What does Charrerbox think is the most important thing that happened in 1999?
Eleven-Twelfths of 1999 In Review
When Chatterbox invited
readers to nominate events, significant deaths, good and bad movies, etc.,
for 1999--a year likely to get little attention in the coming weeks, as news
organizations choose instead to review the entire century or millennium--the
response was overwhelming. Chatterbox had promised to publish his official
"1999 In Review" item before Thanksgiving, but some distant memory of a scruple
persuaded him to wait till November was over. Nothing ever happens in
December.
OK, that's not quite true. Hordes of protesters in
Seattle are making the World Trade Organization's meeting there a much more
exciting TV story than anyone expected it to be. Reader Dan Crist (who
finds Chatterbox's habit of referring to himself in the third person "rather
annoying and less than professional") points out that Japan bombed Pearl Harbor
in Dec. 1941. Also, Chatterbox (moonlighting as "Today's Papers"
columnist) observed not quite one year ago that the House of Representatives
cast its second presidential-impeachment vote in U.S. history on Dec. 19, 1998.
(That same news-filled day, the U.S. ended an air war against Iraq and Bob
Livingston said he'd decided not to become House speaker after all.) Two months
after the impeachment vote, the Senate failed
to convict the president--a highly significant event of 1999 that, for some
bizarre reason, slipped Chatterbox's mind until several indignant readers wrote
in to remind him of it.
By now, it should be clear that Chatterbox isn't much good at year-in-review
journalism. Fortunately, Chatterbox's readers are very good at it. He will now
turn this survey over to them.
( Disclaimer: Although Chatterbox previously stated that he wouldn't
include opinions he disagreed with, that standard proved too confining. Where
Chatterbox has solid information or opinions to the contrary, he occasionally
interjects below. Obviously stupid or unnecessarily sour reader comments were
discarded, but if you don't find your nominee below it doesn't necessarily mean
that it was obviously stupid or unnecessarily sour. )
Here are 20 important things that happened in 1999:
1. Most Hated Celebrity--Ever?
The New York Times
reported on Nov. 10, 1999, that a new record had been set in the latest
Times /CBS poll: [Its] highest negative rating ever scored by a person in
the news. The honor went to Reform Party candidate Donald Trump, who managed to
make an unfavorable impression upon some 70 percent of those polled. The paper
noted that this achievement far eclipsed the last comparably negative
rating--the 55 percent score attained by Linda Tripp. Presumably this came as
no surprise to Mr. Trump, who, upon announcing the formation of a presidential exploratory
committee on Oct. 7, 1999, had cited polls with "amazing results"--a
remark that was widely misinterpreted at the time.
-- Jodie Allen of U.S. News &amp; World Report (and frequent
Slate
contributor)
2. Most Foolishly Ignored Parts of the World in 1999
The dog that did bark but no one noticed--the political turmoil in the
three great South Asian nations of India, Pakistan, and Indonesia, which now
are well on the way to passing the three northern Asian nations of China,
Japan, and Russia in population (Indonesia is fourth, Pakistan just passed Japan to
seventh, India will soon pass China to first). But Americans are still fixated
on northern Asia--Clinton says he must deal with China, because "you can't
ignore a billion people with nuclear weapons," but his own policy toward India
shows that you sure can!
--Jim Chapin
3. Worst/Best Films of 1999
Here's my nominee for worst movie of the year (complete category should
be: "Worst Movie of the Year That Assumedly Adult Male Reviewers Slathered
Over"):
There's
Something About Mary
--a pathetically sophomoric, penis-obsessed mess
that wouldn't even appeal to Larry Flynt!
-- Felicia, Menlo Park, Cal.
Chatterbox replies:
You've got the wrong year. That was 1998 .
[Chatterbox didn't have the heart to add that he thought There's
Something About Mary was pretty funny, especially the joke about "the
franks or the beans."]
Felicia replies:
Oops ... well then, the best of '99 was
The
Red Violin
--lyrical, magical, musical, wonderful!
[Chatterbox hasn't seen it.]
4. Most Shameless (and Unsuccessful) Attempt To Have It Both Ways in
1999 :
Sen. Arlen Specter, citing Scottish law, finds Clinton "not
proven" on the impeachment charges.
--Andrew Solovay
5. Rest in Peace in 1999:
Stanley Kubrick (multiple sources)
John Kennedy
Jr. (multiple sources)
Susan Strasberg (anonymous tipster; Strasberg played Anne
Frank in the original production of the Broadway adaptation, which some people
think wasn't Jewish enough)
Mel Torme (Steve Reiness)
Mrs. Whozit [ Chatterbox interjects : her name was Anne Sheafe Miller], the first person ever to be saved
by penicillin (Blair Bolles)
6. 1999: The Road Not Taken
What an extraordinary year! A
right-wing conspiracy topples the president, and the governor of Texas reveals
himself in a series of debates to be a natural leader with an innate gift for
connecting with his audience, a sure sign of his electoral success next year. A
new Thomas Harris book brilliantly takes us deeper into the
mind of a serial killer; a new Star Wars movie redefines the very nature of
entertainment; a new Stanley Kubrick film changes the whole national dialogue about
sex and marriage; a new TV series from the creator of SportsNight --oh, I
can't even bring myself to bash that piece of do-gooder twaddle. If only
McDonald's had come out with three more boldly adult-flavored hamburgers, it
would have been a perfect year for dud megaevents--all leading up of course to
Y2K, the limpest milestone in human history.
--Mike Gebert
7 . Children Behaving Badly in 1999
Don't forget Woodstock 1999 --the concert of "peace and love" that
ended in a literal blaze of glory when in an hours-long tribute to the original
Woodstock, the mob started ripping down vendor booths and anything else that
would burn and piling it onto the bonfires scattered about the scene.
