THIS IS A SPECIAL YEAR-END EDITION OF WEEK-ENDS
A look back at the people and events that made news the past week. Week-ends is a regular weekly feature of This Just In…
HEROES OF THE YEAR
Responders to victims of natural disaster… here’s just one example
Firefighters in California
Thanks to President Trump, law enforcement officers
Jonathan Smith and Tom McGrath
The GOP that gave us tax cuts
Foxconn
VILLAINS OF THE YEAR
Mother Nature
Terrorists
Las Vegas shooter, Stephen Paddock
Sexual harassers and their enablers
Athletes refusing to stand for the National Anthem
MEMORABLE QUOTES OF THE YEAR
“This American carnage stops right here.”
Donald Trump as he was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on Jan. 20, 2017. Trump promised his presidency would be the beginning of a turnaround for America’s “forgotten men and women.” After his speech, protesters marched through the streets of Washington, D.C., some clashing with police and destroying property.
“We will soon begin the construction of a great, great wall along our southern border. As we speak tonight, we are removing gang members, drug dealers and criminals that threaten our community and prey on our very innocent citizens, bad ones are going out as I speak. To any in Congress who do not believe we should enforce our laws, I would ask you … what would you say to the American family that loses their jobs … or loved ones because America refused to uphold its laws and defend its borders.”
“A new chapter of America greatness is now beginning. A new national pride is sweeping across our nation. And a new surge of optimism is placing impossible dreams firmly within our grasp. What we are witnessing today is a renewal of the American spirit.”
“Tonight I am also calling on this Congress to repeal and replace Obamacare… Mandating every American to buy government-approved health insurance was never the right solution for our country. The way to make health insurance available to everyone is to lower the cost … and that is what we are going to do.”
President Trump in his first address to Congress
“As President of the United States, I will always put America first, just like you, as the leaders of your countries will always, and should always, put your countries first.
“All responsible leaders have an obligation to serve their own citizens, and the nation-state remains the best vehicle for elevating the human condition.
“But making a better life for our people also requires us to work together in close harmony and unity to create a more safe and peaceful future for all people.
“The United States will forever be a great friend to the world, and especially to its allies. But we can no longer be taken advantage of, or enter into a one-sided deal where the United States gets nothing in return. As long as I hold this office, I will defend America’s interests above all else.”
President Trump speaking at the UN
“No one has shown more contempt for other nations and for the well-being of their own people than the depraved regime in North Korea. It is responsible for the starvation deaths of millions of North Koreans, and for the imprisonment, torture, killing, and oppression of countless more.
“We were all witness to the regime’s deadly abuse when an innocent American college student, Otto Warmbier, was returned to America only to die a few days later. We saw it in the assassination of the dictator’s brother using banned nerve agents in an international airport. We know it kidnapped a sweet 13-year-old Japanese girl from a beach in her own country to enslave her as a language tutor for North Korea’s spies.
“If this is not twisted enough, now North Korea’s reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life.
“It is an outrage that some nations would not only trade with such a regime, but would arm, supply, and financially support a country that imperils the world with nuclear conflict. No nation on earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles.
“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. Rocket Man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime. The United States is ready, willing and able, but hopefully this will not be necessary.”
President Trump speaking at the UN
“Trump is not the president of the world… he can not even manage his own government.”
Venezuela’s Foreign Minister Jorge Arreaza
“The United States has done very well since Election Day last November 8th. The stock market is at an all-time high — a record. Unemployment is at its lowest level in 16 years, and because of our regulatory and other reforms, we have more people working in the United States today than ever before. Companies are moving back, creating job growth the likes of which our country has not seen in a very long time. And it has just been announced that we will be spending almost $700 billion on our military and defense.”
President Trump speaking at the UN
“I just kind of went in the bedroom, laid down on the bed, just thought ‘OK, I just have to wait this out.’ But then, midnight, I decided, ‘Well, looks like it’s not gonna work.’ I had not drafted a concession speech. I had been working on a victory speech! I just felt this enormous letdown, this kind of loss of feeling and direction and sadness.”
