In some ways, 2016 might go down as the Year of the Backfire. Today’s look at the 50 most-read posts at Hot Air in 2016 brings us into the top twenty, which has a pretty consistent theme to it. Hillary offered an argument for Al Gore that she ended up having to use herself three weeks later. Jill Stein’s recount had an impact on a key state — but hardly the one she intended. A hoaxter tried to score social-justice-warrior points on a well-known retailer and ended up with egg (or cake) on his face. And if 2016 became a blur, one can perhaps thank CNN for accelerating the trend:
- #20: About that video of Obama encouraging illegal immigrants to vote… (11/7/2016) – Did he? Not really, Larry wrote in debunking the allegation, but he also missed an opportunity to emphasize that only citizens can vote, too. Be sure to get the full context Larry supplies in the post.
- #19: Guess what was so controversial that CNN had to blur it out? (9/1/2016) – Did CNN or HLN blur out any “I’m With Her” logos in their coverage? I’d guess … no.
- #18: What can the FBI do about Hillary Clinton without a grand jury? (1/24/2016) – The answer to this question is “make a public statement after the AG takes a private meeting with the spouse of the subject of a criminal investigation.” Jazz saw pretty clearly where this would go.
- #17: Last week Hillary agreed that Gore ‘won’ 2000 election (10/20/2016) – Well, she smiled and nodded in agreement while Gore made that argument at a Hillary rally, but it’s pretty much the same thing. At least she got a head start on her attempts to delegitimize the election results, which was Unpatriotic and Very Very Horrible … until she lost.
- #16: Thanks, Jill: Michigan House passes voter-ID bill after vote-fraud hyperbole (12/08/2016) – In a rational world, the stricter voter-ID bill would have become law as a result of Jill Stein’s rantings about voter fraud, but the Michigan Senate adjourned rather than take up the House bill. Still, the legislature is almost certain to take it up again in the next session, and voters can thank Stein for creating the political environment for it.
- #15: Whole Foods: We’re suing the gay activist who claimed we sold him a cake with a slur written on it — and we have video (4/19/2016) – It wasn’t the first SJW hoax this year, but it might have had the most satisfactory ending. Apparently the idiot behind this one didn’t expect Whole Foods to fight back … and had never heard of point-of-sale surveillance. D’oh! After the hoaxster admitted his fraud, Whole Foods dropped the lawsuit, which was too bad. It might have prevented more nonsense of this kind.
- #14: Head to head: Presidential debate live blog (9/26/2016) – The consensus after the first general-election debate was that Hillary won — but Trump proved he could trade punches with her. She didn’t come close to scoring a knockout, but she did finish with a strategic attack that led to a week or so of bad press relating to Trump and beauty pageants. Anyone remember that now? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
- #13: Petraeus: Hillary Clinton is being treated fairly (3/18/2016) – And he should know, or at least he did until investigators let her off the hook. Petraeus might have to get a pardon to get another job in government, assuming he wants one. Hillary can run for office again, thanks to the treatment she received. Wonder if Petraeus still believes this?
- #12: Hot Air to move to Facebook comment system (2/15/2016) – Lots of sturm und drang over this decision, but it’s been a net positive for us on traffic and engagement. YMMV, of course.
- #11: Presidential live blog: OH, MI, WI, IA, CO — The firewall (11/8/2016) – On Election Night, we split up coverage of the races, AP handled most of the Blue Wall states, and it didn’t take long for us to discover that it would be a very bad night for Democrats. By about 9 pm ET, the big question was how bad … and whether we’d have another split between the Electoral College and the popular vote.
Join us tomorrow as we wrap up the series with the reveal of the ten most-read posts at Hot Air in 2016. We’ll have Election Night drama, a Schilling effect on speech, a mysterious vanishing in the media, Hillary taking a header (less literally than before), and much much more! If you’ve missed our previous Top 50 posts, here’s your chance to catch up: