Things can't get much worse.

I'm a patriotic and confident American. Despite the fact that there's plenty wrong with the USA. There's quite a mix of good and bad stuff. Room for lots of improvement. Admittedly, I focus on what's wrong. Because I want to see it fixed. Maybe that's what makes me a patriot. I have great faith that sooner or later, America will get things right. Like after 8 years of George Bush, we got Barack Obama. That's a giant stride in the right direction. We Americans tend to wake up. Eventually. Yes, it was a long slumber under Bush and his Republican cronies. Americans have learned from the nightmare experience. The economy in a shambles. A spiraling debt. A widening gap between the rich and poor. Almost 50 million of us without health insurance. Two active wars. Political bickering. Corruption. Greed. A federal government influenced largely by lobbyists and corporations. But still, I'm the eternal patriotic optimist. Things will get better. Because things can't get much worse. --Jim Broede