Three days before the new year, quiet reflection on the past year is not hard to find. Surely this year has been tumultuous, with great lows contrasted be even greater highs. The arts, sciences, and everything in between have been just fantastic, but so what? How did 2007 compare to 2006?

According to The BEAST, not well. All else being equal (and the all else of 2006 is unlikely to be worse than 2007’s), the 2007 list shows the beginnings of a dangerous trend: You are getting more loathsome every year.

Now, don’t kill the messenger. It’s true, The BEAST lists You as #9 on the 2007 list, a solid 7 slots worse than the 2006 list. They have gracefully removed themselves from the charts (check #12 on the 2006 list), but You remain, more detestable than ever before. (The Britney Spears whose children you supposedly care about moved from #14 to #27, which is more like what we were hoping would happen with you. But alas…)

Of course, this little bit of condescension could be argued for just about every year. The public accepts and allows horrible circumstances all the time, and it strikes me as nothing but haughty condescension to name You as one of the year’s most loathsome people. Last year it was an amusing counterpoint to Time’s Person of the Year (You). This year? Downright pedestrian.

I commend The BEAST for acknowledging the (if I may be so underhanded) shortcomings of the American people (and Britney Spears, and Glenn Beck, and Jesus, and Cheney, and Bush, and…), but are there not enough loathsome people to make each year’s list unique? Anyway, I am going to end here before you get the wrong idea. I actually do think the list is an amusing bit of reading for that ten-minute coffee break.

Notable abhorrents: #47 Mike Huckabee, #34 Joe Francis, #23 Bill O’Reilly

Update: You are #3 on the 2002 Most Loathsome list, #3 on the 2004 Most Loathsome list, and #4 on the 2005 Most Loathsome list, so you’re doing much better lately.

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