Celebrate like it’s 2025! Because it is.

Just as the scars (or should that be “scares”?) of Y2K are fading, the new century is at the quarter-pole. Hard to believe.

I’m excited about the new year. For 12 of the last 16 years, my country has been “led” by people who don’t seem to like it (or me) very much. That’s going to end on the 20th as Donald Trump returns to the White House as the second president to serve two separate terms.

It will be a fundamental transformation of America, transforming America back to its fundamental principle- freedom.

I am feeling “hope and change” and not because a politician promised it to me.

Nine years ago this month, in this space, BOOM Magazine publisher (the late, great) Jim Watson honored freedom of the press by allowing me to ruminate on then-candidate Donald Trump. I was intrigued by the potential of America’s business being run by a successful businessman.

In that piece, I admitted to not being a fan of The Apprentice. Working in radio, I’d heard “you’re fired” enough to find it repulsive entertainment. It was incredibly entertaining to watch Trump, having survived a stolen election, two assassination attempts, and a 96% negative media blast, tell the corrupt and addled Joe Biden, “You’re fired,” last November 5.

Just as I couldn’t wait to watch Ronald Reagan dispatch Jimmy Carter on January 20, 1981, I’ll be eagerly anticipating the 20th of this month to watch Joe ride off (with help, no doubt) into the sunset to contemplate his sinful one-and-done presidency.

In that column from January 2016, I recalled my first inauguration. Teachers at John Hancock Elementary School gathered 200 or so of us little BOOMers into a gymnasium and rolled out the school “media center.” It was a 20-inch black and white TV (in a gym!). We were gathered to watch JFK take the oath of office.

Nobody heard a word of it with the lousy acoustics, a shame because it was a profound speech. Here are some of the highlights recalled in that column:

At the time, the significance of these words was lost on us-

“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world, ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”

Wow. Freedom. Love of country. Service. How quaint!

JFK’s win was narrow and, frankly, assisted by voters from the same Chicago cemeteries who have carried other politicians to victory both locally and nationally.

He had to overcome a significant prejudice to win, too. He was a Catholic (OMG!), and many believed he would be taking direct orders from the Vatican. Seems silly now, doesn’t it?

After the speech none of us really heard, we returned to our classrooms to resume what we were urged to achieve- good grades so we could one day get good jobs and be rich!

Just like that older Boomer, Donald Trump!

Two things I don’t do well- predictions. And predictions.

Let me stick my neck out here and say when 2016 comes to an end, we could be anticipating the Inauguration of President Donald Trump.”

In this last election, Trump defeated a woman promising to fix the problems created by the administration in which she served! Duh! The legacy media blamed her loss on “misogyny and racism and blah blah blah.” No. This capsule summary from American Thinker sums it up nicely:

Abruptly pulling out of Afghanistan and leaving behind 85 billion dollars of American technology while getting our soldiers killed in the process.

High Inflation. (Lettuce is $3+ a head?!?).

Cancel culture accelerated. (Let the market decide what stays and goes, not the government.)

DEI run awry. (Going away on its lack of merit. You are appointing people to the Supreme Court- not decorating a Christmas tree or adjusting the color bars on a TV.)

Unconstitutional executive orders. (Canceling student loan debt for votes as one example.)

  • Coddling Iran and failing to confront Russia and China. (They’ve been laughing at our feckless leadership.)
  • Identity politics.
    •Wars in Ukraine, the Middle East, and throughout Africa. (Those will be going away soon.)
  • College campus takeovers and chaos. (Marxism as a major leads to nowhere)
  • Transgenderism: hormone blockers for kids and sex change operations for inmates. (There are two biological sexes, not 42 genders. Insane.)
  • Crime. Lots of uncontrolled crime. (As we’ve seen in Montgomery.)

America is going from the insidiousness of “woke” to waking the heck up, having soundly rejected leftist “results’.

Quoting one of my favorite writers (me, lol) from that piece nine years ago: “The Open Rebellion is upon us, and as we launch the year, a man who owes nothing to nobody is out in front and scaring the bejeebers out of both parties, because he is one guy who could end their party.

How nice if, one year from now, media centers in schools could echo these words- “Let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God’s work must truly be our own.”

Those are the final words of JFK in ’61. I’ll settle for the four words on Trump’s hat- MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.

Why would anyone be against that?

I only wish Jim Watson could watch the inauguration with me.

Share your thoughts on my experiences or other comments via email at gregbudell@aol.com. It’s always fun to hear from BOOM! readers.


Greg Budell lives in Montgomery with his wife, Roz, and dog, Brisco. He’s been in radio since 1970, and has marked 19 years in the River Region. He hosts the Newstalk 93.1FM Morning Show with Rich Thomas, Susan Woody, and Jay Scott, 6-9 AM Monday – Friday. He returns weekday afternoons from 3-6 PM for Happy Hour with, Rosie Brock and a variety of sidekicks.
Greg can be reached at gregbudell@aol.com.

Image Credit: pbs.org