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Politics isn’t always a deadly serious game of statesmanship. Sometimes it’s goofy. Politico recalls the most bizarre moments of 2009:

• Barack Obama sworn in—twice: Obama joked that they’d done it because “we decided it was so much fun.”
• Sarah Palin resigns: Even her aides were surprised, and a meandering resignation speech did little to explain away possibly the year’s biggest political curveball.

• Patti Blagojevich goes on reality TV: There’s no better place to defend your scandal-plagued husband than on, I’m a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Also, how is Patti Blagojevich a celebrity?
• White House beer summit: One of the stranger bits of presidential damage control ever.
• Mark Sanford’s hike: The only thing more surreal than Sanford’s jaunt down the Appalachian Trail—aka Argentina—was the series of rambling, emotional confessions that followed.
• Tom DeLay on “Dancing With the Stars”: Yes, Tom. You are decidedly a “Wild Thing.”

(Read more year in review stories.)