2014 Was a Year of Turmoil in the U.S...

...And it's hard to believe 2015 will be much better.

Sure Wall Street is roaring, but the same can't be said for most of the rest of the American economy.

Our various wars and 'non-wars' in the Islamic world are bound to continue, or expand.

Russia is Russia...And our sanctions regime will just as likely make them more than less crazy - and desperate.

Iran hasn't given up on an atomic bomb...No matter how many times John Kerry says they are honest dealers.

The Chinese economy seems to have topped off...And Europe seems to be in a permanent recession - like Japan.  There will be contagion.

Our government hacked the world, and the Sony case is probably a preview of actions being repaid...Someone with enough IT firepower can make the Sony, Target, Home Depot, etc., hacks look little.  Especially if they go after our infrastructure:  Think electricity, water, food, etc.

The National Debt climbed past $18 trillion and no one noticed.  Maybe we've reached infinity, and everyone knows it means nothing anymore.  Someday the 'piper will be paid', however, and when that day comes there is going to be hell to pay...Until then, I guess we just keep eating, drinking and being merry.  Don't think it couldn't be 2015, though.  We have no way of knowing when it will be - but be it will.

Ebola has magically disappeared from the news since the Elections ended...I guess there's no need to worry about that any more.  Sure.

Cheap oil has been a blessing to Average Joe America, but I'm betting this American blessing turns into a nightmare for those living in or around oil producing nations...Including those close to home:  Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, in particular.

Speaking of Mexico - it'll be warming up soon enough, and when it does the southern border will be flooded harder than ever with humanity from all over Central and South America...Who can blame them?  Especially with the promise of amnesty (Executive Memo, non-enforcement, whatever) in the pipeline?

Thankfully the Jihadist haven't hit the American homeland again.  How long can we continue to evade them?  Hopefully forever.

Many of the poison pills in ObamaCare will take hold in 2015.  No one has any idea how they will be applied, nor how bad the effects will be.  But, we all know they are coming, and they will have an effect on the American people...The bad thing is no one knows exactly what is coming - because Team Obama is making up the rules on the fly, and it looks like they won't be applied in a consistent, or even logical, manner.

The Occupy Wall Street crowd has been quiet lately, but they haven't gone away...Our cities may be set aflame again.  Especially when these anarchist clowns merge with the race warriors.

On the topic of race relations, they are worse now than before Obama became president...There's no doubt the race war agitators will push even harder this year.

Speaking of President Obama - he isn't going anywhere, and his last actions of 2014 are more than a preview of what is to come...Anything is possible.  Well, anything which isn't helpful, that is.

And those who are holding out hope that the new Republican Congress will be able to hold Obama in check - or even get something done themselves - are nuts...Obama won't give the Republicans anything, and the Republicans won't have the testicular fortitude to do anything - other than make noise - to stop him from pushing his agenda:  'Fundamentally transforming the United States.'

That said, there is one thing the people of the United States can look forward to:  The U.S. is still a better place to live than anywhere else...Sadly, this is exactly why much of the above will likely occur.

Germany's first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, supposedly once said that there was 'a special providence for drunkards, fools and the United States of America.'

Apparently, late 19th century observers could not quite explain how the U.S. thrived when by logic it should not. That paradox has never been more true than today.

The Other America

By:  Victor Davis Hanson

Follow the link for the entire article:  http://townhall.com/columnists/victordavishanson/2014/12/11/the-other-america-n1929960/page/full

In such a depressing American landscape, why is the United States doing pretty well?

Put simply, millions of quiet, determined Americans get up every morning and tune out the incompetence and corruption of their government. They simply ignore destructive fads of popular culture. They have no time for the demagoguery of their politicians and the divisive rhetoric of social activists. Instead, these quiet Americans simply go to work, pursue their own talents, excel at what they do, and seek to take care of their families.

The result of their singular expertise is that even in America's current illness, the nation still soars above the global competition.