With ISIS, refugee mayhem, the Summer Olympics, the presidential election and Obama determined to go out with a bang, 2016 is shaping up to be a barn-burner. Throw in Black Lives Matter and Baltimore’s Freddie Gray verdicts, barns may not be the only things burning. On the other hand, I’ve read the Bible. We know that God is in control and that (spoiler alert!) the story has a happy ending.

So what do you think is going to happen in 2016? To help get the ball rolling, here are some headlines I see for the coming year.

On the Republican Side

I’ll start with the easy one, and then progress toward the more daring:

• “Jeb Calls It Quits, Admits Heart Never in It”
• “Trump Stunned by Losses in Iowa and New Hampshire”
• “Christie Surge Threatens Rubio’s Grasp on GOP Establishment”
• “Cruz Ground Game Stuns Rivals”

On the Democratic Side

• “FBI Source: Clinton Facing Multi-Count Felony Indictment”
• “Justice Department Denies Hillary Indictment Pending”
• “Hillary Hospitalized After Reported Seizures. Doctors Recommend She Quit Race”
• “Uncle Joe Offers to Jump in to Save Day for Democrats. Kerry Also Reportedly Interested”
• “Obama Pardons Hillary for Actions Related to Benghazi, Emails”

Also on the Front Pages

• “Obama Defies Congress and Law, Unilaterally Closes Gitmo”
• “Iran Again Caught Violating Nuke Deal. Obama Expresses Shock”

On the Entertainment Front

• “Justin Bieber Teams with Hillsong for New Album”
• “New Single Has Fans Wondering: Is Katy Perry Returning to Her Christian Roots?”
• “American Idol‘s Final Season a Triumph”
• “Terrorism Threat Doesn’t Stop the Olympic Party in Rio”

Techie Predictions from The Stream‘s Webmaster

The Stream’s Alan Eason has gazed into 2016 and seen these developments on the technical and social media front:

• More things are going to come out in 2016 that need batteries — and bigger batteries — And more dangerous batteries.
• More grandmas will get on Facebook to see pictures of the grandkids and more younger kids will ditch Facebook for some other social media platform so they can’t be spied upon by their parents.

And the Winner is …

I have long held a theory that elections are rarely decided for the reasons people think. Each election has some underlying motif or dynamic propelling the vote. For example, in 1994, Bill Clinton was being written off as a one-term President. I said he’d win re-election in ’96 in a landslide. Two reasons: The pending Millennium and the ’96 Olympics in Atlanta. I knew that come that autumn, folks would be feeling good about America and with eyes on 2000 the nation would not want to go backwards to the aging Republicans who’d been running things in the ’80s.

This election will bring another landslide. The “why” explains Donald Trump’s rise. He is not the source and he ultimately won’t be the beneficiary. The dynamic he is riding is this: Americans are tired of being told America stinks. We’re tired of being booted in the butt by our enemies and not having the backs of our friends. To paraphrase Obama’s oft-repeated mantra, “That’s not who we truly are.”

We’re America. We’re the nation that put a man on the moon, put Nazis and the Soviet Union to rest, and put Fender guitars in the hands of rock-n-rollers the world over. We created Star Wars. We’re the nation whose broad arms have welcomed the world’s best and lifted up the world’s lowliest. We’re tired of apologizing for ourselves, tired of keeping our mouths shut for fear of offending this person or that nation, and certainly tired of being told there’s something wrong with us singing and believing “God Bless America.”

For two weeks in the middle of the presidential campaign this summer, America will be screaming “USA! USA! USA!” I pity the party that’s spent the last seven years telling us that’s a bad thing.

The top headline for 2016 is this: “Americans Wants America to be America Again.”  And I suspect America will vote accordingly.