By any measure, it hasn't been a good year for the notion of "Minnesota Nice." Ugly police-protester confrontations at the Republican National Convention, crude Obama bashing at a rally in Lakeville, a downright vulgar Senate race ... and that's just on the political front.

There also have been dirty plays by Vikings, the unearthing of a massive alleged Ponzi scheme and even -- oh, the humanity -- a marked increase in car-horn-honking on our byways, where loutish behavior previously was confined to a dogged refusal to let others merge. Or the loutish refusal of people to speed up in order to merge.

Is it time to retire that timeworn iconic phrase "Minnesota Nice"? We seem to be a far cry from the days when our feistiest politician was called "the Happy Warrior" (Hubert Humphrey), gentle Lake Wobegon first pervaded the national consciousness and our foremost athlete was the ebullient Kirby Puckett. (OK, so that last one didn't turn out so well.)

Granted, salacious behavior (Prince in a bikini bottom in 1980, gubernatorial candidate Jon Grunseth skinny-dipping with teenagers in 1990) has always been with us. Still, we seem to have morphed from naughty to nasty in recent years, leaving nice far behind. But hey, even during this scurrilous year, former bad-boy Prince has found spiritual salvation and erstwhile local stripper Diablo Cody has won an Oscar. So maybe redemption remains possible for us after all.

NICE TO NAUGHTY TO NASTY TIMELINE 1984 Nice guy Walter Mondale finishes way-last in presidential election.

1987 Nice guys Frank Viola, Kirby Puckett lead Twins to World Series title.

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Rep. Michele Bachmann

1990 Prince bares backside in "airy" pants at St. Paul Civic Center concert.

1993 Ojibwe, white anglers spar over fish-netting rights at Mille Lacs.

1996 "Fargo" unleashes all manner of mayhem; wood-chipper, anyone?

1999 Brutish former pro rassler Jesse Ventura inaugurated as governor.

2002 Kirby Puckett charged with groping a woman in restaurant bathroom.

2005 Vikings give a new sordid meaning to the phrase "Love Boat."

2006 Northwest Airlines pitches notion of dumpster-diving to fired workers.

2007 Ian McKellen unshields King Lear's, uh, scepter at the Guthrie.

2008 U.S. Rep. Michele Bachmann urges media to probe peers' patriotism.