Hillary Clinton
“I have a platform. I won more votes than anybody in American history for president besides President Obama. And I’m going to keep talking and trying to raise the questions that I hope Americans will take seriously and that I hope the press will take seriously, because we’ve got a lot of choppy water ahead of us.”
Hillary Clinton in an interview with NPR’s Rachel Martin
“Although you say you still want a role in shaping the Democratic Party of the future, you’re still going to talk about the issues you find to be important, but there are some Democrats out there saying they don’t want you to do that. That writing this book is opening old wounds, re-litigating a past and it doesn’t help move the party forward. Have you reconciled that, that people might not want you around as the party steps forward?”
NPR’s Rachel Marin questioning Hillary Clinton
“Well, they don’t have to buy my book, and they can turn off the radio when they hear me talking. I’m not going anywhere. I have the experience, I have the insight, I have the scars that I think give me not only the right, but the responsibility to speak out.”
Hillary Clinton responding to Martin
“You ran, you sucked, and you lost to Trump; that’s what happened.”
Columnist Matt Vespa
Even some of Clinton’s allies have grown weary of her insistence on re-litigating the 2016 campaign at a time when the Democratic Party is looking to forge a new identity in the age of Trump.
“The best thing she could do is disappear,” said one former Clinton fundraiser and surrogate who played an active role at the convention. “She’s doing harm to all of us because of her own selfishness. Honestly, I wish she’d just shut the f— up and go away.”
The Hill
“No child should ever feel hungry, stalked, frightened, terrorized, bullied, isolated or afraid, with nowhere to turn. We must teach each child the values of empathy and communication that are at the core of the kindness, mindfulness, integrity and leadership which can only be taught by example. By our own example, we must teach children to be good stewards of the world they will inherit.”
First Lady Melania Trump gave a heartfelt speech about bullying at the United Nations General Assembly
“It is venomous,” Conway said. “It bothers my children, to be frank with you. I have 24/7 Secret Service protection because there are people out there who do wish us harm, and people should take that very seriously. I’m not a victim at all, but people should take very seriously the import of their words. Especially when they know I meant no disrespect.”
Senior advisor to President Trump, Kellyanne Conway referring to critics who claimed she was disrespecting the Oval Office
“The internet is tearing us apart. The internet is a system where people can put up vitriol and they think they are hiding behind a screen and so they can treat other human beings in really ugly ways that we would never want to treat each other, but for some reason we think we can do that on the internet. Base your opinions and your thought in reason and fact and not in emotion…try to do your best to engage in a civil dialog. All of us can do a better job of this, all of us, from the top down.”
House Speaker Paul Ryan talking to students at New Berlin Eisenhower Middle/High School
“He’s a showboat, he’s grandstander, the FBI has been in turmoil. You know that, I know that. Everybody knows that.”
President Donald Trump on why he fired FBI Director James Comey
“Lordy, I hope there are tapes.”
Former FBI Director James Comey supplied plenty of stunning moments during testimony at a congressional hearing on June 8, 2017. One came when he swatted down a threat. Trump had tweeted that Comey “better hope that there are no ‘tapes'” of a conversation in which Comey says Trump demanded loyalty and told him to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. Comey’s response: bring on the tapes.
“With respect to any women who have made allegations on the record, Mr. Weinstein believes that all of these relationships were consensual.”
Sallie Hofmeister, spokeswoman for Harvey Weinstein, Oct. 10
“We can’t have the inmates running the prison.”
Robert McNair, owner of the Houston Texans football team, describing players protesting the national anthem, as quoted in ESPN The Magazine, Oct. 27
“Yes.”
Elizabeth Warren, responding to Jake Tapper’s question on whether the 2016 Democratic primaries were rigged in favor of Hillary Clinton, in an interview on CNN’s “The Lead,” Nov. 2
“The crowd fled at the sound of gunshots. Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get.”
Hillary Clinton
“It’s very easy for Mrs. Clinton to criticize and to come out, but I think we need to remember, the only person with blood on their hands is that of the shooter.”
