It certainly wasn’t the best of times, but 2023 could go down as the worst, especially if you lived in Israel. It wasn’t that great in the United States either, where there were more mass shootings than days, and over 40,000 people lost their lives to gun violence.
That makes those victims the year’s big losers, but it also makes winners of the folks who manufacture the guns and ammo, those who buy them, and the lobbyists and politicians who protect them. The Congress has remained steadfast in its loyalty to gun interests, notwithstanding the clear majority of Americans who, according to a decade of Gallup polls, want stronger gun control laws.
Israel's rough year didn't start on October 7th
October 7 was the worst day in Israeli history and the greatest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. Even before that, Israel was having a terrible year, as its democracy was under siege in a constitutional crisis.
The ultra-nationalist, ultra-religious government, led by a prime minister already on trial for bribery, fraud, and corruption, mounted an assault to end the independence of the nation’s respected judiciary. It deeply divided the country, drawing hundreds of thousands of Israelis to the streets for more than 40 weeks to demonstrate peacefully against the attempted right-wing coup.
The rallies were abruptly halted on October 7 and the nation quickly came together. (On the first day of 2024, the High Court struck down one of the so-called judicial reforms, reigniting the debate that will endure through the new year.)
Hamas started the war with the barbaric slaughter, rape, beheading, and kidnapping of some 1,200 Israelis and other innocent civilians, from infants to the elderly. Israel may win on the battlefield, but it is losing the PR battle. The terror group knew Israel’s response would be tough, but they didn’t care; in fact, they welcomed it, pleased to see Israel lose world sympathy because of the many thousands of Gaza civilians killed by the Israeli retaliation.
Proof of Hamas’s indifference to civilian losses is as solid as the cement the terror group used to build miles of underground bunkers and tunnels to protect its own leaders, fighters, and weapons, sparing none for the civilians left above ground to serve as human shields and fodder.
The surprise attack dramatically humiliated the Israel Defense Forces and the country’s vaunted intelligence services, and made a fool of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He thought Hamas would sit by idly as he undermined the Palestinian Authority, normalized relations with the Saudis, and gave a boost to West Bank settlements. Hamas saw his attempt to ignore the Palestinians as a casus belli and struck.
President Joe Biden, a self-described “non-Jewish Zionist,” quickly came to Israel’s defense after October 7, personally flying to Israel to offer his sympathy and support along with full military, political, and diplomatic backing. Whether he woefully overestimated his ability to influence the extremist government in Jerusalem is an open question that could loom large as Biden seeks a second term.
US democratic institutions haven't had an easy time either
One of the year’s biggest losers has been the US Supreme Court, and as so often happens, it was the victim of self-inflicted wounds.
The high court’s standing is as low as it has ever been, and it may not have bottomed out yet. That may be determined in the early months of the new year as it faces issues arising out of the January 6 insurrection and attempts to overthrow the 2020 election.
The court has become highly politicized and mired in scandal while ignoring its own conflict-of-interest problems because it lacks a meaningful code of ethics and enforcement.
Many of those problems can be traced to Justice Clarence Thomas. His complaints that the job didn’t pay what he felt he deserved were solved by some wealthy benefactors who paid for vacations, private flights, gifts, a “loan” to buy an RV, and more.
His wife is a prominent election denier who is deeply involved in far-right causes, Pro Publica reported, yet Thomas has largely refused to recuse himself on cases involving the interests of his benefactors and his wife.
Biden's supportive stance has brought him trouble
Biden’s support for Israel won him great popularity – in Israel. Not so much back home. With the bombing damage in Gaza and casualties dominating the media, the war is highly unpopular, especially among young voters, numerous congressional Democrats, progressives, and Arab- and Muslim-Americans – all groups he needs for what is expected to be a very close presidential race this year.
One winner Biden is counting on to help him in November is the strong economy. The stock market ended the year hitting record levels, gas prices and unemployment were down, and US oil production was at historic highs. Inflation was down and falling, but that doesn’t seem to be resonating enough with voters to boost confidence in Biden’s handling of the economy.
A big loser is the Republican-led House of Representatives. Tied up in internecine warfare, it dumped Kevin McCarthy, the worst speaker in history, and replaced him, after three failed attempts, with an extreme right-wing election denier.
The evicted speaker quit Congress and Rep. George Santos, a fabulist and chronic liar, was expelled. If they lose two more seats they could lose their majority.
That isn’t stopping the Republicans from trying to impeach Biden, but they’re having trouble finding any “high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Emergency aid to Ukraine and Israel ended the year in limbo as House Republicans held it hostage to their demands for border security.
Here are some more of the unlamented year’s losers.
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) – the former football coach, who held up more than 400 military promotions and appointments in a failed effort to change Pentagon policy regarding abortions – replaced Ron Johnson (R-Wisconsin) as the dumbest member of the Senate.
Democratic New Jersey Sen. Robert Menendez has been indicted again (he got off the last time) for corruption. Known as one of Israel’s staunchest supporters, he stands accused of being an unregistered foreign agent for Egypt. FBI agents found a stash of gold bars and cash shoved in jacket pockets at his home.
Ron DeSantis, the Florida governor, started out as the great white hope for winning the Republican presidential nomination as the younger, less tainted Donald Trump. He had lots of money and lots of publicity, but no personality.
Rudy Giuliani went from being America’s mayor to America’s laughingstock. Ordered to pay two Georgia election workers he smeared $148 million, he immediately declared bankruptcy. He also is under criminal racketeering indictment in Georgia for his election shenanigans.
Nikki Haley, the former governor of the first state to secede from the union and a presidential wannabe, failed to mention slavery when asked what caused the Civil War. DeSantis, governor of the third state to secede, didn’t do much better. He has tried to portray slavery as a big job-training program run by wealthy white benefactors and a subject too “woke” to be taught in his state’s schools.
The anti-abortion movement thought they were big winners with the repeal of Roe v. Wade, but they’re finding themselves on the wrong side of history. Supporters of abortion rights have been racking up victories at the polls in red and blue states, and the battles will continue throughout 2024.
Trump is in both categories. Anyone whose Christmas message is to tell his rivals to “rot in hell” is a loser. So is anyone who plans to be dictator for a day, arrest his critics, has an incurable allergy to the truth, and is hell-bent on revenge for an endless list of grievances.
He’s also a winner, because despite four major criminal cases and 91 felony charges, his poll numbers and fundraising go up with each indictment, revelation, conviction, and verdict. He even made money selling copies of his Georgia mug shot.
This year will tell whether he’s a winner or a loser, but you can bet he won’t be gracious in either event, and you know he has helped fracture our democratic system in ways that will take decades to fix.
If you’re looking for a winner who is a real self-made billionaire, didn’t get it from daddy, and makes a lot of people happy, I nominate Taylor Swift.
The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former American Israel Public Affairs Committee legislative director.