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Here’s a few predictions I’m going to make for 2009:

• Scott Walker will announce he’s running for Governor. (I know, this is an easy one, but I need a gimme or two on this list)
• Sometime in 2009, Rep. Paul Ryan will announce he’s going to challenge Sen. Russ Feingold for Feingold’s U.S. Senate seat, which is up for election in 2010.
• We won’t see lines for food or other basic necessities once Barack Obama takes office, as predicted by one conservative blogger.
• The economy will be in significantly better shape before the end of the summer.
• At least one more blogger will win an elected office. (There are at least three that I know of that are running for elections in April 2009)
• Soon to be former Sen. Norm Coleman of Minnesota will be implicated and convicted of public misconduct before Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich.
• Brett Favre will finally hang up his cleats rather than play another season for a mediocre Jets team.
• The Brewers will surprise a lot of people and win 90 games in the 2009 season.
• Fred Thompson’s new radio show will last just about as long as his presidential campaign, and it’ll be about as successful.
• State Rep. Jeff Wood will refuse to resign his seat in the Assembly and will promptly be booted out in a recall effort by his constituents.

I’m willing to bet I’ll be wrong on these predictions more than I’m right, but let’s see how 2009 unfolds!

Merry Christmas everyone!

As I’ve been pondering the situation/scandal involving Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich, I can’t help but wonder what he hopes to accomplish by ignoring calls for his resignation. Sure, it’s obvious Blago suffers from a serious lack of common sense and an overabundance of hubris, but does he honestly think this situation is going to turn out well for him? The Illinois legislature is likely to move as quickly as possible to hold impeachment proceedings against Blago, and while time is running short before the new session of the legislature, I’m willing to bet lawmakers in Illinois will find a way to wrap up any impeachment proceedings before the new sessions starts.

So again, what is Blago thinking? He doesn’t seem to stand a snowball’s chance in h-e-double hockeysticks of withstanding impeachment proceedings, so I see his refusal to resign as a sign of his continued arrogance and foolish pride.

And while we’re talking about Blago, I’d like to know who the heck are those seven percent of folks in Illinois who still approve of the job Gov. Blagojevich has done?

So now that Senator Larry Craig (R-Bathroom Stalls) has resigned in disgrace, it seems Young Jessica McBride (or YJM as I like to call her) is gunning for Senator Ted Kennedy’s resignation. Now you might be asking yourself what Senator Kennedy has done recently to warrant YJM saying Kennedy’s “next,” and I couldn’t help but wonder the same thing. I can only assume YJM is saying Kennedy’s “next” in reference to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne at Chappaquiddick in 1969, since she referenced him being accused of leaving a woman to die in a previous blog entry.

Now unless I’m mistaken, I thought conservatives were supposed to be good Christians, but apparently their good Christian values don’t include forgiveness. Or maybe YJM is a conservative, but not a Christian. That seems to be the most logical reason for her inability (or is it unwillingness) to show a little forgiveness. Then again, I suppose showing forgiveness wouldn’t be good reading…

So Charlie Sykes - also known by his more formal sounding nom de plume Charles J. Sykes - has graced us all with a preview of his 50 Rules, due in stores Thursday, presumably to whet the appetites of his rabid and devoted fan base.

Michael Mathias over at Pundit Nation and Paul Soglin at Waxing America have both started to break down the three rules Charlie previewed, and I just wanted to add my own thoughts on Rule #11, because it’s got some glaring problems (emphasis mine).

RULE (11): After you graduate, you won’t be competing against rivals who were raised to be wimps on the playground.

The Duke of Wellington once said that “the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton ” – reflecting his view that competitive sports shape a nation’s character. We sure as hell should hope that’s not true about America unless, that is, we plan on going to war against an enemy who also values non-competitive, risk-free, self-esteem building play activities for its young….

Now I’m sure you’re wondering what’s wrong with the quote I’ve highlighted, and I’d love to explain. It’s improbable Wellington ever actually said, “the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton,” because according to various sources I’ve read, Wellington had been dead for three years when, in 1855, Charles Montalembert credited him with that remark in his De l’Avenir politique de l’Angleterre. The Duke of Wellington was at Eton from 1781 to 1784, from the ages of 12 to 15, and it’s known he was an idle and dreamy boy who took no part in organized sports. There was, in fact, little in the way of organized sport at Eton at that time, the activities to be seen on the playing fields appeared to the uninitiated to be more like free-for-all fights than games. Further, Wellington was said to have remembered his days at Eton as lonely and unhappy, his only sport being solitary leaps across a local brook, and he almost never visited the school in later years despite being its most famous alumnus.

I’m left to wonder if Charlie Sykes has any researchers on his staff, and if so, did he bother to have any of them make sure this quote - which he uses to help justify the logic behind Rule #11 - was accurate and attributed to the right person? If not, Charlie should get someone on that.