By Brendan McLaughlin

Is anyone else exhausted by the myriad threats facing our Republic- each of which requires immediate, forceful, and targeted action?  Global warming, invasive plant species, the war in Afghanistan and  the global credit crunch have all been described as imminent, existential threats that supersede all other threats. Really?  None of them rise to the level of an approaching asteroid for example. For that, I would skip my spinning class.

The problem with trumpeting each crisis as the crisis to end all crises, is that we become inured to bad news- "inured" being defined as ordering take-out Thai food, sitting on the couch and catching up on past episodes of Dexter. The upside is that these dire predicaments that threaten life on earth including Netflix can also focus the mind. Not my mind, but other minds.  In the face of oblivion, Obama's association with former radical bomber, William Ayers and McCain's affection for Phil Graham, one of the architects of our current credit crisis seem charming. 

The bottom line is stuff happens, including good stuff. The doomsayers never warn us about those things.  They would be lousy doomsayers if they did, mocked by other doomsayers as "joy mongers" or "can you believe our luck?-sayers".  What were we talking about?