Hot Air's top 50 posts in 2014: 41-50

Today we’ll start our traditional look back at the year at Hot Air by revisiting the fifty most-read posts of 2014. We have quite a collection for this year, too — plenty of election material, but lots of other topics as well. We even have a Die Hard Christmas villain tie-in with a couple of Gruber posts. Hobby Lobby, ISIS, the NBA, ObamaCare, Mitt Romney and other 2016 contenders all make appearances in the list. One interesting note: for the first time since I started collating these, no QOTD posts landed in the top 50 (I filtered them out of previous lists). In 2014, the topical news reigned, although a few open threads did make it onto the lists.

Today, let’s take a look at 41-50. We’ll hit the rest tomorrow, and then take a break on Sunday and return on Monday, finishing up on New Years Eve. We’ve got parade floats, Jonathan Gruber, and the Bill Maher-Ben Affleck showdown on Islam:

• #50: This Gruber-gate supercut video is positively enraging – American Commitment delivered this devastating blow to Gruber’s claim that his remarks about deceiving “stupid” voters and the CBO were just “speakos.” At the time (November), it was Grubergate in 2 Minutes. It’s still going on, though, and will almost certainly continue in 2015. (Noah Rothman)
• #49: Open thread: Cochrandämmerung; Update: Cochran wins? Update: McDaniel closing; Update: AP calls it for Cochran – Thad Cochran nearly lost his Senate seat in the spring to Chris McDaniel, but he rebounded in the runoff to narrowly defeat his primary challenger. Cochran’s outreach to Democrats touched off a bitter fight over the runoff, but McDaniel lost it, and Cochran won another term — likely his last. (Allahpundit)
• #48: In failed gotcha moment, Scott Brown showed he knows New Hampshire better than debate host – In his 2010 special election, Brown won in part by rebuking a debate moderator who referred to “Ted Kennedy’s seat” in the Senate, declaring it the “people’s seat.” Brown got a similar moment in New Hampshire, although it took a while for the media to admit it — and it didn’t do Brown much good in the end. Still a great data point for those who complain about mediator bias in debates. (Noah)
• #47: Bad sign: Cantor’s vanquisher surprised MSNBC host isn’t just celebrating his victory – Literally no one saw Dave Brat’s primary victory over Eric Cantor coming — maybe not even Brat himself. When Chuck Todd started peppering him the next day with policy questions, Brat wondered why he wasn’t being asked about celebrating his win. It wasn’t that bad of a sign, though, as Brat easily defeated his college colleague for the seat in the general election. (Noah)
• #46: Vox: Obama can’t govern, so let’s repeal the 22nd Amendment – Three months before the midterm, Matt Yglesias Voxsplained that Obama’s incompetence was so profound that he needed to be able to run for a third term. (Noah)
• #45: Two eyewitness accounts of the Michael Brown shooting – Almost all of this got contradicted later by other eyewitnesses who were a lot more reluctant to talk openly about what they saw, as well as the official autopsy. There will be more about the unofficial autopsy later in the top 50 posts, but suffice to to say that this shows why everyone should remain skeptical about witnesses who are eager to talk to the media in the aftermath of a shooting. (Allahpundit)
• #44: Broadcast networks won’t carry Obama’s immigration address… with one big exception – It’s not the one you think, in part because MSNBC is technically not a broadcast network. Univision carried it over the airwaves, while all the cable nets carried it live as well. (Noah)
• #43: Hillary: This plane thing is really Europe’s problem – Russia-supplied separatists shoot down a Malaysia Air commercial air liner in the worst attack on commercial flights since 9/11, and the Obama administration didn’t offer much more than a brief statement in rebuke.  Hillary Clinton defended Barack Obama by saying the attack was Europe’s issue. That reset button got a lot of use, didn’t it? (Noah)
• #42: Department of Justice now involved in story of man who built Obama-mocking parade float – This was the year that lèse majeste became part of the portfolio for the Department of Justice. Oddly enough, this story appeared on Bastille Day. (Mary Katharine Ham)
• #41: Video: Bill Maher and Sam Harris versus Ben Affleck on Islam – Epic in a weird way, as Bill Maher and Sam Harris argue with Ben Affleck over whether one can blame Islam for Islamists. (Allahpundit)

Well, I got locked out of the first set of posts (and so did Jazz Shaw), but that’s because we have such a great staff here at Hot Air. We’ll make it up down the road. I do have an honorable mention coming in at #51, though — A few more thoughts on GamerGate, which only missed the cut by 33 page views.

Tomorrow we’ll have a great list that includes a concealed-carry defense moment, a CNN anchor getting blasted for bias, Mitt Romney’s grandson, and much more. Stay tuned!