(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)
BY EVAN BUSH AND AUSTIN ALONZO
ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN
It was a year of the-usual-political drama and then some in US politics-- with doom-filled deadlines and downgrades, 8-percent Congressional approval ratings, and heck... a looming and ever-present government shutdown. But hey! at least the Capitol’s Ceiling didn’t collapse.
Still -- partisan bickering and economic stagnation were punctuated by moments of triumph and symbols of hope, too -- Gabrielle Gifford’s remarkable recovery and the widely-celebrated, yet controversial killing of Osama bin Laden.
The year began with flurries of freshman faces -- 106 -- in total -- on Capitol Hill, new Speaker of the House John Boehner in tears of joy.
Most importantly -- the anti-establishment Tea Party crashed the Capitol Hill cocktail party in a drinking and fighting -- not compromising -- mood.
But things took a violent detour when Jared Lee Loughner allegedly shot Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Here’s ABC.
“She has been shot outside a supermarket although I want to direct you who says she’s still alive and currently in surgery Witnesses are reporting they heard 15 to 20 gunshots in fact it was the congresswoman herself who tweeted this is the message my first congress on your corner...”
And then in May, a moment of celebration, with this impromptu announcement from President Obama.
OBAMA: “Tonight I can report to the American people and to the world that the U.S. has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin laden, the leader of al Qaeda.”
But as the weather warmed, relationships across the aisle continued to cool and legislative gridlock took hold... which brought us to the crown jewel of Washington frustration -- the debt ceiling crisis.
Speaker Boehner and President Obama went head to head over increasing the government’s borrowing; Boehner pushing for budget cuts and Obama chiding Congress for its inability to compromise.
BOEHNER: “In Washington, more spending and more debt is business as usual. Well, I’ve got news for Washington -- those days are over.”
OBAMA: “It shouldn’t take the risk of default, of economic catastrophe to get folks to work together to do their jobs.”
Boehner was lambasted for his inability to control the freshman Republican class and for playing chicken with a fragile economy.
And Obama was panned for his inability to get Congress to get anything done.
And Gabrielle Giffords returned from rehab after her shooting to make a crucial vote for the House’s debt plan in a historic comeback.
In the end...US credit got downrated, and Congress... decided on the brilliant plan of further inaction appointing 6 Democrats and 6 Republicans as part of a supercommittee.
And as a correspondent for ABC can tell you -- things went swimmingly from there.
George Stephanopolous: “And John, they never really got close...”
John: “A colossal and embarrassing failure. Democrats and Republicans just couldn’t agree.”
Which set off the trigger -- a plan designed to hurt Republicans’ favorite things.
And lest we forget the lead up to 2012, where every Republican candidate has had their turn to be flavor of the day!
And the candidate’s have had some particularly flavorful moments.
CAIN: “A poet once said, life can be a challenge. Life can seem impossible. But it’s never easy when there’s so much on the line.”
MADDOW: "The poet in Question: Pokemon.”
PERRY ON CNBC “It’s three agencies of gov. when I get there that are gone... commerce... education...what’s the third one? The third one, I can't. Oops."
Needless to say, it’s been an interesting year.
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