The Ten Most Popular Politics Stories of 2011

By Rolling Stone

January 3, 2012 9:50 AM ET

Cpl. Jeremy Morlock, member of the Afghanistan "Kill Team"

2011 was a hell of a year in politics: The battle for the GOP presidential nomination kicked into high gear; the machinery of government ground to a halt over the debt ceiling debate; the Occupy Wall Street movement surged out of nowhere to make economic equality topic No. 1; one war wound down, while another rumbled on, no closer to resolution; Wall Street took a (rhetorical) beating in the streets, but continued to evade real accountability for the economic pain it caused. We covered the whole crazy carnival here at Rolling Stone, and we've crunched the numbers to see which stories went over biggest with you. Here, the ten most-read politics stories of 2011.

1. The Kill Team: How U.S. Soldiers in Afghanistan Murdered Innocent Civilians

2. Michele Bachmann’s Holy War

3. How The GOP Became The Party of the Rich

4. Why Isn't Wall Street in Jail?

5. OWS's Beef: Wall Street isn't Winning, it's Cheating

6. The Real Housewives of Wall Street: Look Who's Cashing in on the Bailout

7. Another Runaway General: Army Deploys Psy Ops on U.S. Senators

8. The People vs. Goldman Sachs

9. How Roger Ailes Built the Fox News Fear Factory

10. Is the SEC Covering Up Wall Street Crimes?

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-ten-most-popular-politics-stories-of-2011-20120103#ixzz1iRhy9nWe