Mike
Ball
Read Mike's bio and previous columns here
December 31, 2007
2008 – The New Year in
Preview
I
don’t know about you, but as this year draws to its choking, sputtering
conclusion, I am getting just a little bit tired of all the
“retrospectives” that are clogging up the media. We’ve read about the
best and worst movies of 2007. We’ve read about the best and worst
people, the best and worst moments, the best and worst books, and the
best and worst songs. I even saw an article about the Ten Best and Worst
News Articles of the year. It came in at number seven on the Worst list.
I
prefer to look ahead, to peer into my unfailingly accurate crystal ball
and predict the future. Unfortunately, since I recently traded the
crystal ball for a harmonica, I’ll just have to wing it. So here it is,
my 2008 Year in Preview.
January 2008
– CNN commentator Lou Dobbs announces a breakthrough in the combined
fields of recycling and immigration reform. He asks all Americans to
collect their holiday fruit cakes and, instead of saving them to re-gift
next year, to send them to the U.S. Border Patrol where they will be
used to build a wall that will keep Mexicans from crossing our borders
and taking our jobs. After the plan is implemented, it turns out that
Mexicans love fruit cake. The wall is gone within a few hours, and
Dobbs’s head explodes.
February 2008
– After an intense nationwide search, a reporter from the New
Republic locates the last person on the planet who still thinks that
George W. Bush was a pretty darned good choice for president. Clyde
Delusion of Crow Butte, Texas, a professional survivalist and part-time
cattle rustler, states that Bush is a lot better than that “. . . rich,
faggy, East Coast John Kerry guy.” He goes on to say, “Mr. Bush is
‘specially good for our country, on account of he’s a real, red-blooded
man’s man, and a true son of Texas.” Informed that Bush is actually from
New Haven, Connecticut and was a cheerleader at his prep-school in
Andover Massachusetts, Mr. Delusion’s head explodes.
April 2008
– Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan get together to form a
new joint venture. The company, “21st Century Skank, Ltd,”
will design and promote a line of cocaine-based cosmetics, and (at
Britney’s insistence) hair-care products. After sampling their products,
all three girls’ heads explode.
June 2008
– Bill O’Reilly meets an untimely end while debating American foreign
policy on “The Factor” with Rosemont Junior College freshman Amy
Nosebleed. When O’Reilly is unable to shout loudly enough to drown out
Miss Nosebleed’s statement that there is really no proof that all
Democrats are Nazi sympathizers, he accidentally cuts off his own
microphone rather than hers. She is able to make her point on the air,
and O’Reilly’s head explodes.
August 2008
– Sacha Baron Cohen, who recently retired his misogynistic, anti-Semitic
character “Borat,” creates a new character, “Churchrat.” This new
satirical character is an ultra right-wing fundamentalist gay-bashing
Christian preacher, who is also a blatant embezzler and a gay pedophile.
When Cohen learns that his newly-created Church of the Divine Diddler
has become the fastest-growing religious organization in America, his
head explodes.
October 2008
– Just before the November presidential election, George W. Bush
declares martial law, then appoints himself “Decider-Guy For Life.” With
the exception of Justices Clarence Thomas and Antonin Scalia, the entire
United States Supreme Court’s heads explode.
December 2008
– Newly appointed Vice President For Life Dick Cheney officially has his
name changed to “Caligula” and breaks ground on a gigantic Coliseum to
house a “. . . new age of glorious gladiatorial combat and human
sacrifice.” To Cheney’s deep disappointment, nobody is particularly
surprised, and not one single head explodes.
So
there’s the year ahead, all laid out so you can plan accordingly. If
nothing else, you might want to pick up a slicker and a pair of goggles.
And remember, if anything I’ve predicted here actually happens, it will
be news to me.
Happy New Year!
Copyright © 2007,
Michael Ball.
Distributed exclusively by
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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