Never Wrong, Just Early

It shouldn't come as a surprise that the White House has resorted to predicting history's inevitable approval on Iraq. Get ready to hear this come out of Crawford for the next few decades. It's a catch-all way to rationalize failure and avoid the crushing psychological consequences of being wrong, so it's perfect for this president. That's why it's nothing new for him.

In 1993, Major League Baseball decided to realign its leagues and introduce a wild-card playoff format. Team owners voted 27-1 in favor of the change. The lone dissenter was Texas Rangers co-owner George W. Bush. His comment after the vote: "I made my arguments and went down in flames. History will prove me right."

The result? The realignment and revised playoff format has been wildly successful and almost universally accepted, even by the sport's hidebound purists (including me).

But hey, it's only been a little over a decade. When the timeline is infinite, there's always a chance that one day someone might call you a prophet.