That Barack Obama transformed America is without doubt; by just about any measure the country moved left during his tenure. Social permissiveness and political correctness ruled the day. But such heady progress is now in the distant past — thanks to one Donald J. Trump. How far down the progressive highway could it have gone? How close to the edge did we get? The answer: real far and real close. Just take a glance at these news reports from what could have been your future:

— Former Vice President Al Gore introduced the latest sequel to “An Inconvenient Truth” at the 2035 Sundance Film Festival. The new movie follows previous releases “An Inconvenient Sequel” (2017); “Inconvenient Blizzards Mean We’re in Real Trouble” (2022); “Sometimes Computer Models Can be Inconvenient” (2028); “I Think I Got it Right This Time” (2031); and his new release “I Should Have Stuck with Tipper on that Record Label Warning Gig.” On a somber note, Mr. Gore’s scheduled press conference was postponed when a Spring snowstorm grounded his private jet in Cancun, Mexico.