Hey Rick:

Scoff all you like at us propagandists of doom. Still, in the matter of our nation’s current problems, however you weigh them, or rank them relative to each other, it’s awfully hard to argue that any of them were caused by excessive pessimism.

“Yes, we can!” is the other party’s slogan. We don’t need any more of that spirit than we currently have. What we need more of is sober judgment about what is or is not possible in a world of large heavy objects and imperfect human beings.