Remembering 2006

Would the trapped miners in West Virginia be rescued, as their Pennsylvania brethren were four years earlier? Not this time. Like the gospel song, "They once were lost but now are found." All but one was dead. It was a grim greeting to the new year.

Who belongs in America? We started to ask the question, along with millions who thought they knew the answer. The sight of foreign flags being flown in the streets of Chicago, Los Angeles and Houston added heat, if not light, to the already passionate debate about immigration. And lawmakers from both parties who might have confronted the issue and helped define the future, instead punted.

In Durham, N.C., three white lacrosse players at Duke University were charged with the rape of a black stripper. The case instantly caught the nation's attention, bringing questions of race, class and privilege into raw focus. While the three students had their lives, their families' finances and their reputations discussed freely, the accuser remained anonymous. Was that fair?

For us at FOX News, 2006 will always be the year that terrorism touched us directly. Correspondent Steve Centanni and cameraman Olaf Wiig were kidnapped while doing their job in Gaza and held for 13 days. We never knew why they had been chosen for abduction or what their captors wanted. They were released after being forced to say they had converted to Islam — not exactly the recruitment device of a faith that thinks it has broad appeal.

And in November, the midterm elections turned Washington upside down, installing Democrat majorities in the House and Senate. The new masters of Capitol Hill vowed to cooperate with President Bush for the rest of his administration. That promise has yet to be put to the test.

John Moody serves as the Senior Vice President, News Editorial for FOX News. He is responsible for both the design and editorial direction of FOX News Channel and oversees all story content for FOX News.