Stop punishing impermissibly positive thoughts - Gregg Easterbrook

Gregg Easterbrook has a very sensible piece in Friday's Wall Street Journal that's worth a read.  He criticizes political campaigns and the news media for "seek[ing] to punish impermissibly positive thoughts," and points out that there are "two realities of life in the United States today:  The way we are, and the way we think we are. The way we are could use some work, but overall, is pretty good. The way we think we are is terrible, horrible, awful. Possibly worse."  Gregg Easterbrook, Life is Good, So Why Do We Feel So Bad?, Wall Street Journal, June 13, 2008, p. A15 (emphasis added.)