The year 2013 has been one filled with sorrow, lies and cover ups.  We hoped for change, for government transparency, for some honesty.  We got nothing.  What we got were people so desperate that they resorted to violence as the only option. School shootings, mall shootings, knock down games, it goes on and on.

In 2013 alone, there were a total of 25 school shootings.  Not all of these made headlines, in most cases the only death was the shooter.  It is, however, just as traumatizing to students and faculty when they have to witness a suicide.  And if you reflect back, it was most likely a good thing that we didn’t know about these other shootings.  Those crazed individuals didn’t get their 15 minutes of fame.  Something the media needs to get a handle on.  Continuously showing a shooting, and concentrating only on the shooter, glorifies the individual.  They deserve nothing.  The victims, the heroes, they’re the ones who deserve the spotlight.

The big debate of the year was and still is Obamacare.  A healthcare system that doesn’t work and yet continues to be pushed on the American people.  Aside from the obvious issues, such as the website constantly crashing, people are speaking out about the high deductibles, some claiming their older plans had better coverage for less.  Single, young males and the elderly are questioning why they have to pay for maternity benefits.  Last I checked, males and menopausal women can’t give birth.  And there is no opt out for this coverage.  So what it comes down to is Obamacare is relying on the young & elderly to fund this healthcare debacle.  “If you like your health plan, you can keep it.  If you like your doctor, you can keep him” ~ Barak Obama.  A man who obviously had no idea what he was talking about.  Or he did and just blatantly lied to the American people.  You decide.

More lack of government discernment saw the cover up of the deaths of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others during an attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi.  We were told the attacks happened because of an anti-Islam YouTube video.  What we later found out is that the ambassador and his aides had requested more security, claiming the area was becoming increasingly unstable.  Their pleas went unanswered.  And yet President Obama and then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton stood in front of the American people, on national television, and lied.  Lied to families of the dead, lied to cover up their ineptness surrounding this tragedy.  One year later, questions still remain unanswered.

On a side note, with nothing to do with the politics of America, 2013 also saw the losses of some of entertainments greats such as actors Peter O’Toole, Joan Fontaine, Eleanor Parker, Paul Walker, Marcia Wallace, Karen Black, Eileen Brennan, Dennis Farina, & James Gandolfini, television host Sir David Frost,  former South African president Nelson Mandela, musicians Lou Reed, Eydie Gorme, J.J. Cale, Sid Bernstein & Slim Whitman.  There were others, too many to list here, but all notable for their craft.

As we come to the end of the year, we can only hope that 2014 will bring about change.  Change in the way the media handles tragedy.  Change in the way the government relays information.  Change, in that Americans take back their country.  As long as we allow the politicians to make our decisions, we will be prisoners to their antics.  We need to take a stand.