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Crystal Ball: 2014
Townhall ^ | 12/28/2013 | Steve Deace

Posted on 12/28/2013 11:00:02 AM PST by SeekAndFind

Each December I gaze into my crystal ball and predict what I believe will be the top 10 stories of the coming year. I almost never get these right but they’re fun to speculate about nevertheless. A year from now we’ll take a look back and see how well I did. You can see the predictions I made 12 months ago for 2013 here and here.

10. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 will be the top grossing movie of the year.

Other than the conclusion to The Hobbit, The Hunger Games is the most bankable brand coming out with a film next year. However, The Hobbit: There and Back Again probably comes out too late in the year to top the 2014 box office. On the other hand, the first part of the conclusion to The Hunger Games will be released over Thanksgiving weekend.

9. Backlash against political correctness will be the top cultural trend of the year.

It looks as if “the American sector” of America is finally sick and tired of being sick and tired, and sick and tired of being bullied by the nattering nabobs who have turned being offended into a cottage industry. The ongoing backlash against the “tolerance mob” for the firing of Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty fame simply for believing the Bible will be felt well into 2014. The gaystapo outkicked their coverage here, and whenever you overreach like this the blowback is a female dog.

8. The first Super Bowl played outdoors in cold weather will be the most watched sporting event in history.

The Super Bowl is often the most watched show of the year, but this year’s edition provides an unprecedented novelty act—a chance to see a championship decided in a winter wonderland in New York in February. Not since the legendary “ice bowl” in Green Bay at the dawn of the Super Bowl era in 1967 has this happened, and that continues to be among the famous games in NFL history. We’ll see if my preseason prediction of a Seahawks vs. Bengals Super Bowl comes true.

7. Scamnesty will be the biggest public policy battle of the year.

Election years are traditionally null and void of major legislation, with both sides of the aisle eager to not rock the boat before facing the voters and eager to get home and campaign. But there is one heated battle left on the horizon—the ruling class’ attempt to blow up whatever is left of the rule of law and our national sovereignty once and for all. Look for the Republican Party establishment to work with the Democrats to try and shove this down our throats after a bloody primary season concludes.

6. Marco Rubio will attempt to rehabilitate his image by moving hard right.

Rubio has a fairly conservative voting record outside of his self-immolating support for scamnesty, and that perhaps mortally wounded his chances in 2016. That’s why Rubio will attempt to rehabilitate his image next year by moving hard right both in terms of PR and public policy, and don’t be surprised if that includes abandoning his support for scamnesty—for now at least. Rubio could simply say, “While I still believe in bringing these immigrants out of the shadows, it’s clear the process needs to be transparent and not done with a lame duck congress. Let the voters have their say this fall, and then let the people they elect on their behalf go to work to fix the problem after that.”

5. At least one incumbent Republican U.S. Senator will lose his primary.

Credible conservative challengers to incumbent ruling class Republican Senators have already been found in Kentucky, Kansas, Mississippi, and Texas. Conservatives in “red states” like Tennessee and South Carolina are actively looking for alternatives to the “Undocumented Democrats” representing them as well. Given the anti-ruling class political environment heading into 2014, at least one of these upstarts will slay an incumbent in the primary.

4. Republicans will win control of the U.S. Senate.

The average U.S. Senate loss for a re-elected president’s next mid-term election has been five seats since World War II. Throw in the epic failure that has been Obamacare, and an increasingly ineffective Obama Regime besieged by scandal and incompetence, and 2014 could be even worse than that.

3. Seeing that his presidential prospects are toast, Paul Ryan will angle to replace John Boehner as speaker in 2015.

Since conservatives celebrated his addition to Mitt Romney’s ticket in 2012, Ryan has gone out of his way to alienate those exact same conservatives at every opportunity. As a result, his presidential prospects are toast. Conservatives don’t want him, and the GOP establishment wants New Jersey Governor Chris Christie (a Paul Ryan with charisma). That’s why Ryan will spend the year angling to replace John Boehner as House Speaker, who will step down after the 2014 mid-term elections.

2. The Supreme Court will use the Hobby Lobby case to try and deliver the kill-shot to religious liberty.

It’s tough to see the same Supreme Court that wrote an anti-Christian polemic disguised as an opinion earlier this year, will then turn right around and acknowledge the Christians they loathe still have their God-given rights. More likely, the same SCOTUS that has taken unprecedented steps to grow statist power through government the past two years will see this as an attempt to silence those who stand in the statists’ way.

1. Edward Snowden cuts a deal with the feds.

The NSA whistleblower is running out of safe places to find asylum. Meanwhile, the feds are scared to death of what else he has that he can leak. So they’ll come together and cut a deal this year that allows Snowden to come home in exchange for turning over whatever else he has, and staying silent henceforth.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: 2014; crystalball; predictions
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To: SeekAndFind

No one will actually sign up for Obamacare.


21 posted on 12/28/2013 12:37:46 PM PST by Slyfox (We want our pre-existing HEALTH INSURANCE back!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Here’s a real longshot for ya’:

A surprising coalition of the Congressional Black Caucus and the House Tea Party Conservatives come together to nominate former one term Congressman Allen West as Speaker of The House. West immediately charges the podium, grabs the gavel and knocks John Boehner out, thereby claiming the Speakership.


