingly punitive and financially crippling. But then, that's what you get for having the gall to get yourself an education — how dare you?

Harry Whittington

Who is Harry Whittington, you ask? Why he's the fine gentleman who Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot in the face while hunting for clipped-wing quail in February. Sure, a lot of people lost in 2006, but few did it vice-presidential-buckshot-in-the-face style.

Young Americans for Freedom

Kyle Bristow and his Orwellian Young Americans for Freedom — despite a few people's best efforts of a few idiots — still managed to look like fools this year, from Tom Tancredo's ill-planned visit to the even more atrocious planned event, "Catch an Illegal Immigrant Day." We suggest a new name: Young Americans for Limited Freedom and No Democracy.

Hollywood bigots

It has been quite a year for racism, but the one-two punch, wildly bigoted entertainers Mel Gibson and former Kramer/hack Michael Richards really put the spotlight on the ugly side of Hollywood.

Kevin Federline

K-Fed, or Fed-Ex if you prefer, had an awful year — from releasing a hilariously misguided rap album to losing Britney Spears and probably not getting a dime in the divorce. We have a goal for everyone's favorite sperm donor in 2007 — stop cluttering up our tabloids: We miss Paris Hilton.