Diatribe: Top Diatribes And Other Scandals Of 2012.
This time of year, the week between Christmas and New Years Day, the world’s focus often turns to year-end reviews, Top Ten lists, red carpet recaps and annual updates from most any and every news and entertainment outlet imaginable. This blog’s most popular Diatribes in 2012 were
Diatribe: Dance Moms’ Abby Lee Miller Is Despicable
Diatribe: “Family Stickers” On Your Mini Van Are A Very Bad Idea.
Diatribe: Priscilla’s Big Fat American Gypsy (Arranged) Wedding On Television.
My Top Ten list of additional scandals of 2012 might include …
- Forty-Seven Percent Tapes – Mitt Romney was secretly recorded telling donors “There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the president no matter what. All right, there are 47 percent who are with him, who are dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name-it.” Backlash ensued.
- Hulk Hogan Sex Tape – A sex tape involving Hulk Hogan was released on the internet. Hogan was filmed having sex with his best friend, Bubba the Love Sponge’s then wife, Heather Clem.
- Joe Simpson’s Coming Out – Tabloid staple Joe Simpson was caught having an affair with his gay lover prompting his wife Tina to file for divorce and pushing his daughter, Jessica, out of his life.
- Kevin Clash/Elmo Sex Scandal – Clash was accused of having a sexual affair with an under-age teen and the scandal grew as more young men came forward. Eventually, Clash resigned but Elmo may suffer the consequences of his actions.
- Kristen Stewart’s alleged affair – Stewart made her Twilight fans cry when she got caught by a photographer in a compromising position with her married director, Rupert Sanders. The pictures devastated boyfriend Robert Pattinson and the once happy couple are still trying to repair their relationship.
- Petraeus Affair – CIA Director and former 5-star general David Petraeus resigned after his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell, pushing everything else from the news for days.
- Royal Nudes – Paparazzi with extra-long camera lenses took pictures of a partially nude Kate Middleton as she vacationed with her husband, Prince William. And Prince Harry, the fun-loving younger brother of Prince William was globally embarrassed when pictures of him partying and video of him stripping bare in a Las Vegas hotel room hit the internet.
- Secret Service Scandal – Eleven secret service agents were caught with prostitutes in their hotel rooms while serving at a U.S. Embassy in Colombia.
- Susan G. Komen Scandal – The Komen foundation cut ties with Planned Parenthood and announced it would cut hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding for breast cancer screenings and other women’s health services – and supporters fled. Executives stepped down and the foundation eventually reinstated the funding, but it may still never recover.
- The Boy Scouts “Perversion Files” – Thousands of pages of documents revealed that the Boy Scouts of America had covered up allegations of sexual abuse for decades.
While these lists generally elicit many memories, both of disgust and amusement, they never cease to amuse me. My favorites have always been the “Number Ones” … pop tunes, movies, books, etc.
Do you enjoy these year-end recaps? Which is your favorite? What do you think was 2012′s biggest scandal?
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Of your Top Ten, I think the more powerful stories were #1, 9, and 10. The rest were more tittilation, if I spelled that correctly. The Boy Scout cover up rivals that of the Catholic Church. The Susan B Komen story showed how hypocritical you can be when you denounce an organization like Planned Parenthood, which does so much good for women and girls, especially those in need. The first story was the “nail on the coffin” for Mitt as it gave people a better handle on their feelings as to why they should not vote for him – he is every bit the elitist that people feared. The Petraues one is sad. Take care, BTG
A great year for your blog, D&O, congratulations. And here’s hoping that 2013 is a wonderful year for you.