Here's a New Year's prediction: 2004 will be really annoying to anyone remotely involved in American politics. While conservatives will have much to celebrate, including the likely second term of GWB, they will have to endure another year of his entitlement spending, which unfortunately and ironically may seal his victory. I now believe and hope that the President, with his second term secure, will start some actual governmental reform based on fiscal conservatism. It took only two years for LBJ and a liberal congress to give us out current welfare state, let's hope conservatives can dismantle it in even less time. Democrats will have a long, hard slog through the year knowing that they're probably going to get routed in the next election. Things will get ugly as frustrations run high, but we're likely going to see the beginnings of revolution within the democratic party. Let's hope they all re-read the constitution before reorganizing.

2004 will also bring us a mostly independent Iraq, but we'll still see the attacks on Iraqis and coalition soldiers continue for a very long time. Iran will feel more and more pressure as a free Iraq begins to thrive. North Korea will settle down in the wake of Libya's concessions, seeing that going along with the US and it's allies is more productive than threatening nuclear war. Europe will continue getting the EU house in order, and I suspect relations between the US and the EU may improve as the US economic recovery fuels a worldwide economic surge.

Here's my big prediction: Osama Bin Laden will be found, and Democrats will accuse GWB of waiting until the election before apprehending the man. They will also claim that Republicans killed Jesus, but will later retract the statement so as not to offend the sensibilities of non-Christians.

One last thing: I will be proven wrong about the majority of these predictions, and this post will be mysteriously deleted from the archive.

Happy New Year to all of you!