2003. What a strange, historical year.

This year ends with our population more polarized than ever. Not since the late 1960s has political dissent been so prominent in our society. Unlike the 1960s, however, dissent is more organized -- more Internet, fewer drugs. Furthermore, much of the dissent in the 1960s was fueled by the draft. The fact that there is still a huge undercurrent of revolt in the United States without the extreme visceral experience of seeing your son taken by the government and sent off to a war proves that change in this country, and in this world, is on its way.

Of course, 2003 was all about the war in Iraq. Much good comes out of Iraq every day that liberals like me often forget -- rebuilding schools, fixing infrastructure, killing/capturing the Husseins. We can never forget, however, that the war was fought under false pretenses, forged intelligence, and cronyism. And though the president finally signed a pay raise for the soldiers, veterans still get a raw deal, national guardsmen have been kept from their families far longer than promised, and soldiers are being fed rancid food by Halliburton.

What's happening at home is just as disturbing. The return to Reganomics is posting good numbers but shrinking the middle class and making life worse for the poor. Huge corporations continue to keep their central offices in off-shore tax shelters. Tax cuts for the wealthy leave less money for states and regions, forcing them to raise property taxes and administrative fees and in essence raising taxes for the poor and the middle class. Unfunded domestic mandates also hurt states financially, like No Child Left Behind, which makes demands of states to up standards but provides no resources to help them do it.

Speaking of unfunded mandates, let's not forget the bait-and-switch and doublespeak policies of the Bush administration. Clean air bills that let factories release more pollutants, forestry bills that allow for even more logging, and a promise to help AIDS in Africa that doesn't spend the money promised and only promotes abstinence instead of distributing condoms.

Our civil liberties are under attack, not only by John Ashcroft and the Patriot Act, but by the RIAA. Since when do private corporate entities have judicial authority? Oh, right. Bush is president.

So who can defeat all of this? The Democratic National Committee should be ashamed of themselves. Instead of putting up the unified fight that organizations like MoveOn.org have been able to achieve, they've fought each other like the Three Stooges fighting over a donut.

The biggest news story of 2003 -- other than Iraq -- is Howard Dean. His campaign has organized grassroots support in unprecedented ways. His message is more populist than the rest of the Democrats (except for maybe Kucinich, but at this point, Kucinich doesn't count). Howard Dean has spoken more clearly to the Bush regime opposition than anyone else, and he's not about to stop. Love him or hate him, you cannot deny the impact that he's made in the political arena. The most shameful thing is that the Democratic Party itself has done more to damage Howard Dean than the GOP, and the conservative onslaught will already be difficult.

If you know me (and if you read this, you probably do), you know that I was behind Howard Dean before it was cool to be behind Howard Dean. If fact, when I endorsed him on this blog (yes, I know how pretentious it is to call it an "endorsement"), his poll numbers were worse than Al Sharpton's. Now he's been endorsed by Al Gore, many strong unions, and lots of elected officials. He's raised more money than Bill Clinton in his election bids, and he's done it with small donations around $100. At least some people know that eventually we have to rally behind the front runner. Unlike Democratic primaries of the past, we all knew Dean was front runner around a month ago.

Like I say, you may not support Dean. You may think the Iraq war was justified but believe the president lied to us, so you like John Kerry. You may think that universal health care can only be achieved with a new program instead of expanding current programs, so you like Dick Gephardt. You may be a Republican but they won't let you join the country club because you're Jewish, so you like Joe Lieberman. No matter who you like now, come November, you will have two choices -- Dean or Bush. Choose wisely, and choose wisely now, because we have a lot of people to convince in the next 10 months.

And I swear to God, if any of you vote for Nader, I'm smacking your stupid ass.

What else happened in 2003? There was a blackout in New York that was entertaining, the government passed a partial birth abortion ban -- a term that exists in not one medical publication, and the Space Shuttle exploded. All very important events, all of which we will see in the coming year what effect those events will have.

Then there's the media.

