National pants-shitting moments

How can you not love an article that starts out like this?

"You know, this used to be a helluva good country. I can't understand what's gone wrong with it."

The good news for George Hanson is that shortly after making this observation, he gets beaten to death by a bunch of rednecks wielding baseball bats.

I don't know if anyone here is a fan of Nick Gillespie. His brand of libertarianism may go too far for some of you regulars, and not too far enough for others of us. But he does a great job of pointing out the fundamental cognitive dissonance of both liberalism and conservatism, and the downward spiraling circle-jerk they are engaged in.

However, I don't share his pessimism. Cynicism, yes, but I think we humans have a remarkable resiliency which will weather this particular clusterfuck just fine. The past was never as good as we thought it was, and the future is never as bad as we think it will be.

Of course I say this as someone with no credit cards, a steady job and a low fixed-rate mortgage. Your results may vary.