Lunacy By The Numbers

Later today on the First Team of the Northern Alliance Radio Network, we will announce the 2007 NARN Loon of the Year. As people around the globe wait in breathless anticipation for the result, I thought it would be a good time to take a closer look at the people who earned the distinction of being named NARN Loons of the Week in 2007. Here's how they breakdown.

- There were a total of forty-six LOTWs in 2007.

- Thirty (roughly 65%) were men and sixteen (35%) women.

- The only person to receive more than one LOTW honor was US Senator Amy Klobuchar who won twice. Despite this, she was not in the running as a finalist for Loon of the Year.

- There were five Loons in 2007 who were also honored in 2006:

Joy Behar, Chris Matthews, Dennis Kucinich, Bill Moyers, and Nancy Pelosi.

- Speaking of Behar (but not necessarily joy), she joined Rosie O'Donnell and Sherri Shepherd as members of The View who were dubbed LOTWs.

- The only former President to be chosen as a LOTW was that notoriously loose-lipped firebrand George HW Bush.

Kidding of course. No one should be surprised to learn that it was the mild-mannered Man From Plains, the Thirty-ninth President of the United States, Jimmy Carter.

- Hollywood was well represented with Jane Fonda, Paul Newman, Charlize Theron, Richard Gere, and James Brolin all checking in as LOTWs in 2007.

- The music industry also chipped in with appearances by Zach de la Rocha from Rage Against The Machine, The Fratellis, and Bonnie Raitt et al.

- For a dose of local flavor, 2007 featured Amy Klobuchar, Al Franken, Nick Coleman, Keith Nelson, and the intrepid explorers Bancraft and Arneson, whose quest to travel to the Arctic to publicize the impact of global warming was called off because...

...you guessed it, the cold.

- Speaking of global warming, it is interesting to note that while a number of LOTWs were chosen because of their links to the issue (Bancraft & Arneson, Amy Klobuchar, The Fratellis) the man most associated with the cause was shut out in 2007. There's always next year Al.

Tune in to WWTC AM1280 today from 11am-1pm to hear our entire 2007 LOTW retrospective (and many of the clips referenced above). If you aren't fortunate enough to live in the Twin Cities, you can catch all the fun on the live internet stream. After the First Team kicks things off, be sure to stick around and listen to Mitch and Ed from 1pm-3pm and then King and Michael from 3pm-5pm as the NARN puts an exclamation point on the year that was 2007.