Hello, 2023. We have thoughts on what the new year will bring.

So we’ve made it through the Christmas holiday season and are now looking towards the end of 2022. Good riddance.

We’ve seen families struggle with the economy, COVID continues to leave its mark, and a midterm election surprise that has set the stage for what is sure to be a politically tumultuous 2023.

We saw changes on social media and Russia started a war with Ukraine. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, returning the issue of abortion to the States.

There’s no getting around it: 2022 was a historic year and one that will carry over into 2023 as Americans continue to grapple with many of the same issues.

Now you wonder “what will happen in 2023?” Well, we’ve got you covered. The USA TODAY Opinion team got together and sorted out next year for you, so you don’t have to.

People magazine editors come to their senses and name me “Sexiest Man Alive”

In what will be hailed as a “triumph for dads,” People magazine editors will finally declare me, USA TODAY columnist Rex Huppke, “the sexiest man alive.”

The announcement will be the culmination of years of showcasing my beauty in columns, on social media, and to my wife, who always responded with a roll of her eyes, which is the traditional American cue for: “Yes I agree”.

Why am I so confident this will happen in 2023? It’s simple. I read it on the internet.

December 21, I posted the following tweet: “Delighted to announce that I am PEOPLE magazine’s sexiest man of 2023.” It’s a tweet from the verified Twitter account of a journalist from a major national news agency. I will not question its validity.

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For too long the judges have presumably been blindsided by my intricately sculpted man calves unable to bask in the rest of my beauty. The new year will put an end to this injustice, and I will humbly take my rightful place alongside other sexy greats like George Clooney, Idris Elba and Brad Pitt.

Thank you Peoplemagazine. And you’re welcome, America!

— Rex Huppke

Raise your hand if you heard this: The Keystone pipeline spilled into a creek running through rural pastures about 150 miles northwest of Kansas City during the first week of December. It was the largest spill in the system’s history, according to Department of Transportation data. Canadian company TC Energy said the pipeline lost about 14,000 barrels or 588,000 gallons.

This news eluded me until just before Christmas, and it baffled me as we head into the new year.

The broken pipe spilled enough oil to nearly fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool, according to the Associated Press, “becoming the largest land-based crude pipeline spill in nine years and surpassing all previous spills on the same pipeline system combined.” .

Semiconductors return to the United States:America has just won a major victory over China. And it happened in Arizona.

What do you mean by “previous”?

A US Government Accountability Office report last year said there had been 22 prior spills along the Keystone system since it began operating in 2010, most on TC Energy property and less than 50 barrels.

Now environmental concerns have helped spark opposition to a new 1,200-mile Keystone XL pipeline, and the company has pulled the plug after President Joe Biden canceled a permit for it.

Even without the XL, however, the nearly 2,700-mile Keystone carries about 600,000 barrels of Canadian tar sands oil a day to refineries in Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas.

But how do you protect nature and her 588,000 gallon creatures from something resembling peanut butter?

I will watch this in 2023.

— Thuan Le Elston

Trump won’t go to jail in 2023

Former President Donald Trump is embroiled in numerous legal battles, which are hurting his fortunes and his 2024 presidential campaign. From the Mar-a-Lago raid to the Manhattan case to the New York Attorney General’s trial. York Letitia James to all the January 6, 2021 inquiries and the 2020 election, Trump has a lot on his plate.

The lawsuits have excited liberals. But I regret to inform you, my Twitter-obsessed friends, that the “walls” you’ve been talking about every day for the past seven years won’t actually “close” on Photoshopped’s newest mogul, NFT Trading Cards.

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Something much better will happen instead. Trump will take a page from the book of one of his most loyal supporters, Brandon Straka, and put himself behind bars. Just as Straka pretended to cry in a cage to show everyone at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas his Solzhenitsyn experience in the American”gulag“, will cry the former president in a cage during one of his rallies. The cage, of course, will be larger and painted gold.

After complaining about the harshness of his life for 3.5 hours and shedding some manly tears, Trump will be led out of the cage handcuffed by “Sheriff” Herschel Walker. Walker will then tie Trump to a stake like a witch in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, proving that Trump is truly the object of the Deep State’s “witch hunt.”

— chris schlak

Here’s a resolution for 2023: Make a friend with someone who has different political views.

I realize this is not a conventional New Year’s resolution, but hear me out. Along with your other goals of losing weight or hitting the gym more often, there’s something else you should consider.

Make 2023 the year you deliberately make a friend – or at least a good acquaintance – with someone who is a member of a different political party or belief.

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Why? Americans are concerned about deepening division and polarization in the country. He has conducted several polls as a major issue troubling citizens.

A FiveThirtyEight poll this year found that political division was the third most important concern, followed only by inflation and crime.

Self-segregation compounds the problem. Americans are increasingly likely to interact and socialize only with those who share their opinions. Our world of social media and cable news has contributed to the phenomenon by allowing us to live in bubbles where our beliefs resonate.

The problems with this are obvious. When we take humanity out of perspective, it’s easy to see the “other side” as the cause of the country’s problems and worthy of our contempt. And once someone treats you with contempt, it’s all too easy to reciprocate.

A conversational roadmap:We meet every week for lunch and talk politics. We don’t always agree. But we are still civilians.

There are a few reasons to be optimistic. For example, in Michigan, my friend and former boss Nolan Finley of The Detroit News co-founded, with famed Detroit journalist Stephen Henderson, the Great Lakes Civility Project. These two men are about as different as they come in their political views, but they’re great friends and want to spread the word about why this matters to groups and businesses in the Midwest.

Similarly, David Dulio, professor of political science and director of the Center for Civic Engagement at Oakland University in Michigan, has organized debates on controversial topics such as abortion that offer civil discourse and allow for a better understanding of life. other party for the purpose of reducing polarization.

Hearing from someone you disagree with doesn’t mean you have to change your mind. It’s more about tolerance and treating each other with respect.

And the best way to break down these barriers to understanding is to reach out in friendship.

— Ingrid Jacques