Indeed. I am more pessimistic about our condition. I feel we're in a long slide gaining speed and that no one quite knows when or where we will stop. I believe that things can get far worse even with the changes we are about to make. While I am pleased to see an end to the Bush administration; and while he may be the worst chief executive the nation has ever experienced, I suspect that he is a symptom rather than a root cause of a deeper malaise that we have yet to honestly address. I'm rooting for your version.