The year 2021 was a mixed bag with inflation, the supply chain crisis, and countless stories of general wretchedness and woe. But for some, the year was worse than others. Thus, we humbly offer you Liberty Nation’s top five biggest losers of 2021.
#1 – The Cuomo Brothers
Brothers Andrew (left) and Chris Cuomo (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for HBO)
Andrew Cuomo’s fall from the governorship of the Empire State and then the firing of his brother Chris from “the most trusted name in news” were fast and furious – and some say long overdue. But when the end came for the Brothers Cuomo, the ax was swift and sharp. It seemed like just yesterday Governor Andrew was riding the wave of national popularity with an Emmy Award and a book deal, and was perhaps even eyeing the Oval Office.
Loyal brother Chris was digging into his Google contacts to help his sibling when he was snagged for unethical journalistic conduct. In a way, it was an odd appropriation for Cuomo-the-younger – a journalist? But in the end, the Brothers Cuomo were sent packing, and one can only wonder if Papa Mario is rolling over in his grave over the foibles and follies of his two sons in 2021.
#2 – Jussie: Trials & Tribulations
Actor Jussie Smollett got hammered by a Chicago jury, which found him guilty of five of the six charges for manufacturing a hate crime. The former Empire cast member tried to act his way out of the mess he created, but no one was drinking the Kool-Aid. What Jussie was thinking when he paid two friends to “assault” him is anyone’s guess. Smollett tried to get folks to believe the violence against him was motivated by racial and sexual bias, but he just couldn’t pull off a whopper of a hoax and may, in fact, get some time in the slammer as a result.
(Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images)
#3 – Alec Baldwin
Despite protestations of innocence, actor Alec Baldwin finds himself in a pile of steaming dung following a shooting on the set of his movie Rust. Handling what was supposed to be a “cold gun,” Baldwin claims to have never pulled the trigger on a firearm that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. Two civil lawsuits have been filed amid the finger-pointing as experts try to untangle the deadly mess. Any way you cut it, Baldwin is at the epicenter of this debacle that is unlikely to end anytime soon.
#4 – Chris Wallace
The spin-doctors in the leftist media are working overtime trying to maintain Chris Wallace’s move from Fox News to CNN as a win for the veteran reporter. After 18 years on the job, Wallace was deeply unpopular with his former audience. This December, he announced he would be leaving to join the CNN+ digital streaming service. Son of the famed veteran newsman, Mike Wallace, Chris never seemed to gel with the Fox fan base because of his incessant interruptions and what many saw as a self-focus bordering on narcissism. Leaving a popular cable network for a streaming service on CNN just does not have the look or smell of a successful move. Will Wallace go the way of Megyn Kelly, who joined NBC only to flame out in short order? Stay tuned in 2022 for more on that story.
#5 – The Incredible Sinking Kamala
Kamala Harris (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
It has been a rough year for Kamala Harris. From being excoriated for handing out Kamala cookies to her feckless effort to unearth the “root causes” of illegal immigration, the vice president was showing wear and tear by the end of 2021. Several staffers decided to jump ship and gave their former boss a good swift kick on the way out. Employees have described Harris as a “bully” who offers up “a constant amount of soul-destroying criticism.” Of late, the vice president has gotten more than a bit testy with Biden-friendly members of the press as her poll numbers have taken a deep dive. Harris’ public image has come to personify The Poseidon Adventure after the tidal wave hit.
Of course, it could be argued that the biggest losers in 2021 are the American people. Inflation has cut into wallets and pocketbooks like an Exacto knife poised over an Amazon box. As a country, we went from energy independence to begging Saudi Arabia for more oil, a supply chain crisis that some media members have had the temerity to blame on the U.S. public, and a big city crime wave with organized looting. Then there are the COVID variants that keep on coming and a president predicting gloom, doom, and death this winter.
Still, the American people are a resilient lot. Going all the way back to the Revolution, we have managed to beat the odds, rise above the tragedies, and live to fight another day. So, as we enter 2022, we can lean into Voltaire, who said, “Optimism is the madness of insisting that all is well when we are miserable.” Or we can embrace the words of Victor Hugo, who averred, “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.”
~ Read more from Leesa K. Donner.
