Some Progressive Futures We Thought We Would Have

Inspired by The Hairpin, here is a list of some futures we thought we might have in 2010. Some worked out better than others.

January 2010: This is Our! Year! Don’t ask, don’t tell will be repealed, the DREAM Act will pass, any two consenting adults will be able to marry, there will be real movement toward exiting Iraq and Afghanistan, health care reform will happen, and the stimulus will create jobs and set the economy right. We will be happy and successful at all things, the president will never disappoint us, and Sarah Palin will be return to Alaska. And the Senate will finally get things done.

February 2010: After health care reform passes, conservatives will forget that they opposed it—because, hey, health care!—and then we will be able to focus on other important issues like immigration, marriage equality, and the environment.

March 2010: Okay, so conservatives will finally stop claiming that health care reform is unconstitutional, and then we’ll be able to move on to things that matter.

June 2010: The climate bill will pass and the U.S. will finally step up and take more responsibility for the environment.

July 2010: We will lament the death of the climate bill by blowing vuvuzelas and forgetting that we don’t care about soccer.

August 2010: Little is going to come of the WikiLeaks business, right?

September 2010: This top-kill idea to plug the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is totally going to work, and the spill will serve as a reminder that we need climate change legislation. And Glenn Beck is going to burn out soon.

October 2010: Thanks to Jon Stewart, it’s time to usher in a new era of sanity and reasonableness, which will help us prepare for the next two years of hyperpartisanship.

November 2010: Okay, lame duck is going to be utterly terrible, but let’s push forward on DREAM, DADT, and the START treaty anyway.

December 2010: The welcome passage of the DADT repeal while DREAM fails means 2011 will be bittersweet, especially since the military action in Afghanistan and Iraq doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. And knowing that the top two percent of earners will be getting tax cuts that will add $700 billion to the deficit isn’t something we really want to think about. But the extension of unemployment insurance is nothing to sneeze at. And watch out, 2011: we’re coming for you.

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