22 posted on 12/28/2013 12:55:30 PM PST by shove_it (long ago Orwell and Rand warned us of ObamaÂ’s America)
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To: omniscient
What you dream about will not come from within the US but from a place where the US won't be able to filter it.

Watch the Morsi trial in Egypt next month. It may shed some light on Benghazi that even Issa hasn't been able to dig up.

FReegards!

 photo million-vet-march.jpg

23 posted on 12/28/2013 1:24:33 PM PST by Agamemnon (Darwinism is the glue that holds liberalism together)
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To: SeekAndFind

bfl


24 posted on 12/28/2013 1:56:45 PM PST by TEXOKIE (We must surrender only to our Holy God and never to the evil that has befallen us.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Those are awfully generous prdictions... -Full amnesty granted by executive fiat with full voting rights given to any illegal who has been here more thatn 15 years (it will be illegal to verify). -Unemployment extended one more year by executive fiat -Democrats hold the senate and gain seats in the house with the huge influx of new voters and welfare dependents. -GLAAD starts their own reality show on A&E with Pajamaboy as the main character -The Obamas are required to be on all broadcast and cable televisions 8 - 12 hours per day, if they aren't already -Paul Walker stars in 15 new summer releases -The NFL announces banning of any and all physical contact. Tackling will be illegal -Burkina Faso outperforms the per capita earning of the United States -Trayvon Martin BLVD and and Trayvon Martin elementary and high schools pop up in nearly every city in the USA.
25 posted on 12/28/2013 2:00:16 PM PST by Organic Panic
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To: SeekAndFind; a fool in paradise

11. Pajama Boy will become a victim of suicide.


26 posted on 12/28/2013 2:00:28 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: SeekAndFind; a fool in paradise

12. The original lineup of the Beatles will announce a reunion.


27 posted on 12/28/2013 2:02:55 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: SeekAndFind

I predict Apple will come out with a smart TV that makes all other TVs look primitive by comparison. Much like the iPhone made all other cellphones look stupid back in 2007.


28 posted on 12/28/2013 2:05:08 PM PST by SamAdams76
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To: SeekAndFind; a fool in paradise

13. In a surprising development, Rock and Roll will continue to be here to stay.


29 posted on 12/28/2013 2:06:47 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: SeekAndFind

14. The famous will continue to croak in groups of three.


30 posted on 12/28/2013 2:08:24 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: SeekAndFind

15. While governments continue to fall and be replaced in many democracies of the world, in the United States of the Stupid, the most corrupt and incompetent administration in the country’s history will remained untouched.


31 posted on 12/28/2013 2:11:06 PM PST by Revolting cat! (Bad things are wrong! Ice cream is delicious!)
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To: SeekAndFind

Pajama Boy will give birth to Rachel Madow’s baby.

Miley Cyrus will be crippled in a horrible twerking mishap.

North Dakota and South Dakota will set aside their differences and join together to rule north amerika as an independent nation of Dakota.

Chick-fil-A will become Chick-Phil-A.

The rev’rns Sharpton and Jackson will be caught in a love triangle with Jeremiah Wright.

The Russian Olympics will cancel pole vaulting.

Al Gore’s Chakra will freeze.

Mayor Bloomberg will get lung cancer.

More birth certificates will be discovered in an Egyptian court.

Hillary & Huma will marry in Utah.


32 posted on 12/28/2013 2:18:32 PM PST by outofsalt (If history teaches us anything it's that history rarely teaches us anything.)
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To: Revolting cat!

RE: 12. The original lineup of the Beatles will announce a reunion.

I didn’t know that John and George were not part of the original lineup.... if not, who were?


33 posted on 12/28/2013 2:45:32 PM PST by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
My #1 prediction is that there will be a huge blackmarket in decent lightbulbs. And we'll begin seeing headlines like "Man suspected of stockpiling contraband -- an arsenal of incandescent weapons were found in his basement. Children sent to CPS. Dog dead."

Sure, you laugh now.

34 posted on 12/28/2013 2:53:07 PM PST by workerbee (The President of the United States is DOMESTIC ENEMY #1!)
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To: All

I already put 10 on the other thread, but here’s an 11th:

Across the country, states, counties and cities will make real cuts in entitlements and government giveaways. They will understand that the alternative is unthinkable(Greece). There will be demonstrations and other ugliness but in the end people will understand that it was for the best.


35 posted on 12/28/2013 3:37:22 PM PST by crazycatlady
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To: SeekAndFind
The Super Bowl is often the most watched show of the year, but this year’s edition provides an unprecedented novelty act—a chance to see a championship decided in a winter wonderland in New York in February.

The Super Bowl is being held in New Jersey, not New York.

Nice try, Carnac,,,,,,

36 posted on 12/28/2013 5:25:14 PM PST by par4
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To: Revolting cat!

Abe Vigoda will count down the hits of 2014 as he rings in 2015 in a live telecast.


37 posted on 12/28/2013 8:22:43 PM PST by a fool in paradise ("Health care is too important to be left to the government.")
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To: GreenHornet

LOL


38 posted on 12/28/2013 8:41:12 PM PST by Lurkina.n.Learnin (This is not just stupid, we're talking Democrat stupid here.)
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To: SeekAndFind

Snowden goes out for cigarettes and is never heard from again.


39 posted on 12/29/2013 4:12:10 PM PST by hattend (Firearms and ammunition...the only growing industries under the Obama regime.)
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