Looking back on 2012, there were dramatic moments, to be sure: the vindication of Obamacare; the electoral triumph of the forty-seven per cent; the rise and fall of Gangnam style. But just as defining, I’d argue, were the year’s countless half-starts and baby steps. By that, I mean the national conversations that began but were left unfinished (guns, gay marriage); the legislative seeds that got planted, then deferred (immigration reform, filibuster limits); and the collective sins that got confessed and forgiven, then crudely repeated (all things Chris Brown). 

What follows are a few of the year’s more notable almosts, not-quites, and nearly-there’s…

Click-through to read Sarah Stillman on this year’s notable nearly-theres: http://nyr.kr/UCpnDD