Are things really that bad?

A new national poll conducted by the New York Times and CBS News reveals that 70 percent of Americans feel that "things in this country ... have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track."

Lordy loo.

I get pretty upset about certain things quite a bit, but is it really THAT bad?

If you believed these polls, you would come to the conclusion that the economy is getting worse. I think pretty much every indicator I've seen recently states that is not the case.

Funniest of all is the idea that a major reduction in the annual federal budget deficit would create jobs. SPLIT RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE! I suppose the people that believe this are operating under the idea that if the deficit went down, taxes would go down, people would spend more money and businesses would be free to hire more people. It's semi-plausible, but it's more likely that businesses would keep making it work with less staff, making more money for the top percentage of earners and only further stratifying America.

Frankly, while I'm certainly not thrilled with everything President Obama has done, he really has started to get the wheels turning in the past year. Health care reform, while far from perfect, was a necessary first step. Despite the 75 percent of Republicans that believe health care is not something the government should be involved in, the majority of Americans are on board with it. So far, he has walked a fine line with the budget crisis.

I wouldn't say that Obama has necessarily delivered the CHANGE that he promised, but he has delivered PROGRESS. And, my God, that's a lot more than we've been able to say since 2000.

Still, an overwhelming percentage of Americans believe the country is SERIOUSLY on the wrong track. How? Why?

I think, frankly, most Americans are painfully uninformed about what's going on. The union busting tactics in Wisconsin were quite absurd indeed, but the whole process is still playing itself out. Besides, I would be shocked if Democrats weren't elected in the next cycle and restored most of the power to the people.

But people see that on the news or hear that from a neighbor and are PISSED. THINGS ARE GOING TO HELL, they say. And, you know, maybe they are. But as much as I hate the concept of patriotism in general, if these 70 percent of people ever had the opportunity to travel to another country, they would be singing a different tune.

It's still pretty good here in America.

At least if you're college-educated and white.