Quotes of the Day

1. The Love Guv
After telling his staff he was hiking the Appalachian Trail for four days in June, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford turned up instead at the international airport terminal in Atlanta. Thus sprung, he held a very raw and rambling press conference, admitting he'd actually been in Argentina with his mistress and "soul mate." Seven weeks and several more excruciating media appearances later ("I'm trying to fall back in love with my wife"), his wife and four sons moved out of the Governor's mansion and back to their hometown of Charleston. In early December a House impeachment panel was convened to weigh recommending removing him from office.

2. Expensive MPs
Members of the British Parliament are legitimately allowed to recoup some of the expense of living away from home so that they can be near Westminster. But when details of what they were claiming were leaked to London's Daily Telegraph, the outrage hit fever pitch. Among the expensed items: moat-cleaning ($3,000), hedgerow-trimming ($930), toilet-seat fixing ($320), garden improvement ($2,000) and dog food ($5.64). The abuse proved to be widespread and bipartisan; both the Prime Minister and the leader of the opposition were forced to apologize, and dozens of politicians resigned or announced.

3. Et Tu, Letterman?
David Letterman is considered to be late-night TV's quirkiest uncle, but after Oct. 1, he also became its creepiest. On that night, just before doing his Top 10 list, he told viewers a "little story" about how he had taken part in a sting against a guy who Letterman said was blackmailing him for $2 million for keeping quiet about how the late-night host was bedding women on his staff. Even more bizarrely, the alleged extortionist turned out to be a producer on another CBS show, 48 Hours, Robert (Joe) Halderman, 51, whose girlfriend was one of Letterman's conquests. Subsequently, Letterman apologized to his wife and his staff. While his reputation as an employer and husband took a blow, his ratings improved.

4. The Family Way
When a woman gives birth to eight babies at once, there's a certain amount of head-shaking wonder. When it turns out she already has six kids under age 7, that wonder turns to consternation. And when it further develops that the new mother is single, unemployed and living with her own very put-upon mother, that consternation turns to, well, ridicule, cringing, joking, insulting, parody videos, morning-show discussing, nickname-calling and making the woman the poster child for all that ails America. But Nadya Suleman, more recognizably known as Octomom, eventually moved on to the lucrative stage of the tabloid life cycle; the first part of a documentary series cum reality show about her big brood aired in England in November.

5. Ensign and the Assignations
Nevada Senator John Ensign was a social conservative, a member of the Promise Keepers Evangelical ministry, a vocal critic of both Larry Craig's and Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions and the employer of Cynthia and Doug Hampton. Each of these things made his June 16 admission that he had an eight-month affair with Cynthia, Doug's wife, more awkward. Reports suggested he was prompted to admit to the affair, which had ended 10 months earlier, after blackmail threats from Mr. Hampton, which he denies. Ensign acknowledged that in 2008, his wealthy parents had paid Cynthia $96,000 "as a gift." Although he resigned his position as chairman of the Senate Republican Policy Committee within days of his initial admission, Ensign has, like Clinton, remained in office.

6. Balloon Boy
Not since the moon landing has a nation been so transfixed and fearful over the journey of a silvery object in the sky. According to a 911 call from a distressed father, there was a 6-year-old boy somewhere inside that flimsy Mylar balloon. Except there wasn't. After the balloon was brought to earth, the boy was discovered hiding in a box in the attic. Except he wasn't. The whole thing was a publicity stunt to make the family, the Heenes, known already to avid reality-TV viewers as two-time participants on Wife Swap, seem more attractive to the producers of other reality shows. Falcon, the boy who innocently gave the game away when Larry King asked him why he hid ("You guys said we did this for the show," he told his dad), then proceeded to accompany his family on a full round of media interviews. In a way, the Heenes got their wish of making a splash on TV: Falcon threw up on the Today show.

7. Tiger or Lyin' Cheetah?
Flawed was not normally a word associated with Tiger Woods. And tabloids were not his usual stomping ground. But all that changed when a small car crash became a train wreck of infidelity allegations from several women, backed up by a damning voice-mail message and finally an "I have let my family down" statement. It was the worst possible scenario for the golf megachamp, whose handlers had carefully crafted an image of him as classy, disciplined and beyond making mistakes. But also because his natural rectitude prevented the full-frontal apology that usually brings these stories to the end of their cycle. Most of his sponsors quickly announced they were sticking by their billionaire endorser. His wife — she's not saying.

8. Missing Minneapolis
It's never a good sign when pilots of a plane carrying 144 souls do not respond to the inquiries of air-traffic controllers or airline officials for more than an hour and 15 minutes. Just as fighter aircraft were being prepared to be scrambled out of fear of foul play, Northwest Flight 188, flying from San Diego to Minneapolis-St. Paul, re-established contact. Its pilots, Timothy Cheney and Richard Cole, had been so absorbed in what they were doing on their laptops — apparently they were looking into the new monthly flight-crew-scheduling procedures — that they simply lost track of time. When a concerned flight attendant finally buzzed them over the intercom to ask how things were going, they were already somewhere over Wisconsin. They're now in a holding pattern; the FAA has revoked their pilot certificates.

9. ACORN Falls
Posing as a pimp and a prostitute, James O'Keefe and Hannah Giles secretly filmed employees of the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) in different offices around the U.S. who were apparently willing to assist in prostitution, tax evasion and, in at least one case, human smuggling. The organization fired several of the offending employees, but the toothpaste was out of the tube and all over YouTube. The Senate and the House of Representatives voted against further funding for ACORN, and the IRS and U.S. Census Bureau terminated contracts with the group. The scandal led to a further miniscandal in which accusations were leveled at the media for ignoring the story.

10. Love Hurts
Chris Brown and Rihanna were the golden couple of R&B: young, beautiful, talented and in love. They holidayed in her home country of Barbados! They had matching tattoos! He gave her a ruby-and-diamond pendant! "He makes me feel like a teenager," she told Allure. And then, allegedly, he behaved more like a wayward toddler, assaulting Rihanna the evening before they were both set to appear at the Grammys. Police were called, and, inexorably, photos of Rihanna's bruised face made their way onto the Internet. Initially dismayed by all the media attention, the songstress used her experience — and a sit-down TV interview — to warn other women about abusive relationships and domestic violence. Brown, who turned himself in to police and publicly expressed regret over the incident, was sentenced to five years' probation and 180 days of community service. His own sit-down TV interview (on the same channel as his ex's) was apparently voluntary.