Reply #73: I conclude that since Huffpo was bought by AOL, what comes out of that place

[MADem]

is pretty much right-wing crapola. That poll you cite is from POLLSTER.COM. You do know who owns that agency? It's an outfit called YOUGOV.COM. You do know who owns THAT shop? It's a guy who, in his hubris, changed his name from Kukowski to Shakespeare. Read all about him, here (he is an ardent conservative, wired into UK politics in a big way, who wants to be a mover/shaker on the international scene):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephan_Shakespeare

I don't understand your conclusions based on the comparisons you offer. You do know that Obama is in his first term, don't you? And he's not suffering nearly as much as Clinton did in his--the knives were out in a big way for the Big Dog. And you do know that we have well over a YEAR before we go to the polls? We're not in the fall immediately before an election--we have another fall after this coming one yet to see. A lot can happen in that time.

Also, Bob Kerr(e)y is the one legged former Vietnam-era SEAL and NE Senator (he used to date Linda Rhonstadt when she was young and smokin'). John Kerry was the candidate from MA, still a US senator.

I think that the entire world is going through a fair bit of strife. I think there's a lot of realignment going on, and resource-sharing amongst newly industrialized and developing nations. When there's competition for resources, prices go up--at least until substitutes or better modalities are created/found.

I believe that America's best days are in front of us. I'm not worried. We'll get through this tough time. I've seen them before, and we'll, like it or not, see them again. I remember when "the sky was falling" (during the time of acid rain). Everything was rusted. Malaise was the order of the day. The mood is nowhere near as dire today, even though times are tough.

These things go in cycles. It's the natural order of things. Some of what's happening is down to speculation and greed, of course. Who in their right mind thought that crappy little houses could continue to appreciate at a ten-grand-per-annum clip? And who with a brain in their head would use an over-valued house as an ATM? Fools, that's who. Who thought that playing the market like an easy-payout loss leader Vegas slot machine was a good idea that would last forever? Greedy people.

What goes up usually comes back down. The sad thing is, a lot of hard working folk got caught up in that mess. Many of them didn't deserve to get crapped on, but others didn't deserve it when the Reagan-Bush policies crushed them, either. However, they retrained and retooled and got back to work.

We've done this before. We can do it again. Will it be quick or easy? Hell no. It will take time. It will be hard. But it will, eventually, happen.