Our Risible Year: The News Nonsense, Media Mirth, and Political Peculiarities of 2022

Brad Slager reporting for RedState 

As the end-of-year compilations are rolling out, this is a rundown of the overlooked oddities that fueled our news cycles throughout the calendar.

While many in the media will be taking the opportunity of a new year to look back on the old news most will be focusing on the items that stand out in all our minds. What is the point in recalling the familiar? We all still have tangible recollections about the January 6 committee, the rollback of Roe vs. Wade, election dysphoria, and Twitter drama – so why rehash the obvious?

For fun, let us climb back through the months and recall those newsworthy distractions, the political curiosities, and the meandering media offerings that delivered mockery and distractions away from gravely serious events we were supposed to care about deeply and cling to the press for continued outrage. Let’s recall some of the fun.

 

January

•  The year kicked off with the press positively vibrating at the chance that they could celebrate the January 6 anniversary. MSNBC and CNN carried 24-hour coverage to rehash all the details they’d obsessed over for a year already. Nobody cared. 
• As there was a rift between the COVID adherents and those embracing the freedom to live our lives, a Montreal reporter fled Canadian COVID restrictions only to then scold Florida for being a free and open tropical version of the wild west.
• Biden called Peter Doocy a “Stupid sonuvabitch.” Brian Stelter was so sure Fox would spend time making this an issue he declared “Let’s acknowledge that Fox is milking this exchange for all its worth.” Of course, the network did not. Doocy instead was hilarious about it. 
• Deadspin slammed Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel as just another “white guy” hired in the NFL. McDaniel is actually bi-racial.
• The press, which normally loves protests, disapproved of the Canadian Trucker protest because it was against COVID lockdowns which the press also loves. 
• Neil Young tried to create a movement to get Joe Rogan removed from Spotify. It led to Neil Young being removed from Spotify.
• Nebraska updated its mascot, Herbie Husker, because a few dolts suggested its old image of him displaying the “okay” finger gesture was a white supremacist symbol. 
• Penzey’s Spices ran a promotion that declared all Republicans are racist. Within a couple of weeks, the company lost tens of thousands of customers.

February

• Jeff Zucker stepped down from his leadership of CNN, kicking off a year of turmoil at the news network.

• The Beijing Olympics were largely a fiasco, punctuated by the Chi-Coms shutting down a Dutch reporter live on the air.

• During one cross-country race, a Norwegian skier froze his penis. More remarkable – it was not the first time he suffered this calamity.
• Many in the press bought into the conspiracy that a US version of the trucker’s protest would arrive in Los Angeles for the NFL Championship. The Super Bowl truckers never materialized.
• A Jose Biden program was supplying free crack pipes to users, and the reality confounds fact-checkers intent on protecting the president.
• When a handful of Nazis appeared in Orlando, the press tried smearing DeSantis as supporting the dolts for being silent about the Nazis in O-Town; two days earlier, he condemned anti-semitism at a synagogue while honoring the Holocaust.
• New York Times suggested Canadian authorities should squash trucker protests. This is the same paper that suffered internal controversy for running a Tom Cotton editorial suggesting the government should have halted the 2020 riots.
• In a remarkably rapid failure of commentary, George Conway announced the NYDA was set to charge Trump and his family – then days later they dropped the suit entirely.
• At NPR, they fretted their listeners would be crippled with anxiety over the news of the Ukraine war. NPR delivered this helpful guide on how to cope with news: Breathe, eat, and move around.

March

• As some space debris crashed into the waters off of the coast of Iceland, the Daily Mail offered some unhelpful supernal measurements for readers. It described the impact as being from an asteroid “half the size of a giraffe.”
• During confirmation hearings, judicial nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson is asked to define what a woman is, and drops the meme-launching quote, “I’m not a biologist.”
• Will Smith delivers some Oscars news for a change after he strikes Chris Rock live on stage.  
• The Sun-Sentinel editorial board idiotically says Ron DeSantis had been “outmaneuvered” by ‘Don’t Say Gay’“– The bill not only passed but polls showed strong support from voters.
• During the January 6 committee investigation, Bob Woodward broke the news that White House phone logs had hours of missing entries. After numerous screeching news reports, it was discovered they were fully provided. 
• With the story of trans swimmer Lia Thomas becoming all the rage, the Today Show was caught softening the features of Thomas in one image to fit the narrative.
• After a portion discussing soldiers suffering long-term effects in regards to burn pits, Nancy Pelosi made a bizarre and giddy little dance during the State of the Union Address.

