Who had the worst year is purely subjective, but it can be entertaining to speculate. So without further ado, here are a few possibilities for the biggest losers of 2022 offered up for your consideration and amusement.
Losers of 2022 – Liz Takes the Cake
There have been a few famed losers with the name Elizabeth. Lizzie Borden of axe murder fame comes to mind. Even though she was acquitted of slicing up her father and stepmother, she never quite regained her luster. Then there was Elizabeth Parris, who is not quite as well-known as Borden, but played a central role in ratcheting up the hysteria of the Salem Witch Trials. Known better as a Betty than a Lizzie (but let’s not get stuck on minutia), Parris was the first to cry witch in Salem, MA, causing all hell to break loose.
This brings us to the loser Lizzie of today – Liz Cheney. The Wyoming representative helped to create a poop storm only to find herself swept away by it during the 2020 election season. Actually, Cheney didn’t even make it to the general election because she was ground to dust in the GOP primary.
Liz Cheney (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
Yes, Lizzie took the high road to martyrdom (a leitmotif for this year’s losers) by joining forces with the Democrats on the House J6 committee, where she took center stage as the Dems’ useful idiot. Wyomingites came out in droves to register their disapproval of the former vice president’s daughter. America First challenger Harriet Hageman walloped Cheney 66.3% to 28.9%. At one point, she clocked in with the lowest favorability rating of any Republican – a net minus 43 compared to the next least loved, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who registered a plus two.
Liberty Nation’s senior political analyst said: “Cheney easily wins the prize for the single most unpopular political figure in the entire country.” Any which way you cut it, Liz Cheney took a figurative axe to her political career and is destined to play her chosen role of “principled martyr.”
The Duke and Duchess of Nowhere
Speaking of martyrs, perhaps no one could challenge Lizzie of Wyoming for loser of the year save Meghan & Harry. This dynamic duo figured out how to lose in a big way. They lost their royal titles, funding, security and fled the United Kingdom in disgrace.
The actress and her Prince Charming managed to take the fairy out of the tale and twist it into a saga of misery and woe. However, such melancholy surrounded by luxury only highlighted an insipid twosome of entitlement seeking some sort of public psychological catharsis.
Harry and Meghan (Photo by Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Instead of taking it on the chin or chalking it up to lessons learned, the defunct royals took their story on the road – first to Oprah, then to Netflix. If there is a hunger to feed off the dysfunction of another family, one need look no further than the Duke and Duchess of Nowhere.
Their story comprises endless self-absorption and animosity towards the press, which they continually complain about, but then work harder to seek out. This duo is particularly adept at blaming everyone but themselves for their problems: the paparazzi and the Royal family – bad, Meghan and Harry – good. And here they are in living color, meditating, and getting in touch with their feelings while watching the sunset over Santa Barbara. So sad.
A remarkable element shared by both losers of 2022 is that the losses are self-generated. The Marvelous Miss Markle managed to find tears and torment behind every jewel-laden door she was ushered through as part of the Royal family. Liz Cheney pushed the political self-destruct button all by herself.
Perhaps that is the lesson from our losers of 2022 list: Life is full of unpleasant, unavoidable circumstances without igniting firestorms of our own making. Something to ponder as we take a sip of champagne when the clock strikes midnight tonight and rings in the new year of 2023.
