Straining(?) to see a bright side

Here's the column I did for this Sunday's Register Commentary section, in which I tried to take a somewhat optimistic view of how things will be after the election. I argued that at least the U.S. empire is functionally over, since we don't have the money or military resources for any new wars, and that the next president will be constrained in part by the $2 trillion already spent this year to try to dig out of the financial crisis, so it will be difficult to start new programs or nationalize health care.

My friend Milton thought my colleague Mark Landsbaum, who saw things somewhat more pessimistically, had the better of the argument. Steve Greenhut expressed ambivalence. Never say we aren't fair and balanced.