April

• After lying over Florida’s parental rights law by mislabeling it as “Don’t Say Gay,” the press began lying about the pushback by lying that using the term “Anti-groomer” was a homophobic and/or transphobic slur.
• The Atlantic stages an “Anti-Disinformation” conference. Making it more laughable was it being hosted by the lie-spreading Editor in Chief Jeffrey Goldberg, and having Brian Stelter heading a panel. 
• CNN+ is rolled out, face-plants out of the gate, and is fully canceled after just three weeks. This all played out after a $300 million investment.
• Taylor Lorenz preens for MSNBC as she sobs in an interview about being harassed online.
• In MLB, Seth Beer hit a walk-off home run on National Beer Day.
• Colin Kaepernick talked about returning to the NFL, which he once called a “slave market,” in his Netflix bio-doc.
• Tropicana released a cereal meant to be consumed with OJ instead of milk.
• Joe Khan was announced as the new Executive Editor at the New York Times with a creepily odd photo spread in New York Magazine.

May

• We were coached to choose sides between two detestable celebrities in the Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial.
• Plagiarism inception took place when a writer who plagiarized her book wrote an essay about it that was plagiarized as well, taken from a site covering plagiarism.
• Ricky Gervais released a new Netflix special and earned all the predictable outrage. GLAAD issued a statement that must have been written before it even aired.
• Also, there was an attempted attack on Dave Chappelle on stage.
• Jake Tapper defends the White House over inaccurate reasons for production plant closings leading to the baby formula shortage.
• Jenn Psaki steps down from her position as White House Press secretary. She takes work at MSNBC, and her replacement Karine Jean-Pierre was formerly working at MSNBC.

June

• Chuck Todd sees Meet The Press Daily moved to NBC Now streaming service.
• Disney/Pixar foolishly pushed a gay character in the movie “Lightyear” during the Florida school bill controversy. It fails notably in theatres.
• Kate Bush hits the top of the singles charts because of “Stranger Things.”
• The Washington Post goes through weeks of high school melodrama after Dave Weigel retweets a joke, and Felicia Sonmez builds it into a company-wide hate crime.
• After more than a year of bleating about the Capitol insurrection, a team from The Late Show With Stephen Colbert was arrested for trespassing in the Capitol and the press shrugged.
• NPR detailed an important report on how the gay community is locked in a battle on social media – over dinosaur emojis.
• There were numerous questions when images from the live-action “Barbie Movie” were released. 

 

July

• After weeks of complaints over political rhetoric and violence, the press and Democrats were dismissive when Brett Kavanaugh was harassed at Morton’s, following being threatened with violence.
• After her disproven testimony, Washington Post bizarrely gives Cassidy Hutchinson the graphic novel treatment. 
• Dr. First Lady Professor Jill Biden gives a speech in Texas describing Hispanic people as breakfast tacos. 
• During a staged protest over Roe vs. Wade being overturned, Alexandria Ocasio Cortez and Ilhan Omar posture during an “arrest.”
• Biology ruled over wokeness, as a trans inmate needed to be transferred to a male facility after getting two females pregnant.
• A pair of Quiddich Leagues changed the name of the sport because of J.K. Rowling opposing the woke narratives regarding women.
• A handful of Nazis show up at the Turning Point conference in Tampa, and the news reports contradicted the tepid reality.
• The Choco Taco is discontinued.
• There was a media furor over a 10-year-old’s pregnancy that quickly died off when an immigrant family was behind the rape.
• Shinzo Abe was assassinated, and the press attacked his character.
• Snoop Dogg releases “Sleepy Joe” strain of weed.

• A number of outlets spread a Ron DeSantis story from Salon that was not only a year old but had been thoroughly debunked in the summer of 2021.
• Gavin Newsom runs his laughable “Freedom” commercial in Florida.

August

• Politico suggests many D.C. journalists are taking mushrooms.
• As further evidence that the left cannot meme, the White House made the lame attempt to make “Dark Brandon” a viral sensation.
• In a flurry of dismissive activity in the month, CNN saw fit to fire Brian Stelter, John Harwood, and Jeffrey Toobin.
• Warner Brothers cancels “Batgirl” movie. The expensive film was all but finished and will not even get a streaming release.
• Compounding the bad year for the company, on Disney+, “She-Hulk” opens as a disappointment.
• The media darling Liz Cheney was destroyed in Wyoming’s GOP primary.
• We watched the FBI Raid on Mar-a-Lago. The hysteria leads to nothing.

