I hear phrases similar to this bandied about on a daily basis. It always goes something like, "things are bad but american resilience and determination will lead us out.. blah blah blah" Personally I don't buy it. How exceptional and resilient can we be when we've had everything a nation could ask for and still ran the country into the ground over a period of 60+ years? I'm not knocking your comment and this isn't directed at you Byrd_Huntr, but maybe its partly because we think we're so special and capable that we're in this mess to begin with.