The real flavor of a year is always derived most deliciously from the things that go wrong in high places: not just from the cock-ups, cover-ups, and mendacity, but also from ugly speech or unseemly behavior on the part of those (s)elected to Serve the People (or, at the very least, to do them no harm). Here, in no particular order of ignominy, are a few deserving brickbats.
Liars of the Year: Pakistan’s ISI for saying they did not know OBL was a stone’s throw from the military academy in Abbottabad.
Blowhard of the Year: Nicolas Sarkozy, for his berating of the U.K. for not swallowing a Pan-European poison pill.
Goons of the Year: The Chinese security services for their boorishness toward Ai Weiwei and their roughing up of Christian Bale.