September

• Biden gives his widely mocked Red Sermon speech. CNN attempts to soften the oppressive visuals in real time.

• The Jackson MS water crisis was blamed on Republicans ignoring the problem. Jackson is the state capital, affecting all politicians, and the city has been run entirely by Democrats as the problems have been existing for decades. 
• People had strong opinions when Lizzo played Madison’s crystal flute, something most were not previously aware even existed.
• Vegas Reporter Jeff German was killed by a former Democrat politician he exposed for criminal behavior. Few journalists expressed outrage a journalist was killed.
• Don Lemon was taken off of prime time and moved to mornings.
• Ron DeSantis causes a meltdown with an immigrant flight to Martha’s Vineyard. Later, news outlets long ignoring the border crisis send piles of reporters to Delaware over a suspected immigrant flight.
• Stacey Abrams makes a ridiculous comment about sonograms giving false heartbeats. Many in the press idiotically rush to her defense.
• Media was abuzz when Trump arrived in DC wearing golf shoes. Rampant conspiracies were broadcast he was in a rush due to some emerging Mar-a-Lago raid news (which, never emerged.) Surveillance from the golf course was provided by the Associated Press, as many speculated it was a secret meeting away from listening devices. They were discussing the design of the new golf course.

• After being mocked over her dramatic performance in the February interview for months, Taylor Lorenz lashed out at the MSNBC reporter. 
• The Atlantic declares that Trump sparked January 6 Capitol riot using memes.
• Florida reporter covering Hurricane Ian with a condom on her microphone.
• No questions were asked in the press when Biden created an ambassador to nature, and the person appointed was Ron Klain’s wife.
• New York Times book review on Jared Kushner’s “Breaking History” book: “Reading this book reminded me of watching a cat lick a dog’s eye goo.” 

October

• Biden says he was raised as a Puerto Rican. No fact-checkers look into this.

• James Corden was in a weeks-long feud with New York restaurant Balthazar.
• Journalists scorched Dasha Burns for reporting on the condition she witnessed of John Fetterman.
• As the Los Angeles Commission member Nury Martinez racism scandal erupts, it leads to press excuses of “Hispanic white supremacy.”
• Climate protestors glued themselves to the floor at a Porsche plant in Germany. They deleted the tweet (the text seen here) where they complained about being locked inside by plant workers without heat or being given the means to go to the bathroom.
• Jenn Rubin ignorantly slams Ben Sasse for going to the University of Florida as being unqualified. He formerly was a University president.
• Yahoo Finance got to the bottom of the diaper crisis. 

• British paper Daily Star bet that a head of lettuce would last longer than Liz Truss. The Daily Star won.
• Press was pranked by the Ligma-Johnson duo “firing” from Twitter. 
• MSNBC weekend host is desperate to deflect – Sure Qatar has horrible human rights – but what about the US?!?!?
• Employee at NY Post puts up fake and vulgar headlines and tweets.

November

• Trump announces presidential campaign; NY Times has over a dozen Trump pieces in one day.
• Q nightclub shooting saw the press placing blame entirely on conservatives, until…
• Washington Post gives a rave review about a pedophile stage play.
• A memorial for when Chris Cillizza was fired.
• IndieWire has Jessica Chastain interview claiming she was not on Zero Dark Thirty poster. They used the photo of her featured on the poster.

• CBS News announces it is pulling away from Twitter. They do not last two full days.
• Washington Post finds the nefarious connections of Diet Coke, Elon Musk, and Trump.
• CNN says Daylight Savings is racist.

December

• NY Times journos stage a one-day strike, beg readers to support them – by not playing Wordle.
• Kanye touts Nazis on InfoWars. We learn how many in the press watch InfoWars.
• Sam Brinton is arrested and outlets previously touting his hiring now turn on the Republicans, desperately.
• WaPo says that Shark Week is racist and sexist. 
• Slate exposes Kyrsten Sinema is – selling shoes.
• CNN is so excited about its anti-deodorant column, it pushes the story for four consecutive days.