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders responded to failed former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton after she blamed the National Rifle Associate for the shooting in Las Vegas that killed 59 people
“Let’s be honest, the whole taking a knee fiasco during the national anthem has nothing to do with free speech or racism. If it were, crybaby millionaire NFL players would find another venue or some other moment outside of football to protest. If I owned a team, I would tell my players it is their right to protest, but it’s my right to send them packing if they did it while in uniform. This is really about butt-hurt leftists using the NFL as stooges to express their anger over Donald Trump’s presidency and Hillary Clinton’s loss.”
Syndicated columnist Susan Stamper Brown
Dear Mr. Goodell:
You are responsible for the polarization in the NFL. Had you invoked the NFL rule regarding inappropriate apparel, you would have sanctioned Colin Kaepernick for wearing socks depicting the police as pigs. And you could have enforced the rule requiring players to stand during the national anthem. But you did neither, hence the protests.
Accordingly, I am sending you my Giants lawn flag as a token of my disgust for you; as a veteran I am particularly incensed over your delinquency. I no longer support the NFL and hope that professional football takes a nose dive. Then you should be fired.
Sincerely,
William Donohue
Letter sent by Catholic League President to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell
“We have a rule that requires our players to stand for the anthem. It’s been a rule as long as I’ve been involved with the league, and my expectation is that our players will continue to stand for the anthem.”
NBA commissioner Adam Silver
“As much as some people want us to just shut up and play football and keep the politics to politics, sports and politics have always intersected. And If we can help continue a conversation through demonstration of unity I think that’s a good thing.”
Green Bay Packer Aaron Rodgers after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears at Lambeau Field
“Today, I am pleased to announce that Foxconn, a world leader in manufacturing for computers, communications, and consumer electronics — one of the truly great companies of the world — will build a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for the production of LCD panel products in Wisconsin, investing many, many billions of dollars right here in America and creating thousands of jobs. And I mean American jobs — that’s what we want.
“Foxconn will invest in southeast Wisconsin while a larger facility is constructed over the coming years. And that facility is currently under negotiation. It will be about the biggest there is anywhere. The company’s initial investment of more than $10 billion will create 3,000 jobs, at a minimum, with the potential for up to 13,000 jobs in the very near future. The construction of this facility represents the return of LCD electronics and electronics manufacturing to the United States, the country that we love. That’s where we want our jobs.”
President Trump
“I’ve never seen this type of governor or leader yet in this world.”
Foxconn chairman and founder Terry Gou referring to WI Governor Scott Walker
“One of the clips that touched me the most, someone showed me on my phone on the way over. It was a story from one of the local affiliates who had gone down to a bar and grill in Racine called Pudgy’s. What a name, right? What touched me was, just after 4:00 central time, in that bar, they had the TV on. And usually, unless there’s a Brewers or Packers or Bucks game on at a place like that, people aren’t paying a whole lot of attention to what’s on the TV. But not yesterday. You see, these folks in Racine, many of whom had been unemployed in the past, many of whom had been laid off from previous employment, were looking up, in absolute silence, watching as Terry and I joined the president and vice president and Congressman Ryan up on that stage — and what touched me the most, I gotta tell you what, I’m not afraid to admit, made me cry a little bit this morning. To see them cheer…as we talked about a $10 billion investment in their community, in their region, in their state — that’s what it’s all about.”
Gov. Scott Walker about a story by FOX6’s Ben Handelman, who spoke with bar patrons at Pudgy’s in Sturtevant — who cheered the Foxconn announcement Wednesday in D.C. as they watched FOX6 at the bar
“I am thrilled and so very proud that an international company of Foxconn’s magnitude has chosen to invest in Racine County.”
Racine County Executive Jonathan Delagrave after Foxconn announced it would build its manufacturing campus in Mount Pleasant. Racine County and Mount Pleasant plan to contribute $764 million toward the project, on top of the $3 billion in state subsidies for the company.
“I hate it. I don’t even want to think about it. I have my forever home that I have been living in for 40 years, and this is where my wife and I planned on spending the rest of our lives. Now we are just absolutely sick about the whole damn thing.”
