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The staff of Mother Jones is, once again, rounding up the heroes and monsters of the past year. This is a non-exhaustive and totally subjective list, giving our reporters a chance to write about something that brought joy, discontent, or curiosity. Happy holidays.

Before the mass deportations. Before DOGE eviscerated government agencies, demoralized civil servants, and obliterated lifesaving aid programs. Before the ludicrous confirmation hearings for dangerous and eminently unqualified Cabinet officials. (Remember Rep. Matt Gaetz? He’s the one who never made it that far.) Before Congress demonstrated its craven obedience and its crawling sycophancy to President Donald Trump. Before yet another Supreme Court case threatened to expand presidential power or further undermine voting rights.

And just a day after Trump’s oligarch-padded inauguration and frenzied signing of executive orders, the soft-spoken Episcopalian minister who has been the Bishop of Washington, DC, since 2011, quietly and thoughtfully delivered a message. Her audience: the president, the vice president, and a congregation of government officials and GOP notables at the traditional inaugural prayer services, held at the Washington National Cathedral.

“I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Bishop Mariann Budde said directly to Trump. “There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives.”

“The people who pick........

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