Musings from the Misfits - Our 2016 Year In Review

It has been an exciting, crazy, fun year for the Misfits. We got off the ground almost exactly one year ago, and we have come a long way. Please stay tuned, because we have so much more in store for 2017!

We would like to wish you all a very happy New Year, and best wishes for a fantastic 2017. Here are our thoughts looking back on 2016.

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JR (@JHolmsted)

2016 has been quite the rollercoaster. It started out with the highest of political hopes and the beginning of election season was exciting, even fun. Several awesome Republican candidates and terrible Democratic ones made a Republican presidency practically a done deal. Then the unthinkable happened. Out of all our choices, we let Trump take the prize. Even crazier, America gave him the Oval! Because of this and more, 2016 tested everything. Friendships were broken, true colors exposed. Pundits and journalists sold out. Conservatism was challenged, principles redefined, lines drawn in the sand. But we made it through together. So many of you wonderful tweeps contributed to that, but especially this group I randomly started last year. In 2016, our little project grew into a brand of sorts, MisfitPolitics, and it is so much more than just a website blog. The writing has been sharp and clever. The viewpoints challenged and debated (mostly) civilly. The friendships more than I could've anticipated. That is what made 2016 so great, despite all the nonsense. These people. My people. Look out 2017, we are coming in hot! #AlwaysMisfits

CDP (@cdpayne79)

In place of my "Year in Review” (we all know 2016 was awful) here are a few things that didn’t happen, but should have:

Trevor Noah wasn’t deported.
There was no nationwide ban of pumpkin spice.
Nobody throat punched Ryan Lochte on American soil, where it should’ve been done.
The Walking Dead didn’t wrap it up and lurch away.
The 17th Amendment was not repealed.
Raul Castro didn’t die, too.
Shoeless Joe wasn’t put in the Hall of Fame where he belongs.
SMOD didn’t keep his side of the deal.

Consider this list carefully, 2017. I’m counting on you.

Dan (@danieltobin)

Observations from 2016:  Freedom was usurped by the revolt of the populists which made the elitists build taller towers to throw insults from.  Evangelicals were the cheapest date in the primary. The alt-right think they are fashionable but not everyone gets to go to the prom. Double standards are the new standard. Americans love being Americans and hate being blamed for being American.  The media rigged the election for the guy who won, and they are pissed about it. It's all fake news. The 1980s hacked the election. Americans are making Putin great again.  Obama's legacy is destroying his own party and giving Israel the finger. Trumpism is the new Republicanism and doesn't matter if you like it.  Help us Obi-Wan Kenobi, you're our only hope. It's not all bad, but not all good, but the best was being able to share thoughts with followers and my fellow Misfits. I wish you all a wonderful New Year.

Rebecca (@BlazerMc88)

There are a lot of jokes, quips and hashtags about how 2016 was the worst year ever. It was an emotional year, for sure. Lots of celebrity deaths, Clownface von Fu**stick beating out a talented bench of GOP hopefuls, terror attacks, natural disasters, the liberal meltdown when Hillary lost the election (OK, so that last one is kind of fun).

And yet - I can’t fully get on board with the “worst year ever” theme because all things considered, if there was a lottery for a blessed life, well, I won it. This year, I celebrated 20 years of marriage with an amazing man I love more every day. Together, we are unstoppable. We have three healthy, happy kids who are thoughtful, kind, funny, and just a joy to be around. These are things you cannot buy.

The icing on the cake of my life – I’ve had the honor and privilege of being a part of an amazing group of friends on Twitter known as The Misfits. For more than a year, I’ve chatted with these friends every single day. We’ve shared our joys and our pains, our victories and our embarrassing mistakes. We hold each other up, we have silly spats, we laugh and we laugh and laugh. I’m a better person now than I was a year ago, and I owe it all to them, and especially to my dear friend and Twitter Twin JR, who got this whole thing going.  #AlwaysMisfits.

And finally, 2016 can’t be considered “bad” to me because, well, I’m still alive and kicking! In 2011, after two weeks of being in the ICU with heart failure, pulmonary edema, and kidneys starting to fail, I was diagnosed with a terminal lung illness. The doctors were grave. The doctors said the average prognosis was 4-5 years. The doctors were wrong. I’m not going anywhere, y’all. So you’re going to have to just put up with me.

Thank you, 2016, it was fun. On to new adventures in 2017! Happy New Year to all, even the losers and haters (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Andrew Lynch (@GentlemanRascal)

2016 was a unique year in many ways. I turned 30, and it feels like the world turned upside down at every turn. (Things have gotten even stranger since I went through that glow worm cave in New Zealand--I'm still not 100% sure I didn't fall into an alternate universe) But one thing that remained fairly constant were my beloved Misfits. As a group, we have been around over a year now and in a year full of ups and downs, they have helped keep me sane. This past year, I have found a group of new friends that make getting on Twitter every day worthwhile and I wouldn't have gone through this year with any other group having my back (and vice versa). Here's to what our next year together brings... even if it's more wrong food opinions.

