How Bad Are Things, Really?

We might be veering into war with Iran.

Or is it North Korea?

Or is it Venezuela?

We have a trade war with China.

There was another mass shooting.

We are veering towards a constitutional crisis over claims of executive privilege that have no basis in history or precedent.

But if you're not a political junkie or follow the news primarily through your local newscast and newspaper...how bad are things for you?  America's crumbling reputation in the world doesn't impact someone going about their day to day life. There is broad consensus that things aren't going the way we want them, but no consensus on why that is.

I worry that Democrat's outrage over Trump - while entirely justified - isn't going to be enough to win the sort of resounding election that will be required to keep Trump from claiming electoral fraud and prompting another, different constitutional crisis.

There are so many weird things about this era, but the fundamental unhappiness, despite material progress is one of them.  The very real possibility that disengaged Americans might re-elect Trump, however, is very real and very frightening.