WASHINGTON - America's vaunted can-do spirit is badly frayed.
From the Gulf oil spill to the war in Afghanistan, from lost jobs to soaring budget deficits, cascading crises are defying easy resolution and undermining faith in the future...
That gusher, which can be seen around the clock on live video feeds from the ocean floor, stands as a vivid image of the limits of modern technology and governance. We can fly through space and walk on the moon — but can't stop a crude oil leak that has grown into the nation's worst environmental catastrophe.
Then there's the economy. Many months after the recession was said to be over, Friday's jobless figures showed the nation still in the grip of frighteningly high unemployment. Despite Obama administration insistence that no problem is getting more attention.
Abroad, the U.S. still hasn't defeated the Taliban in Afghanistan after nearly 10 years of trying. We seem unable to slow the nuclear march of Iran and North Korea. And efforts to broker peace in the Middle East keep slipping from our grasp.
When you set yourself up as a political messiah, as "the one", and nurture narcissism in your followers with "we're the ones we've been waiting for" blather, disappointment will inevitably set in. Never having believed in Obama at all, it's nice to experience immunity from the disappointment.
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