2023: That Was The Year That Was
Trenchant insights, sublime commentary, and humorous anecdotes — or reasonable facsimiles thereof — from the year that was. And a prayer for 2024: that it will be better.
Welcome to my special, year-end roundup edition of Life Its Ownself. As the year wraps up, I am grateful for your readership and support. Our little community has grown, from 213 subscribers last January 1 to over 600 today.
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Tuesday, December 26, 2023, 1:00 p.m.
2023 was a … well, it was a year. Like all years, it had 365 days. But those days had more than their usual share of drama, comedy and tragedy woven into them. Here are a few of the highlights of the year, as told in the 105 Life Its Ownself posts we published this year.
Top Five Life Its Ownself Political Stories of the Year
5) The U.S. House descends into irrelevance.
This year in our nation’s capital will be remembered less for anything of substance than for the political and personal dramas that were simultaneously riveting and banal. The chaotic ascension of Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the U.S. House led to his entirely foreseeable defenestration in September; his December farewell speech was tawdry and solipsistic. It took a month to replace him and, after trying out the worst possible individuals to be third in line for the presidency, the House settled for conspiracy theorist and certifiable right-wing loony Mike Johnson. Meanwhile. George Santos provided a year’s worth of tragicomic relief before being booted from the House in November. To no one’s surprise, the House has its most unproductive year since 1932, passing only 27 bills.
4) 2024 GOP presidential nominating contest.
It started slow and then fizzled out altogether. In January, former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis were separated by about a dozen points; by the end of the year, Trump led his nearest challenger by almost 50 points. During three frivolous debates, Nikki Haley replaced DeSantis as the “normie” choice and Americans were introduced to the arrogant smarminess of Vivek Ramaswamy. The Iowa caucuses kick things off next month, but who cares?
3) The Texas GOP at war with itself.
Having dominated Texas politics for 30 years, it was inevitable that the Texas GOP would turn on itself. The intraparty war between the RINOs and the MAGAts started early. The antagonism temporarily stalled property tax reform, forcing a special session. It broke out into the open with the impeachment and acquittal of National Embarrassment and Texas A.G. Ken Paxton, especially with Dan Patrick’s post-acquittal screed against House Speaker Dade Phelan. The open war promises to be a major theme in March’s GOP primaries.
2) Legislature without end.
The Legislature endured one regular and four special sessions, the most ever in one year. They started with an unprecedented $32 billion surplus, and yet did not significantly increase education funding or raise teacher salaries. Nor did they pass vouchers education savings accounts, to which Governor Greg Abbott held all other education improvements, and everything else, hostage.
1) Ken Paxton.
Without a doubt, the political story of the year was the impeachment and subsequent acquittal of Attorney General Ken Paxton. I wrote at least 25 posts about l’affaire Paxton, including these thoughts on his acquittal. Having escaped the judgment of his superiors, Paxton now sets himself up as an avatar of retribution, with a growing list of primary targets.
Crash and Burns of the Year
In the Houston City Council elections, Tony Buzbee, fresh off his overtanned star turn as the lead defense lawyer in Ken Paxton’s impeachment trial, lost bigly to Mary Nan Huffman in a December runoff.
In the same runoff, longtime state Sen. John Whitmire crushed Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee in their runoff for the Mayor’s position, winning 65% of the vote. Jackson Lee promptly announced she would run for re-election to the congressional seat she’s held since 1995.
One of the longstanding traditions of the Lege is that every member is entitled to file stupid bills. You will not be surprised to learn some members have built their entire careers on stupid bills.
This year we saw proposals to ban real estate purchases by Chinese nationals and shoot down Chinese weather balloons. Neither went anywhere.
Speaking of the Communist Menace, one representative filed a constitutional amendment to create a District of Austin, which would replace self-governance by the people of Austin with legislative management, a la the District of Columbia. That went nowhere as well.
Meanwhile, life goes on …
As obsessed as I seem with politics, I also have other vices. I am curious about all things Texas, and wrote about a few of them this year. In February, I wrote about the crime spree at the Dallas Zoo. In April, I wrote about the Battle of San Jacinto and gave you an opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the Loco, Texas tourism boom.
In August I wrote about visiting dear friends in El Paso, and in November I composed my first Dia De Los Muertos ofrenda.
My travel adventures were not limited to Texas, as I took a delightful two-week romp around New Mexico, Arizona and Colorado that I described here, here and here. In the coming year, more road trips are on the agenda.
In Memoriam …
I lost my very good friend James Gaston this year. We’d known each other more than half our lives and had become, in the parlance of our times, “besties,” although James would surely recoil from such an appellation. I will kick off the new year by buying his home in Marathon where we and so many of our friends enjoyed James’s humor and hospitality. I hope those will continue to be the guiding spirit under the new management!
I also wrote brief reminiscences about David Crosby, Henry Kissinger, and Norman Lear, who each entered and affected my life in different ways.
In the end, what can you say about 2023 other than, “Thank God it’s over?” Unfortunately, 2024 promises to be even worse. Nevertheless, let’s move into the new year with faith and hope in our ability to turn the disappointments of yesterday into the joys and victories of tomorrow.
I appreciate your insights in the political realm . I also appreciate your choices of adjectives and other descriptive terms which hit the mark and the funny bone. I know James will be very proud of the continuation of hospitality and shared reflections that will continue at the Broken Wheel under your guidance. We hope to join you sometime in stargazing and problem solving. Happy new Year dear friend.
Enjoyed reading your work. Looking forward to more. Thanks.