Mo (@molratty)

I joined Twitter in March because I couldn’t take Facebook politics anymore.  I’m blessed with friends and family whom I dearly love and, because I wanted to keep things that way, I had to bite my tongue, so to speak, when they posted idiotic political memes on Facebook. So, I finally joined Twitter, late as I usually am to these sort of things.

Twitter was an awful, bewildering place for a conservative in March. The infighting on the Right was borderline intolerable because of Trump and various skirmishes over the other candidates.  But over the past ten months, I discovered something wonderful buried in all the snark and nastiness: there are some truly remarkable people here. I appreciate the kindness, the wit and humor, and the intelligence of the people with whom I interact. What I admire most, though, is the strength of you who have faced down serious adversity in your lives and are still kind, giving, caring people.  I’ve met so many of you here: parents of children with diseases or disabilities; people who’ve struggled with disease or disability themselves; people who’ve lost loved ones too soon; people caring for their aging parents; people who came from nothing.  I admire and appreciate you all.  I am a better person for knowing you.  This year has been difficult, but you have made it more bearable and for that I’m eternally grateful.  


Rex (@LunaticRex)

It's really happening. 2016 is finally coming to a merciful end. I'd address the negative aspects, but I don't have enough ink. So, the things that made me happy:

The two sports teams I have faithfully supported my entire life won championships (again). The Alabama Crimson Tide won their 16th national football title and the Denver Broncos won their third Super Bowl. I was also happy to see the Chicago Cubs win the World Series for the first time since 1908 and finally get the billy goat off their backs. And of course, 2016 is the last year Barack Obama will be president, the Democrats lost the White House in hilarious fashion, and Hillary Clinton will never reside at 1600 again.

But the best thing that happened for me in 2016 is that I got to spend time with my favorite person in the world: My wife, the lovely Dawn. May 2017 have far fewer of all the negative aspects of the current year, and far more time with Dawn.

Alex (@VerumVulnero1)

2016 was kind of a mixed bag. The entire election cycle says a lot about who we are as a country now, and most of it is not good. We lost too many good people before their time and bickered over too much irrelevant stuff. Neither Taylor Swift nor George RR Martin released any new material. But personally it was a gratifying year full of new friends, achievements and successes, so I'm going to choose to remember it for that instead of the sadness. May 2017 bring you more of the good than the bad.

Marc (@marcannem96)

2016 has been a great year. Before you condemn my view or accuse me of sticking my head in the sand, let me clarify my point of view. I am a street smart optimist. Slow to trust people in general or ask for help, but quick to lend a hand, a positive influence in most situations and genuinely happy to celebrate other people’s success.

I have every reason to have a Facebook account. I switched careers at the end of 2015, my wife has chronic/terminal health issues, oldest son struggling to find his place on a college campus, special needs son in the throes of a large high school campus, a daughter that is looking for allies outside of home while she navigates her middle school campus. For kicks let’s toss in Disney taking over Star Wars franchise, Lena Dunham’s continued lie that she will leave social media, the 2016 presidential election, my house and my body having enough deferred maintenance to have my own HGTV/Self Help show, and my four day vacation being ruined by a cranky old man in the hotel room below (my lawyer has advised me to not comment further on this matter). For the sake of time and my audience, I will stop there.

2016 brought my 20 year wedding anniversary to the love of my life. She makes me a better person and for someone who has every reason to have a well-deserved pity party because of her health she chooses to support me and those around her. Our relationship has always been one of mutual appreciation, we both feel lucky to have found one another. I highly recommend this to anyone listening. My oldest son is a grinder in life, by that I mean nothing comes easily to him except sarcasm directed at the nearest victim. He is on track to graduate college in the foreseeable future and the world is a better place with him in it. My middle son thrives in high school socially, which if you have a tiny understanding of autism, you know how big of a deal this is for him and his outlook on his surroundings. My youngest, the girl, continues to tackle new goals with a fearlessness I never had growing up. My job is to keep the relationship with these four dynamic individuals close and healthy.

2016 also introduced me to a group of Misfits that have opened my eyes to new points of view, food options, life experiences, their own ups and downs, and their overwhelming smart and funny reactions to the crazy world around us. For this, I am immensely thankful.  They have their own whirlwinds, but their input not only helps me deal with stuff going down on Earth, but it helps me at home keep perspective on my blessings in life.

For all of this, I say thank you to 2016 and wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Kayla (@VixenRogue)

As easy as it is to join in with the collective "2016 WAS TEH WORSTEST" mindset, it's important to not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just a few highlights from the year we should cling tight to and warm our hearts with for years to come:

Christ Christie pouring a bag of M&Ms into a larger bag of M&Ms

Castro meeting his maker (surprise Fidel! He ain't a fan)

Trigglypuff

Joe Biden memes

And last but not least, Ben Shapiro Thug life.