Humble pie is not a tasty treat.  When I made my ‘fearless’ look at 2020, written on January 9 of this year, of my 20 pictures of events in the year only 11 came even partially true.  But, never discouraged, I will dust off my crystal ball for my Second Annual Fearless Future predictions.

  1.  The Cardinals will, again, make the playoffs and will, again, not win the World Series.  They are a good team, not a great one.
  •  Cub nation will be sorely disappointed this year.  I missed this one last year, but now the Cubbies will tank about midway through the season.
  •  After missing on my predicting the Super Bowl in 2020 (which was fine, since I have been a fan of the Chiefs since about 1960), I will boldly back them for the 2021 Super Bowl.  Only the Steelers look to be a real threat this year.
  • In deference to my granddaughter’s fiancé, Lucas, his favorite quarterback will lift the sometimes hapless Tampa franchise into the playoffs, but not the Super Bowl.  No seventh ring for Tom.

Now we turn to politics, as another election is in the books.  It didn’t turn out like I wanted to, but in 15 Presidential elections I have been right all the time but voted for the winner only 5 times.  But hope springs eternal, so here goes again.

  •  In the runoff elections in Georgia on January 5, the GOP will win at least one of them, and thus control the Senate for the next two years.  Republican leader McConnell will be able to keep his troops in line to prevent too much extreme legislation from getting passed.
  •  The House of Representatives will be a contentious lot, given the much narrower margin the Dems hold.  Part of this will be problems from the lunatic fringe that is far left of mainstream America, and Democratic leadership will be hard pressed to satisfy a significant bloc of the radicals.
  • President-elect (as of this writing) Joe Biden will see his approval ratings take a nosedive, as he will be unable to articulate a coherent policy that will be supported by a majority of his own party.  His Vice-President-elect, Kamala Harris, will attempt to influence policy and not succeed as well as she would like.  
  •  Former President Donald Trump (if all goes as it seems now) will announce his candidacy for the 2024 nomination as a Republican, and have a shot at becoming only the second man to win non-consecutive terms in the Oval Office. (All know who was first, right?)
  • Scandals surrounding the Biden family will be swept under the proverbial rug, with no significant legal problems for the President.  John Durham’s investigation will provide a report which should be devastating to the Democrats, but since the mainstream media is the public relations arm of the party, most Americans will not see any of the conclusions he might reach.
  1.  Biden will continue Trump’s drawdown of American combat troops from some of the hotspots around the world.  This would include Afghanistan and Iraq, and other places in the Middle East.
  1. Trump’s ability to lessen illegal immigration is a popular policy, Biden will be under a lot of pressure to keep up squeezing off the flow of illegals across the southern border.
  1. COVID-19 will continue to be an issue in 2021.  Cases will continue to rise for some time, and economic lockdowns will be instituted in states run by Democrats.  This will be a problem for the President.
  1. Vaccines for the virus will be widely distributed, but since this will take time to have a great effect on the public, we will be under this cloud far into the New Year.  Enough (although only a small percentage) of side effects will be seen that a significant minority of Americans will refuse to take the shots needed until safety reaches close to 100%.
  1. In Illinois, residents who can continue to move to friendlier states, looking for less draconian governors and lower taxes.  
  1. Governor Pritzker’s approval rating will plummet, but not so much as to endanger his hold on state government.  A supermajority in both houses of the legislature will continue.
  1. My reversal on the pot projection is complete.  My  county, Edgar, will not be joining the pot parade in 2021.
  1. In Illinois as well as the United States, resistance to any kind of radical gun control will increase.  More Americans will become gun owners and more will obtain concealed carry licenses.
  1. Illinoisans will continue to be under strict ‘orders’ to limit gatherings, and will not be completely free until late 2021, if then.  Maybe Thanksgiving and Christmas this next year will be more ‘normal’.
  1. Travel will continue to be denied for much of the year.  If you wish to be an international traveler, you will have to wait until nations allow U. S. residents to enter their nations, and the U. S. will have to allow more people to fly.  My prediction is that you will need some proof of vaccination before going overseas.

So, come New Year’s Eve of 2021, look this up and see how close my crystal ball was for the year.  It could be worse than 2020’s look ahead, but maybe I have seen the future with clarity.