Democratic Underground Prophecy Watch

Part of an Occasional Series

I hang out at Democratic Underground. Not all the time! Hardly ever, in fact. But every so often, I drop by to see how the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy looks from the outside. I like to browse the forums, read what these people are saying about all the issues of the day.

One thing I've noticed is that the forums often contain predictions of the future. Many of them are incredibly paranoid and cynical. Some of them are amazingly optomistic. I've often considered the idea of publishing these predictions here, and reviewing them later, after their "expiration date", so to speak. It might be enlightening, and probably amusing, to look back on these predictions and make a note of exactly how far off base they were.

Or... Wouldn't it be shocking if some of these predictions were accurate, after all? If that were the case, I'd certainly kick myself for not preserving them as best I could. If nothing else, I could come here and review them as a powerful reminder of my own arrogance and stupidity.

Speaking of arrogance and stupidity, here is a set of predictions, taken not from the DU forums, but from one of the site's featured articles. The entire article can be found here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/crisis/05/013_bw.html. What follows here are some choice excerpts.

GOP Swept from Power in 2006; Impeachment Looms

"Associated Press, Nov. 8, 2006: The Democrats didn't waste any time after their landslide victory in the November midterm election that put them in charge, with huge margins in both the House and Senate."

"... voters said the key issues affecting their votes were their anger at the lies undergirding the Iraq War, now in its fourth year, the condoning of torture as American policy, and the current economic crisis."

" These factors presumably led to the sweeping votes for Democratic (62%), and Green (8%), candidates around the country. Many of those voters, an estimated 20%, described themselves as "conservatives" who had supported Bush in 2004."

" The sudden decline of the Republican Party and the likely downfall of the Bush-Cheney administration follows a cascade of catastrophes and unexpected reversals of fortune for the White House during the second Bush term."

"The American economy is in deep recession and, many economists fear, on the brink of depression."

"... the international financial community lost all confidence in the dollar, and, as a result, the value of the dollar against world currencies plummeted."

"Then the economic dominoes proceeded to fall. The price of imported goods skyrocketed and became unaffordable to ordinary Americans. International banks (primarily Chinese and Japanese) refused to continue their support of Bush's budget deficit which forced the US to raise interest rates dramatically."

"... disposable family income has shrunk, businesses have closed, and unemployment is rising to levels not seen since the Great Depression of the thirties."

"Violations of civil liberties under the USA PATRIOT Act, which were tolerated in the abstract and when suffered at a distance by "enemy combatant" prisoners and resident Moslems, finally provoked outrage when applied to dissenting citizens."

"With the Congressional vote for stem-cell research in mid-2005 followed by Bush's veto and the subsequent Congressional over-ride, Bush's support among Christians shrank to die-hard fundamentalists (a minority), as moderate Christians, religious non-Christians and secularists rebelled against the religious extremism that had captivated the White House and Congress ever since Bush first took office in 2000."

In its conclusion, the article makes it clear that at least some of these events depend on motivated Democratic Undergrounders working hard to make them happen:

"Well, friends, if you want to make something happen like the possible landslide defeat of the Bush Administration described above, it's time to crank up your activism now in preparation for the all-important 2006 midterm election."

But it's taken for granted that some of the other events are inevitable, and will make their own contributions to a glorious mid-term victory for the Democratic Party in 2006.

Anybody want to lay some money down? Here's a quick summary of the predictions I've excerpted:
+ Democratic Party wins "huge" majorities in House and Senate in a "landslide victory".
+ Voters will be angry at, among other things, "the condoning of torture as American policy" and "the current economic crisis". (Note that torture has not yet been condoned as American policy, nor are we currently in an economic "crisis". Both these things are still to come, between now and November 8, 2006.)
+ 62% of the electorate, nationwide, votes Democrat in 2006. 8% votes Green. 20% of the these voters claim to be "conservatives" and Bush voters in 2004.
+ A "cascade of catastrophes and unexpected reversals of fortune for the White House during the second Bush term."
+ The American economy will be in "deep" recession, bordering on depression.
+ The "international financial community" loses confidence in the dollar, causing its value to decline dramatically.
+ Shrinking disposable income, businesses fail and close, and unemployment rises to 1930s levels.
+ The Patriot Act will be applied to U.S. citizens to stifle legitimate dissent.
+ Bush's support among Christians will decline to the point where it consists of only "die-hard fundamentalists". All other kinds of Christians will vote Democrat (just like they wanted to all along).

Me? I'm willing to allow that an ongoing deficit might weaken the dollar quite a bit, but not to the extremes prophesied here. Other than that, I'm thinking none of these things shall come to pass.

What do you think?

Locked Post

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

+ Democratic Party wins "huge" majorities in House and Senate in a "landslide victory".

Democratic gains in House & Senate: 3:2 favorite. Huge gains w/ landslide victories: 4:1 dog.

+ Voters will be angry at, among other things, "the condoning of torture as American policy" and "the current economic crisis". (Note that torture has not yet been condoned as American policy, nor are we currently in an economic "crisis". Both these things are still to come, between now and November 8, 2006.)

General anger from voters about non-issues: 2:1 favorite.

+ 62% of the electorate, nationwide, votes Democrat in 2006. 8% votes Green. 20% of the these voters claim to be "conservatives" and Bush voters in 2004.

Huge democratic swing w/ large green party votes: 13:1 dog.

+ A "cascade of catastrophes and unexpected reversals of fortune for the White House during the second Bush term."

Consistent & catastrophic fuckups: 4:1 dog.

+ The American economy will be in "deep" recession, bordering on depression.

Deep recession: 8:1 dog.

+ The "international financial community" loses confidence in the dollar, causing its value to decline dramatically.

Lost confidence in the dollar: 6:1 dog.

+ Shrinking disposable income, businesses fail and close, and unemployment rises to 1930s levels.

Shrinking disposable income: 5:2 dog. Unemployment at 30's levels: 24:1 dog.

+ The Patriot Act will be applied to U.S. citizens to stifle legitimate dissent.

Patriot Act shenanigans: 3:2 favorite.

+ Bush's support among Christians will decline to the point where it consists of only "die-hard fundamentalists". All other kinds of Christians will vote Democrat (just like they wanted to all along).

Bush losing moderate christian support: 5:2 dog.

Successfully updated karma reason!

I think someone's choochoo has jumped the track! But then I read DU on occasion, and 99.9% of them have no clue of reality anyway. They out Dabe, Dabe!

Successfully updated karma reason!

Island Dog

Join Date 06/2003

+1051

This proves democrats know nothing about reality.

Successfully updated karma reason!

LMAO

They should....err, never mind....not quite appropriate...

Successfully updated karma reason!

Okay, okay, but if any of these predictions come true, I expect all you laughers out there coughlittlewhipcough to be right back here, doing penance on your knees for ridiculing these insightful and enlightened people.

(By the way, I heard this morning that the Euro is falling, in response to the "no EU" votes in France and the Netherlands. So I'm withdrawing even my allowance for something bad to happen to the dollar.)

Successfully updated karma reason!