[ Chatterbox interjects: Didn't people get assaulted and raped, too?]
I'm getting all sentimental just thinking about it.
You also left out all the shooting rampages . Several were done in the name of God
or love supposedly. They were all committed by "quiet, shy" people who "mostly
kept to" themselves. I've started to hang around only loud, obnoxious
people.
--Susan Hoechstetter
8. A Lunatic Rhapsody for the
New York Yankees
The Yankees can actually
be referred to as the glue that held the century together. Of course, as the
1999 World Series champions, they are a significant "story of the year."
However, this one singular achievement must be considered in a broader
context.
1999 represented the team's 25th championship of the century. This beats, by
one, the most championships any one team won during the century. The Montreal
Canadiens have won 23 Stanley Cups. However, the Yankees, an American team,
playing in the "City of the Century" (so called by me to reflect the amazing
growth and transformation of one city during this period), who play the
"National Pastime," are truly an amazing story.
The team's first championship occurred in 1921; therefore, they have won 25
of the last 78 years, nearly one in three. This level of sustained excellence
is not matched in sports or in any other aspect of society. The 1999 win is
possibly the most unique. With free-agency, expansion, and three levels of
playoffs, it is much harder to win today than in past years. In fact, by
winning three of the last four championships, they are the first team to
accomplish this feat during the eras of free-agency and of divisional play.
The Sultan of Swat, the Iron Man, the Yankee Clipper, the Mick, and
Yogi--these strong, masculine names are synonymous with the team, the sport,
and American history. They went hand in hand with two world wars, Superman, and
America's superpower status. The 1999 squad does not feature "a name." This
team, with its myriad of human-interest stories, its international roster, and
no star, is representative of '90s man, male sensitivity, Pax American
interests, and the new political paradigm.
--Jim Landau from North Potomac, Md. (formerly of the Bronx)
9. A Big Shot Calls for Decriminalizing Drug Use in 1999
New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson came out for ending drug prohibition. Though this
by itself has no immediate effect, it makes it respectable, for the first time,
for political leaders to discuss the subject, and thereby brings closer the day
when the vast majority of crimes will no longer be committed, when billions of
dollars will be freed to help the inner city instead of to ruin black people's
lives, and when we will stop, as in Samuel Butler's
Erewhon
, imprisoning people for the crime of
being sick.
--Henry Cohen
Chatterbox interjects: Didn't Baltimore Mayor Kurt Schmoke do the same thing 11 years ago?
10. Don't Worry in 1999
The Dalai
Lama proclaimed that most important thing in the world is to be
happy.
--Margaret Taylor
11. The Athletic Bra Seen 'Round the World in 1999
Public interest and media attention to the women's World Cup in
soccer.
--Tom Horton
12. Another Overlooked Foreign-Policy Event in 1999
Presidential primary elections for the first time ever in
Mexico.
--Tom Horton
13. Policing the World Is Shown To Work in 1999
I nominate as the most
under-reported story of the year (and the last few years) the continuing
alarmist predictions by foreign-policy and military experts about peacekeeping
efforts, which are then proved wrong and immediately forgotten. This year, the
obvious one is Kosovo, but the year is also ending with East Timor, where the
Aussies and their allies successfully stopped the slaughter with no
casualties.
These followed Haiti, Bosnia, and Rwanda as places where the West delayed
sending in troops because of alarmist predictions.
--Jerry Skurnik
14. Barbara Walters Did This One on Her Year-End Special, But It's Still
Good
Don't forget, Susan Lucci finally won an Emmy .
--anonymous tipster
15. Annals of Justice in 1999
Matthew Shepard: the despicable defense .
-- anonymous tipster
16. Get Me a New Century, Quick
A sitting president was accused of rape.
--Ananda Gupta
Chatterbox interjects: Yes, but the evidence was shaky--something the
Wall Street Journal 's editorial page, which broke the story, was
not
very forthcoming about. As Jack Shafer
wrote in this column, Ronald Reagan, after he left office, was also accused
of having once committed rape. The evidence there was shaky, too.
17. The Most Important Thing of All That Happened in 1999
In 1999, more than half of U.S. homes had a PC, for the first time (i.e.,
home-PC penetration passed 50 percent). Of course, most of these PCs crashed
all the time, but it's still a significant development. By the way, Internet
hookups in homes are still well below 50 percent.
--Walt Mossberg, "Personal
Technology" columnist for the Wall Street Journal (and occasional
rock-music
historian for this column)
18. All Dolled Up and Nowhere To Go in 1999
General
Pinochet
--Jodie Maurer
19. Senate Endorses Nuclear Proliferation in 1999
The Senate rejected the Comprehensive Test
Ban Treaty , thereby decapitating nuclear-arms control and sending Iraq,
Iran, and North Korea the message that the United States won't raise a big
stink if they try to join India and Pakistan. The president woke up to this
possibility at about the moment it was realized, and started lobbying for
passage of the treaty a day after it became too late.
--Josh Pollack
20. Unremarked Natural Disaster in 1999
The Indian Supercyclone is the biggest, this century at
least.
--Samir Raiyani
Photographs of: Donald Trump by Peter Morgan/Reuters; Natalie Portman by
Keith Hamshere/Lucasfilm Ltd./Reuters; New York Yankees players by Gary
Hershorn/Reuters; KLA member by Hazir Reka/Reuters.
The Senate endorsed nuclear proliferation. More than half of US homes had a personal computer. Susan Lucci finally won an Emmy. A sitting president was accused of rape.