Much of the undercurrent of dissent in this country is now fueled by resistance to corporate oppression (started by the Enron scandal) and the media. I believe that more people are wising up to the fact that the media is also owned by these same corporations, and that we are all being fed crap. Maybe that's more hope than truth. Fox News and its ilk continue to distort the truth, and not liberally as many of them would lead us to believe. I think the resounding thud of Rush Limbaugh this year and the firing of Michael Savage from MSNBC are the first sounds of the conservative media wall crashing down.

And speaking of conservative media, how about the weirdest moment of 2003: CBN praying for the death of Supreme Court justices. If the Christians are correct, Pat Robertson is going to Hell. I hope some day he realizes that.

Another media trend this year -- the increase in reporting any celebrity that even makes a casual glance at an underage child sexually. It started the year before, but now it's on the rise. R. Kelly, Garry Glitter, Paul Rubens, Jeffery Jones, Pete Townsend. All of those stories pretty much died, but the media had a taste of that sweet, sweet pedophile meat. And Michael Jackson, who we all knew was a freak. I'm not saying the media creates these monsters, but the media would rather report on them than, say, how bad repealing steel tariffs will be or how asinine the new Medicare bill is.

So what's going to happen in 2004? Here are my predictions, which may be wrong.

Howard Dean is not the next George McGovern, he's not the next Walter Mondale, and he's definitely not the next Michael Dukakis. If there is any historical precedent for Howard Dean, it's the defeat of Herbert Hoover by Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Herbert Hoover had to fix the depression, and he tried to do it with tax cuts. Hoover was the only other president to end his term with more jobs lost than created -- the other is Dubya. I also think Dean will pick up Wesley Clark as his running mate, making the team a formidable adversary to the Bush camp. Unless the Bush administration catches bin Laden, Dean wins in a very close race.

The only terrorist attacks the US sees will be overseas. Nothing will happen on our soil. (Knock on wood.)

The media will continue to point to positive economic indicators, but unemployment will begin to rise again in March after the seasonal uptick. The deficit will increase, states will raise their taxes, and the economy will start to tank again.

And The Simpsons will air an episode where Ranier Wolfcastle runs against Mayor Quimby.

But enough about the world. What about me?

This was my toughest year in school yet, and it'll just get harder. By "harder," I mean more satisfying. My father had heart surgery, which made me feel scared, old, and thrilled that he's still alive. My first nephew was born, though not born to my family but adopted by my brother and sister-in-law -- their own natural-born son is due in April. I had an incident with the cops which was printed in an independent publication on the west coast. I premiered my first scenic design, which I guarantee will be my last. I fell in love with my girlfriend of nearly four years all over again. In 2004, I will turn 30, and despite the weight I've gained and the hair I've lost, I feel more alive today than I ever have.

As for this here blog, it is, as far as I'm concerned, successful. After all, I do it for me. It makes me look deeper at the world around me, examine it, and make my own decisions. I'm thrilled that you're reading it. I even get e-mails when people disagree. Future plans include moving it to a new server where I can set up discussions. I also hope to invite more people to contribute to it. This lowly blog may never have the prominence of Atrios or Daily Kos, but it does for me and hopefully for a few of you.

Finally, my favorite album of the year.

It's been a great year for music, so the decision this year was extremely difficult. With amazing releases by Radiohead, The Postal Service, Out Hud, The White Stripes, Cat Power, Basement Jaxx, and Prefuse 73 (my runners-up), not to mention the re-release of Glenn Branca's The Ascension, my gut was telling me nothing. What stuck in my head the most? What sounded fresher than anything else I've heard this year and still spoke to my innate tastes?

After much consideration, my favorite album of the year must be The Rapture's Echoes. Ridiculously retro without wearing its influences on its sleeves like The Strokes. Danceable and punky, accessible and indie. Echoes has the effect that Beck often misses -- as fun and often brilliant as eclecticism can be, genius only comes when it sounds cohesive and new. If you haven't purchased Echoes yet, do it, because you'll need it for your New Year's party. (I wrote much of this entry yesterday and chose my favorite album last night. Today, Pitchfork Media published Echoes as the best album of 2003. How about that.)

Thank you for enjoying ...like you really care... this year. I'll be back January 5. Have a happy holiday, and may 2004 bring peace to our nation and our world.