Retiree Rudy Baker, whose home is on the northern border of the Foxconn site
“I urge Sheriff Clarke to submit his resignation and allow Milwaukee to turn the page. I am sure Governor Walker will appoint a good successor and I look for to working with whomever that is.”
Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele after Clarke announced he would not be taking an assistant secretary position at the Department of Homeland Security as he planned to
“Abele is pissed I will be Sheriff until January 2019 at a minimum. That’s a long time. He couldn’t beat me at the ballot box in 2013 after spending $263,000 of his personal wealth trying to do it. I will resign right after that little mouse does.”
Sheriff Clarke
“We were sitting ducks. Without the Capitol Hill police, it would have been a massacre.”
Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky, describing the scene of a rifle attack on members of Congress and their aides practicing for a charity baseball game as “sort of a killing field”
“Based on the question he asked me, I would make that assumption because he asked me if this team was the Republican or Democrat team privately. I responded that it was the Republican team practicing, and he proceeded to shoot Republicans.”
Speaking to reporters just hours after the shooting in Alexandria, Virginia, Rep. Jeff Duncan recounted an exchange he had with the gunman before he opened fire — and before the South Carolina Republican realized the man was a threat. Duncan said the shooter stopped him in the parking lot by the field as he was leaving team practice early and asked him if Republicans or Democrats were playing. Duncan told him it was the Republican team, and minutes later, the man opened fire.
“This political rhetoric and political discourse that has led to hate, has led to gunfire. I never thought I’d go to baseball practice for charity, and have to dodge bullets. This has got to stop, and it’s gotta stop today.”
Rep Rodney Davis (R-Ill.)
“Many lives would have been lost if not for the heroic actions of the two Capitol Police officers who took down the gunman despite sustaining gunshot wounds during a very, very brutal assault. Steve (Scalise), I want you to know that you have the prayers not only of the entire city behind you, but of an entire nation and, frankly, the entire world. America is praying for you.
“We may have our differences, but we do well in times like these to remember that everyone who serves in our nation’s Capitol is here because, above all, they love our country.
“We can all agree that we are blessed to be Americans, that our children deserve to grow up in a nation of safety and peace, and that we are strongest when we are unified and when we work together for the common good.”
President Trump
“I loved my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life. I thought it would be easier.”
President Trump on April 28, on completing 100 days in office as U.S. president
“Why aren’t the first 100 days a measuring stick for Congress and the Democrats? Can anyone name one piece of positive bipartisan legislation that Nancy Pelosi and Schumer have put forth?”
Radio host, author, and constitutional scholar Mark Levin
“It is hard and there is a level of viciousness that I was not expecting. I was not expecting the intensity of this experience. I’m trying to keep my head down, not listen to the noise and just work really hard to make a positive impact in the lives of many people.”
Ivanka Trump during an interview with FOX where she reminded viewers that life was more difficult for people who were laid off or for a mother that lost their child to opioid abuse
“For me, this is just amazing. You created a sensation out of nothing. And out of this sensation, you turned it into a weapon of war against the current president. Well, this is, you know, you’re just, you people are so creative over there. Good job. Your lives must be boring.
“We didn’t have any relationship at all. There was a time when he used to come to Moscow. But you know, I never met with him. We have a lot of Americans who visit us. Right now, I think we have representatives from a hundred American companies that have come to Russia. Do you think we’re gathering compromising information on all of them right now or something? Are you all, have you all lost your senses over there?”
Russian President Vladimir Putin mocked conspiracy theories linking President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign and his own government during an interview marking the inaugural episode of NBC News’ Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly. He dismissed any notion that he had a close relationship with former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, and mocked the idea that Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, had nefarious dealings through the Russian ambassador.
“I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”
Kim Jong-un on Sept. 22, in response to Donald Trump’s threat to “totally destroy” North Korea
Host Rachel Maddow: “Interesting portrait of power in the new — in the new White House. Jared Kushner is the son-in-law of the President….A lot of people felt like the anti-nepotism laws would prevent a hire like that but they believe that they’re on firm ground. Jared Kushner will be a senior adviser to his father-in-law.”…
Chris Matthews: “It’s hard to – Rachel – it’s hard to fire your son-in-law….but Mussolini had a great solution to that. He had him executed. So, it’s – ”
Maddow: “Jesus, Chris!
