PREDICTING 2007

I tried to caveat it.  Last year at this time, in Crystal Ball 2006, I pointed out that there is no way to predict the future because it hasn't happened yet.  Nonetheless, I plunged in anyway and predicted that 2006 would be a better year than 2005. 

Didn't turn out that way.

The biggest surprise for me was Bush getting cold feet over switching Cheney for Condi.  He and Rove really convinced themselves the GOP would retain control of Congress without the electrifying switch.  I knew it was in the works, but come August, Bush wimped out.

His only hope of a "legacy" for his presidency is for it to be continued and maintained by Condi.  And the only way for her to gain the GOP nomination would be as a sitting Vice-President.  The instant Cheney announces he is stepping down for health reasons and Bush announces his choice of Condi to replace him, there will be such a tsunami of excitement it will make the current frenzy over Barack Obama look like a ripple in a tide pool.

I know Bush knows this.  I know that he now sees the one sure way to regain control in Congress and retain the White House for the GOP in 2008 is with Condi.  I am still expecting him to make the switch – and given that the primaries start a little over a year from now, he's got until next summer at the latest to make it.

I am expecting a lot of things to happen in 2007.  Things that I won't be surprised by if they do happen.  2007 will be a wonderful year for the death of dictators – Castro croaking at last, Saddam hung at last, and with any luck Hugo Chavez will get himself assassinated.

Iran's Ahmadinutjob is not a dictator, as he serves at the whim of the ayatollahs.  Their whim seems to be now that he is no longer useful, so we may soon be rid of him.  With any luck, that will not prevent the Israelis from taking out Iran's nuclear facilities.  With even more luck, the Israelis will be smart enough to accomplish this via sabotage rather than airstrikes.

China should be on its best behavior for 2007 with no saber-rattling at Taiwan.  The Chicoms don't want anything to spoil their coming-out party at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

Putin will continue his mafiazation of Russia.  It's a cultural thing.  Far too many Russians simply don't know how to relate to the world except as gangsters and bullies. Foreign investment and expertise needed to keep Russia's cash cow of oil and gas will shrivel – as is Russia's population.  Russia is in a death spiral from which there is no escape.

Is Europe?  Is the Islamization of Europe becoming inevitable?  No, not yet.  So let's watch carefully for any genuine signs of de-islamization, for if they don't start in 2007 they may never.  One such real sign would be France's electing Nicolas Sarkozy instead of Segolene Royal for president next April.  The "Sarko-Sego" race could determine the fate of all Europe.

Our near-term fate, at least in terms of blunting Democrat destruction of liberties, may depend upon the Jim-Tom Tag Team – Jim DeMint (SC) and Tom Coburn (OK) having the nerve to filibusteringly stand in the way of illegal amnesty and other abominations.

However… I'm going to stop now and turn the tables.  What I want is to ask you for your predictions.  What do you think will happen in the world and in America in 2007?

I'll need them by next Wednesday, January 3.  Send me your top three predictions for 2007.  No jokes, nothing silly or goofy.  Just your genuine best bets for what you think is in store for us.  I'll compile as many as I can into one article.

I'll kick this off with a question.  Go into any major bookstore today and you will be overwhelmed by the number of books demonizing George Bush.  A year ago I wrote that the "dominant story" of 2005 was "the treasonously vicious and pathologically dishonest war of the liberal ‘mainstream' media and the Democrat Party waged relentlessly against the Presidency of George W. Bush."

The dominant story of 2006 has been the same, resulting in Republican disaster in November.

My question is: will 2007 be the same as well, or will Bush Hatred have run its course?  Will Americans finally tire of the venom or not?  Will Americans finally recognize and respect the almost superhuman grace and dignity with which their president has responded to the hate?

What do you think?  What do you think about 2007?  Let me know:  [email protected].

And all right – one last prediction.  But it's really for 2008.  Condi's running mate will be Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina.