“While our purpose was not to predict particular news headlines, we did at one point (see chapter 10, “A Fourth Turning Prophecy”) offer five hypothetical scenarios for how this Crisis era might accelerate toward its climax: a terrorist WMD attack on U.S. cities using airplanes; a “tea party” fiscal rebellion triggering a fiscal meltdown; a Russian invasion of a former Soviet state; a pandemic requiring martial law; and a succession threat triggered by a state’s refusal to follow federal law. Back when we wrote the book, many readers told us these scenarios seemed utterly implausible.”