Living in a Depressed America

Americans are depressed...

about their country.

An article in USA Today by Susan Page says that Americans are largely unhappy with the current state of affairs with their country. Now is not too much of a shock considering we are involved in a highly unpopular war and political parties seem to be more split than ever, but the numbers are quite staggering.

According to a USA Today/Gallup Poll taken October 12-14, 72% of those polled are dissatisfied with how things are going in the USA. The article states that, "Not since April have even one-third of Americans been happy with the country's course, the longest national funk in 15 years."

It goes on to say that "The war in Iraq is a major drag...," and even though the economy is doing quite well, "the sense of insecurity, the sense of anxiety of what the future might hold that's having a downward effect."

So what I've been thinking is this...we have almost a year to the day until the 2008 presidential elections. Can Bush do much in that time to boost his approval ratings and instill confidence pertaining to the direction our country is going back into the American people? Should he even bother to try? In my opinion, probably not.

So who can help? The media. And what can be done? The media can point out what is going right in Iraq. It can balance air time between photos and videos of the accomplishments made by our thousands of troops with the aftermath of suicide bombs. I'm not saying the media should ignore the horrible reality that is war, but let's see both sides, for the sake of our country and for the sake of those who have loved ones there. I see no disadvantage whatsoever in doing so. Those who are against the war are still going to be against it, and those who support the war are still going to support it.

A year before voting, a nation of discontent