Literally Anything Is Possible

December 29, 2017 9:12 AM

“Yes, 2017 went off the rails. But what pushed it? We asked 29 of our favorite journalists, writers, and thinkers: What were the most important events of the past 12 months, and what were the least?” - The Morning News on the year was and wasn’t (previously)
posted by The Whelk (19 comments total)

Least Important: Covfefe.

Or most important!
posted by chavenet at 9:29 AM on December 29, 2017

They literally asked for the "least important events", not least important news story. I nominate two random hydrogen molecules bouncing off each other on the other side of the galaxy.
posted by paper chromatographologist at 9:36 AM on December 29, 2017 [9 favorites]

#NeverTrumpers ARE less important than that, though.
posted by Artw at 9:37 AM on December 29, 2017 [7 favorites]

I nominate two random hydrogen molecules not bouncing off each other on the other side of the galaxy.
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:48 AM on December 29, 2017 [11 favorites]

Least Important:

whatever it was, trust that billions of people lost their shit about it on Twitter
posted by philip-random at 9:52 AM on December 29, 2017 [4 favorites]

The bits of the year where people had space to loose their shit about something trivia on Twotter were actually like little calm oases of normality.
posted by Artw at 9:58 AM on December 29, 2017 [12 favorites]

#NeverBounce
posted by flabdablet at 10:07 AM on December 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

And ummm, Ted Scheiman -- I think you need to take a moment and contemplate the difference between unimportant and absurdly annoying to the point of evil ...

Least Important: The #NeverTrump conservatives who make speeches extolling a Republican Party that never existed while rubber-stamping the president’s least-qualified and most-racist nominees to lifetime appointments on a US district court.

posted by philip-random at 10:14 AM on December 29, 2017 [3 favorites]

Least important news event of 2017: Area Man currently dancing in my his chair to Get Lucky by Daft Punk, featuring Pharrell and Nile Rodgers.
posted by Fromage`a Trois at 10:20 AM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

I nominate two random hydrogen molecules

1995 called and... chaos theory???
posted by runt at 10:24 AM on December 29, 2017 [1 favorite]

I can imagine plenty of less important events, or even news stories, than any of them suggested, but I can accept the label as "news event/story that (1) wasn't actually newsworthy on its own and (2) dragged the most media attention away from what should've been covered instead."
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 10:27 AM on December 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

2017 is on the rails 2016 switched it onto
posted by atoxyl at 10:29 AM on December 29, 2017 [8 favorites]

most important - a variety of things that happened in the middle east, all of which add up to trouble, few of which actually involve israelis or palestinians

least important - the NFL anthem controversy
posted by pyramid termite at 10:31 AM on December 29, 2017

It's tricky because the mega-unimportant thing conservatives loose their shit about, like people saying "happy holidays", actually become foundational blocks in their general project of normalising fascism and eroding democracy.
posted by Artw at 10:58 AM on December 29, 2017 [20 favorites]

To be fair, "happy holidays" isn't whining about something or inciting some form of violence, which means it can't be free speech.
posted by flabdablet at 11:09 AM on December 29, 2017 [6 favorites]

I can accept the label as "news event/story that (1) wasn't actually newsworthy on its own and (2) dragged the most media attention away from what should've been covered instead."

If anybody is looking for candidates for Word of the Year, I nominate "nothingburger".
posted by flabdablet at 11:14 AM on December 29, 2017 [2 favorites]

Most important: Environmental changes - all the social drama isn't going to mean anything if we don't have a livable planet to hold it.

Least important: Endless articles about why we should be sympathetic to the uneducated poor rural white bigots who voted for the rich famous white bigot.
posted by ErisLordFreedom at 11:28 AM on December 29, 2017 [15 favorites]

I nominate two random hydrogen molecules not bouncing off each other on the other side of the galaxy.

I nominate the Cambridge Change undergone by a virtual particle on the other side of the galaxy by which it now has the property "being thought about by me."
posted by justsomebodythatyouusedtoknow at 6:48 PM on December 29, 2017

I nominate the thing that didn't even rate a mention in this nomination.
posted by flabdablet at 2:35 AM on December 30, 2017