I will prophesy.
* The homeless are the canaries in the American coal mine. They are the economic refugees of gangster capitalism. They are the present face of the future of our country. As this year closes, a year begun with so much irrational hope that a black/white man might save us, the New Year looms ahead ominously.
* The war over there has already become the war over here. It began with Reagan's redistribution of wealth into the hands of the top 1 percent of our nation. The war matured with the Bush-Supreme Court coup, and d eepened with the mysticism of two buildings freefalling into their own footprints and an inexperienced, incompetent pilot conquering the most heavily armed building in the universe. Oh, how innocently we gave our power to leaders unworthy of trust. And now, the war over here has come to its endgame with the great swindle of the banksters, and the election of a friendly faced "Stepin Fetchit" president carrying the moneybags of the elite.
* This year's troubles will increase as we continue that long, lonely journey downward into the valley of shadows. Shadows that hide the light of what we once were. Today we can see more clearly that corruption has shattered all hoped for political solutions. The whole system is corroded and no one is coming to save us. And, like a final nail in the coffin, we the people are incapable of organizing against the Beast. The coup is complete.
* The religious will continue to mass into fascist churches that will tell them how to walk, talk, vote and whom to kill and hate. Other religious will escape into emotionally ecstatic tongue speaking, wildly flapping arms, the casting out of demons, surrounded by the spectacle of loud, pounding music and incessant digital images with preachers who tell them whatsoever, but let's make sure we pass the plate. A few will portal deep into themselves lost in the spirituality of "I am Thou," yet willingly oblivious to the beggar on the corner seeking a piece of bread. Oh, the webs we weave.
* This year our presence in Afghanistan will soar, our army in Iraq will stay, our covert operations in Pakistan will increase, we'll keep expanding our new military bases in Colombia (Hugo, here we come), our taxes will fund the killing, and that top 1 percent will be protected from all the blowback of chickens coming home to roost.
* But the homeless know. They carry the sins of the nation on their bodies. The homeless know that we are complicit in their crucifixion. And the homeless know one other truth -- we are only at the beginning of the birth pangs. The shadow grows darker even as we move closer to the anguish of gnashing teeth, a nation that will not repent blindly falling into its own collapse. Oh, the webs we weave.