Matthews: “So, if I were Jared, I’d be a little careful.”
During MSNBC’s live coverage of Trump’s inauguration, January 20
“Yes, I am angry. Yes, I am outraged. Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House. But I know that this won’t change anything.”
Singer Madonna at the Women’s March as aired on C-SPAN, January 21
“There are a variety of ways that Trump could kill us all. The slowest, surest and most likely way he’ll do it is via climate change.”
March 21 tweet by MTV News Senior National correspondent Jamil Smith
“Historians in the near future will mark today, March 28, 2017, as the day the extinction of human life on earth began, thanks 2 Donald Trump.”
March 28 tweet from filmmaker Michael Moore
“What cost her the election is FBI Director Comey, what cost her the election, in my humble opinion is Russia’s hacking and what cost her the election is if you look at the stats, people – this was – I agree with Van Jones in a sense, this was a ‘white-lash.’ There’ve been studies. Twenty percent of people voted because of racism, and I think after eight years of a black president there was no way that this woman was going to win. There was no way….She was the most qualified candidate for president that we have ever had!”
Co-host Sunny Hostin on ABC’s The View, May 3
“There is too much money in the world.”
Lawrence Luhring, art dealer, reacting to the sale of a painting possibly by Leonardo da Vinci for over $450 million, as quoted in The New York Times, Nov. 16
“And the Academy Award … for Best Picture … La La Land.”
Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway, mistakenly reading the wrong winner for Best Picture in an envelope mix-up, Academy Awards ceremony, Feb. 27
“Wait. There’s a mistake. ‘Moonlight,’ you guys won best picture.”
“La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz stepped to the microphone to deliver the news and return his golden statuette
“We have become stupidly politically correct which is the death of comedy. It’s OK not to hurt the feelings of various tribes and groups. However, it’s not good for comedy. Comedy has to walk a thin line, take risks. Comedy is the lecherous little elf whispering in the king’s ear, always telling the truth about human behavior. I personally would never touch gas chambers or the death of children or Jews at the hands of the Nazis. Everything else is fine.”
Veteran comedian and filmmaker Mel Brooks
“It is true that I’m not living in the White House anymore. I actually am enjoying being in my own house. I have been fighting Michelle to get more closet space. I have been trying to figure out how the coffee maker works.”
Former president Barack Obama, telling a conference in Italy about life after the presidency in the 8,200-square-foot mansion that the Obamas rent in Washington, which presumably has more than one closet
“If it had tasted even a bit like urine, I would put it down, but you don’t even notice.”
Concert-goer Anders Sjögren, after sampling a Danish microbrewery’s new Pilsner product made from recycled human waste water
“I like being different. I made sure my prom date was OK with it.”
Megan Flaherty, a New Jersey teenager who decided to arrive at her high school prom in a wooden coffin
OUTRAGE OF THE YEAR
The verdict in the Kate Steinle murder trial
Cheers for your first abortion?
Portable toilets near Kenosha memorial
Dehydration death at Milwaukee County Jail
The West Allis-West Milwaukee School District
MOST UNDER-REPORTED STORY OF THE YEAR
President Trump’s accomplishments
Are Black Women Leaving The Democratic Party?
MOST OVER-HYPED STORY OF THE YEAR
Trump is wrong. Trump is evil.
Celebrity views on anything
STRANGEST, MOST UNUSUAL STORY OF THE YEAR
There couldn’t possibly be just one
“I am not some nut ball”…that usually means the person is
Couple born on same day in same Massachusetts hospital now married
This may be the strangest of all-time
Good intention, but was this wise?
Wisconsin man drives to hospital after nail shot into heart
Do not misgender your pet.
Unused Confetti from Hillary ‘Victory’ Party Honored as Feminist Art
This Just In... From Franklin, WI 
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