“And That’s The Way It Was…”—Walter Cronkite
2016 was a divisive year. It either made you laugh or made you cry, and even those emotions depended on a lot of factors. Certainly at the end, Leftists who likely smiled earlier were left in puddles of their own tears.
2016 signaled change, though many ignored the warning.
Brexit in the UK portended what was to come in the United States. Further harbingers appeared, as South Korea and Brazil impeached their presidents.
The world got more Islamic terror attacks, as nowhere was safe. As we segued into 2017, Muslims continued to attack, the most recent in Istanbul, where 39 people were killed. Ironically, the Muslim terrorist was dressed as Santa Claus.
Could 2016 be considered The Year of the Rogue Nations?
President Obama channeled President Nixon and normalized relations with Cuba. Then, in the spirit peace, North Korea tested its nukes while John Kerry made a deal with Iran to give them nuclear capability.
“Death to the infidels!”
Israel watched from under the bus.
And then there was the Election of 2016
Wikileaks played political spoiler, exposing the crooked underbelly of politics. The DNC and the media felt the brunt of Julian Assange’s assault on the establishment.
In 2016 Obama stopped “blaming Bush” and started blaming “Russia.” The fallout?
In the spirit of transparency, Obama expelled 35 Russians, closed 2 compounds, and gave a report “we can believe in”…period.
While millions in America “Felt the Bern,” Bernie eventually sold out to the establishment, in hopes of propelling Hillary Clinton over the finish line. Clinton indeed hit the “finished line,” as she got “Trumped.”
The entire Leftist establishment went into full “nukeler” meltdown, as snowflakes all across America sobbed openly late November 8, then well past their bedtimes into November 9. Reality set in that Donald Trump had done the impossible, and beaten crooked Hillary.
You could call the election of 2016, the death of Liberalism. The Obamas are out, and the Clintons can now be bought at a fraction of the price.
Along with Liberalism, we lost many celebrities. 2016 may be the most notable group in quite some time. Below we categorize those losses.
From TVs and Movies
Mother Mary Angelica—Created EWTN-TV From A Garage. God Was With Her.
Kenny Baker—R2D2
Erik Bauersfeld—Voice Actor. “IT’S A TRAP!!!”—From Return Of The Jedi
Tony Burton—The Other ‘Duke’
William Christopher—Father Mulcahy from M*A*S*H
Miss Cleo—TV Psychic
Larry Drake—Laid Down the ‘LA Law’
Patti Duke—The Original ‘Teen Queen’
Fyvush Finkel—His Life Was NOT As Shaky As…’The Fiddler On The Roof’
Carrie Fisher—Royalty, In a galaxy far-far away
Zsa Zsa Gabor—‘Darling’
George Gaynes—Police Academy / Punky Brewster
Ron Glass—From The ’12th Precinct’ He Went On And Found ‘Serenity’
Christina Grimme—‘The Voice’ Winner, Murdered At Her Florida Concert
Dan Haggerty—A Likeable ‘Grizzly’
Pat Harrington Jr.—Took Life ‘One Day At A Time’
Florence Henderson—A ‘Lovely’ Lady
Steven Hill—Maintained ‘Law & Order’
Ken Howard—His ‘White Shadow’ Stood Over Everyone
George Kennedy—Never Had A ‘Failure To Communicate’
Ron Lester—‘Billy Bob’ from ‘Varsity Blues’
Garry Marshall—Gave Us ‘Those Happy Days’
Noel Neill—The Original Lois Lane
Bill Nunn—Radio Raheem in ‘Do The Right Thing’
Hugh O’Brian—Original ‘Wyatt Earp’
Joe Polito—He Was ‘Oh That Guy’ In TVs and Movies
Debbie Reynolds—Golden Age Hollywood Royalty
Alan Rickman—No One Played ‘Bad’ So Good.
Doris Roberts—Everyone ‘Loved’ Her Too
Theresa Saldana—‘Raging Bull’ And Hollywood Republican
Gary Shandling—It Was ‘HIS Show’ (And We Watched)
Alan Thicke—Best TV Dad
Robert Vaughn—Our U.N.C.L.E.
