Country's Mood is Low

It seems to be a hobby in our country to spend time and money on research and polls that state the obvious. At least once a week, you can find something in the news about "study at such and such university shows that people who eat 4000 calories or more a day are generally overweight." Why is this something that was studied in the first place? Was there ever really any possibility of a different outcome? And furthermore, how the hell did it make the news? "A Recent study revealed absolutely nothing we didn't know before." Wow, thanks for that nugget of completely useless information.

Today on CNN's website, I read this jewel of a story: Poll indicates that the country's mood is low. Oh really? Could that have anything to do with the fact that gas prices are so out of control that people can barely afford to get to work? Do you actually think people are having doubts about the health of our country when inflation is rising at alarming rates and instead of most people making more money, a lot of people are losing their jobs? It doesn't take a genius to figure out that when a record number of people are losing their homes to foreclosure and losing their jobs to downsizing that the country's general attitude is going to reflect it.

I guess the reason for this being a news story is just how low those numbers are. 24% of Americans have a positive outlook for the country, and 76% say we are on the wrong track. Just a little over a year ago, it was more like 50/50. Everyone, of course, is quick to point a finger at President Bush, but it goes so much deeper than that. There are decisions that Bill Clinton made that have only been really felt in recent years. (That's why there's almost no textile factories in our country anymore.) I personally think that there are a few very powerful and very rich corporations that are more in control of our daily lives as Americans than any President ever will be. Hell, CNN itself has more control over our attitudes and lives than almost anyone.

The big news from here until the election is going to be all about Obama vs. McCain. It's an interesting decision. Obama and his supporters are declaring him to be the voice of change that our country needs. I'm not so sure about that, but it sure does seem that Obama gets a lot more support in the media than McCain. The President will never again be as powerful as the media in America.

Okay, so I got off on a tangent there, but hopefully you see my point. It's not news that Americans are in a generally bad mood about our current state as a country. Unless you are super rich or too poor to know any better, your life has probably been affected by the rising gas prices which have led to rising everything. (except salaries, of course) It doesn't take a rocket scientist or a CNN poll to figure that out.