> I forever envy your cheeriness.
As a friend of mine likes to say, it's not that I'm optimistic, it's just that I'm so broke I can't afford to be depressed.
More seriously, there *is* tremendous popular anger building in the US these days -- the return of the Rethugs doesn't mean a generalized Rightwing resurgence. It's just that the 35-year neoliberal credit bubble which used to paper over political dissent in this country is gone. Here's one of the leading indicators:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8531158.stm
-- DRR