Will between 4-5 million people show up for Barack Obama’s inauguration Jan. 20, as the mayor of Washington and other officials have predicted?

Maybe not necesarily that many, but it will be the largest group ever for any Inauguaration. Look for the neo-cons and their fellow travellers say that because it wasn’t as large as predicted, it was “small”.

Will new President Barack Obama’s honeymoon with the news media will last long into 2009, adding credence to the suggestion that press was biased toward him all along?

I give it until March when the hard decisions made earlier start bearing fruit. I predict that Bill Kristol and the Washington Times will not like much of what President Obama will have to do.

Will new president Barack Obama make good on his threat to “throw his weight around” and force major college football to have a real national championship playoff?

I hope not. Of course if this does come to pass, UCLA and USC (California) will probably beat the pants off of all others.

Will Missouri’s senior politician, U.S. Sen. Christopher “Kit” Bond, decide next year near the end of his fourth Senate term not to seek re-election in 2010?

They’ll have to pry his seat from his cold dead hand.

Will Congress take up serious climate change legislation will pass before health-care reforms?

We can only hope. Look for Senator McConnell and his tribe to block any significant reforms citing some pseudo-science that says these problems can be solved by the “marketplace”.

Will Congress pass a massive stimulus package authorizing more than $800 billion to repair the economy and put people to work?

Yes, but only after every pissant little state has laid claim to as much “pork” as it can. Look for an attempt at “faith-based” roadways.

Will the recession end in 2009?

No, not because it cannot, but because Paulson’s cronies want to make sure they have squirreled away all of the monies given them this past fall.

Will gasoline prices remain below $1.50 a gallon?

Let’s hope they stay around $2.

Will we experience deflation in 2009?

Let us pray not.

Will unemployment be higher a year from now?

Will we have higher than 7% - 8%, you better hope not.

Will the Rams re-hire Jim Haslett as head coach?

When have the Rams had a Head Coach in recent years?

Will Tiger Woods return to his old dominant form in 2009 after knee surgery cut short his ‘08 season?

He did it with a bad knee. He could probably do it with one leg.

Will the New York Yankees buy themselves a World Series title?

They’ll try. They need to stop being stars and start playing ball. But then I guess that applies to all teams.

I predict Slugger and Garrison will continue to blame any and all issues, no matter how trivial or non-existent, on some conspiracy combining two or more of the following: the Republican Party, George W Bush, organized religion, the Pro-Life movement, pharmaceutical companies, the Fed, Tony LaRussa, and the 2nd Amendment. They will also co-author a new text entitled “The Post-Dispatch Blog Manifesto”.

Have a nice year.

My prediction is that Carolyn Kennedy will take up flying lessons.

What a fun exercise! Here’s my list:

1) Shocked reporters provide breathless coverage of wildfires in southern California (Oct 2009)
2) Global cooling to continue: http://anhonestclimatedebate.wordpress.com/2008/10/31/news-reports-for-october-indicate-global-cooling/ (throughout 2009)
3) Wider awareness that conservatives are actually more charitable than liberals. (N. Kristof NYT 12/21/2008)
4) Iraq continues trajectory toward self sufficiency after her government holds another parliamentary election (late 2009)
5) Kim Jong-il will again do something irrational while the North Korean folks continue to enjoy a diet of rationed stone paste and fly larvae (Spring 2009)
6) UN will concoct a resolution condemning Israel after the pile of rubble, once known as Gaza, is processed into smaller chunks of rubble by precision weaponry (Feb 2009)
7) Israel will take action against Iranian nukes. More UN outrage and condemnation (Summer 2009)
Popular music will begin to re-incorporate melody and depth in lyrics. Politeness and manners will receive focus by the media. Reality TV will feature themes of personal character (slim chance 2009).
9) We will gain the capacity to recognize the heroes in the Iraq war. The ‘victim soldier’ will become unfashionable. Example: Battle of Fllujah (Movies will be funded in 2009 and released in 2010).
10) President Obama will not raise taxes. Though the first year of a presidency is the one where the big MO enables a change agenda to sail through Congress, President Obama will carefully choose his battles for the more liberal aspects of his agenda, perhaps saving them for 2010. Maybe limited socialization of health care in 2009?
11) Housing and the auto industry will show signs of recovery. Union clout will show significant erosion. (August 2009)
12) More licenses granted for nuclear power plants (throughout 2009)
13) Successful Ares 1-X test flight, a precursor to our next man-rated launch vehicle ( delyayed 1 mothn to Nov 2009)
14) Large Hadron Collider will go back online. After a successful full power event, analysis of the data will indicate the presence of the Higgs boson…the particle that gives mass to matter. This will be huge but the public will yawn. (Summer 2009)
15) Wooly Mammoth will be cloned: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/nov/20/genetics-zoology . Public will anti-yawn. (Winter 2009)
16) Many newspapers will file for bankruptcy (throughout 2009)
17) Private colleges and universities will begin to cut tuition due to flagging enrollments and competition from quality public institutions (throughout 2009)
18) Advanced astronomical techniques will reveal the first habitable planet orbiting a star other than our Sun. Habitable = water, oxygen, tolerable gravity. Big public yawn for now, but tremendous import for 1000 years from now (2009?)

Okay kind friends in the web-o-sphere..time to hurl the insults.

The sorry leadership and majority in congress will continue to do nothing…

My guess is Fidel Castro passes and the oil companies jump to start drilling for oil in Cuba; gas goes back up to between $3 and $4 a gallon; O.J.’s case gets overturned on appeal; `American Idol’ again entrances the comatosed; the Russians reassert their claim to oil in the Arctic; India starts putting Asian elephants into orbit in a bid to close the space race gap with China; D.B. Cooper still remains on the lam; the Rams announce they’re moving back to Los Angeles; and Playboy magazine ceases publication.

The PD will ask for bailout money. They will use it to give all editors a $500,000 bonus.(A POSITIVE)

The chicken Little’s will be proven right, the sky is really falling. (A NEGATIVE)

Bartering will replace money to obtain goods and services. (A POSITIVE)

Obama will appoint Blago as Ambassador to Mexico. (A POSITIVE)

Indiana will pardon 1000 criminals and send them to Illinois. That will give Illinois voters more of a choice of criminals to vote for. (A POSITIVE)

GM and Chrysler will take bankruptcy. (A POSITIVE)

Unemployment will reach 10 percent because the Government will support those who do not want to work. (A POSITIVE)

Roman Gabriel will come out of retirement to Quarterback the Rams (A POSITIVE)

Israel will dust the sand in Iran with powdered paint. Then they will convert the sand to glass and make it suitable for stained glass windows. (A POSITIVE)

Yep the is going to be the best year since the Republic was formed.

THINK POSITIVE!

1. The United States will collapse

2. Civil war will break out and the USA will break apart

3. The regular bloggers here will suit up to fight the ”boogeymen” the govt tells them are behind it all

4. The regular bloggers here will do whatever Israel and its supporters asks of them (as always)

…………..I think Carolyn Kennedy will get the NY Senate job. She is Obama inner circle, and probably is the most “bang for the buck” NY residents ccould hope for. (Don’t get me wrong….I don’t like political families and am not endorsing that dynasty BS)

I think Blagojevich has a decent chance of beating his rap.

I’ll predict this as far as gas prices go….If the government issues stimulus checks to the general population, gas prices will go back up as soon as those checks get mailed, just like they did last time.

I predict Sarah Palin will wink and the patriotards will go wild!