Opinion
2023: A Year In Review
Here is a list of the top events for 2023:
- The 118th Congress convened, with Kevin McCarthy elected Speaker of the House of Representatives after fifteen ballots. He later steps down, and is replaced by Patrick McHenry for the time being. Mike Johnson was later elected Speaker of the House.
- A Chinese spy balloon had flown across Alaska and Western Canada before entering the Lower 48. It then flew all the way to the Atlantic Coast before the United States shot it down in the waters near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The Biden Administration claims the spy balloon couldn’t be shot down while it was flying overland for fears of possible damage done on the ground (even though it could have been shot down when it flew over the water when it approached Alaska). The Chinese claimed the balloon was a weather balloon that flew off course. Meanwhile, the Biden Administration tried to downplay the scenario, with Biden himself saying the spy balloon was not a major breach.
- A transman named Aidan Hale (born Audrey Elizabeth Hale) carried out a mass shooting at the Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee, killing three children and three adults before being shot to death by the police. Hale left a manifesto revealing her motive (which contained racist and homophobic comments). In the aftermath of the tragedy, Joe Biden joked about his name, whom he was married to, and that he liked ice cream before advocating stricter gun laws. A transgender “Day of Rage” that was scheduled to take place on April 1 was eventually cancelled. Meanwhile, protests calling for more gun control laws took place across the nation.
- Silicon Valley Bank and First Republic Bank were among several banks to collapse, resulting in a decline in global bank stock prices.
- Azerbaijan invaded Armenia over the self-declared breakaway state of Artsakh. Although a ceasefire was agreed to, many people were displaced and there have been reports of atrocities committed by Azerbaijan.
- Hamas launched a series of attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip, setting off another war in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Israel retaliated by launching an invasion of the Gaza Strip. Despite the fact that Hamas is responsible for these attacks (as well as contributing numerous atrocities) many anti-Israeli protests have taken place worldwide- many of which have turned violent. Antisemitism (which has been on the rise in recent years) has increased significantly, with many hate crimes against Jews taking place.
- The following people died in 2023: Lisa Marie Presley, Raquel Welch, Tom Sizemore, Robert Blake, Jerry Springer, Denny Crum, Jim Brown, Tina Turner, Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri (a wrestler better known as the Iron Sheik), Pat Robertson, Ted Kaczynski (a.k.a. the Unabomber), Carol Higgins Clark, Treat Williams, Daniel Ellsberg, Alan Arkin, Paul Reubens (a.k.a. Pee Wee Herman), Mark Margolis, William Friedkin, Terry Funk, Bray Wyatt, Bob Barker, Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher (a.k.a. Joe the Plumber), Jimmy Buffett, Bill Richardson, Dianne Feinstein, Dick Butkus, Burt Young, Piper Laurie, Suzanne Somers, Matthew Perry, Bob Knight, Rosalynn Carter, Henry Kissinger, Sandra Day O’Connor, Norman Lear, Andre Braugher, Tom Smothers (of the Smothers Brothers), and Tom Wilkinson.
Overall, 2023 has been a year of ups and downs (mostly downs). Hopefully, 2024 will be better.
Happy New Year.