2009: DAVE BARRY’S YEAR IN REVIEW.

It was a year of Hope — at first in the sense of “I feel hopeful!” and later in the sense of “I hope this year ends soon!”

It was also a year of Change, especially in Washington, where the tired old hacks of yesteryear finally yielded the reins of power to a group of fresh, young, idealistic, new-idea outsiders such as Nancy Pelosi. As a result Washington, rejecting “business as usual,” finally stopped trying to solve every problem by throwing billions of taxpayer dollars at it and instead started trying to solve every problem by throwing trillions of taxpayer dollars at it.

Hope and change!

MCCLATCHY: Federal spending rose 4 percent, despite Obama pledge.

PHOTO OF THE DAY. Dedicated to Marc Ambinder . . . .

2009: The Year Of The Failed Narratives.

HEH: To Be Fair, That’s A Lot Of Decline To Hide.

CHICAGO TRIBUNE: Titanic Debt.

Plus, Clean The Slate in 2010.

IN WASHINGTON, running interference for ACORN.

THE COUNTRY’S IN THE VERY BEST OF HANDS: TSA Security Directive SD-1544–09-06.

PROFESSOR BAINBRIDGE: Predictably, TSA is responding to the most recent airplane terrorism incident by piling on even more stupid and ineffectual restrictions on passengers.

UPDATE: Read these thoughts from Rand Simberg, too.

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? More on those Iranian protests.

UPDATE: Photos and video.

WELL, TO BE FAIR, THEY’VE LARGELY IGNORED HIS BEHAVIOR OFF THE SENATE FLOOR, TOO: Bizarre Baucus Behavior on Senate Floor Ignored by MSM.

RICHARD FERNANDEZ ON MARC AMBINDER’S OBAMA TERRORISM MESSAGE-SPIN: “The problem with this analysis is that it comes from a different world from that suffused by dust, gunpowder, thin air, sweat and bewildering noise. It comes ready formed from that Washington cauldron of action, the cocktail party. . . . It is no wonder that Ambinder focuses on the symbolism of things. It is not that he is stupid. But even to an intelligent carpenter, every problem looks like a nail. And in Washington, symbols are the nails.”

ANN ALTHOUSE: 10 Reasons Why the Christmas Day Pants Bomber Will Be Blogged Endlessly.

L.A. TIMES: Now, Michelle Obama too is sliding in the polls.

REVOLUTIONIZING THE ELECTRIC-CAR INDUSTRY with digital quantum batteries?