Abe Vigoda—Wasn’t ‘Just Business’, We Loved You ‘Fish’
Gene Wilder—Thank You For The Laughs
Anton Yelchin—‘Boldly Going’ Way Too Soon
Alan Young—Wilbur from ‘Mister Ed’
Music
Rene Angelil—Celine Dion’s Husband/Manager
David Bowie—The Music ‘Icon’
Leonard Cohen—Hallelujah
Natalie Cole—‘Unforgettable’
Glenn Frey—Fly Like An ‘Eagle’
Juan Gabriel—Legendary Mexican Singer
Merle Haggard—Lifelong Outlaw, But ‘Momma Tried’
Jerry Heller—Took West Coast Rap Mainstream (Watch ‘Straight Outta Compton’)
Paul Kantner—Flew The ‘Jefferson Airplane’
Lemmy ‘Von Motorhead’ Kilmister—We Knew Trick Question: ‘Lemmy Was God’
George Martin—Music Producer. Brought The Beatles To America (Nuff Said)
George Michael—Was Never a ‘Careless Whisper’
Emilio Navaira—The ‘Tejano King’
Billy Paul—He and ‘Mrs Jones’
Prince—We’ll Always Party Like Its ‘1999’
Frank Sinatra Jr.—He Also Did It ‘His Way’
Craig Strickland—Rising Country Music Singer On A Hunting Trip
Vanity—Singer and 80s Heartthrob
Bobby Vee—50s Singer
Maurice White—Earth, Wind, and Fire (Nuff Said)
Politics
Bob Bennett—Former US Senator
Fidel Castro—Smoking Those Cigars in Hell
Joe Medicine Crow—Made Sure We Never Forgot
Jerry Doyle—Pilot, Stockbroker, Actor, Politician, Commentator. Friend.
Rob Ford—Toronto Mayor, Made Canadian Politics Look…’American’
Boutros Boutros Ghali—Ran the UN In The 90s, And The World Fell Apart
John Glenn—God Speed
Tom Hayden—Took The Counterculture Mainstream
Gwen Ifill—PBS Host. VP Moderator
Melvin Laird—Wisconsin Congressman/Secretary of Defense
John McLaughlin—From Priest, To Nixon Aide, To TV-Punditry
Shimon Peres—‘Shalom’
Rama IX—King of Thailand
Nancy Reagan—A true ‘first lady’
Janet Reno—Attorney General. At Least She Investigated ‘Her’ President
Morley Safer—Always Gave Us ‘60 Minutes’
Antonin Scalia—‘The Judge’
Phyllis Schlafly—One Woman Conservative Crusader
Mark Takai—Incumbent Hawaii Congressman
Elie Wiesel—True Courage
George Voinovich—Former Ohio Governor/US Senator
Cliff Young—Nevada Congressman
Sports
Muhammed Ali—‘The Greatest’
Bobby Chacon—Still A ‘Champ’
Jose Fernandez—Cuban Refugee, Marlins Pitcher
Harry Fujiwara—WWE Mr Fuji
Joe Garagiola—The Voice Of Baseball
Gordie Howe—‘Mr. Hockey’
Joanie ‘Chyna’ Laurer—Fought It Out With The WWE‘BIG Boys’
Meadowlark Lemon—‘THE’ Globetrotter
Arnold Palmer—A True ‘Master’
Lee Reherman—American Gladiator ‘Hawk’
Buddy Ryan—‘Coach’
Craig Sager—Made Plaid ‘Cool’ Again
John Saunders—ESPN Broadcaster
Kimbo Slice—MMA Fighter
Ed Snider—The Top ‘Flyer’
Pat Summitt—She ‘Owned’ Basketball
Science/Technology
Dr. Joy Brown—TV Doc
Bob Ebeling—Rocket Booster Engineer, Space Shuttle
Dr. Henry Heimlich—Invented The Maneuver
Marvin Minsky—AI Pioneer
Edgar Mitchell—Sixth Man To Walk On The Moon
Raymond Tomlinson—“You’ve Got Email”. He Invented It (Sorry Al Gore)
Literature
Richard Adams—‘Watership Down’
Edward Albee—From ‘Virginia Woolf’ to ‘The Sandbox’
Lady Chablis—‘Midnight In The Garden Of Good And Evil’
Pat Conroy—‘Great Santini’ / ‘Prince Of Tides’
Bill Cunningham—The ‘Lens’ Of The NY Times
Umberto Eco—‘The Name Of The Rose’
Curtis Hanson—‘LA Confidential’, ‘The Hand The Rocks The Cradle’, ‘8-Mile’
Jim Harrison—‘Legend Of The Fall’
Michael Herr—‘Dispatches’
WP Kinsella—‘Field Of Dream’. He Built It/They Came
Tim LaHaye—Never ‘Left Behind’
Harper Lee—Required Reading
Michelle McNamara—Crime Writer
Robert Stigwood—‘Grease’ Was The Word
Alvin Toffler—‘Future Shock’
Greta Zimmer Friedman—The Woman In The ‘Times Square Kiss’ On VE-Day 1945
