As bad as 2008 has been in many ways, I will look back upon it fondly for at least two reasons other than the national election results.
2008 was a year in which average Josephinas and Joes, save perhaps one putative plumber, could make two remarkable claims: "I am smarter than the president and I am more solvent than my bank."
This state of affairs is powerful evidence that, among our socio-economic elites, a stupidity and hubris abounds that is inflicting profound suffering on a breathtaking scale. However, it also gives a boost to the individual and collective self esteem, a little glow of internal warmth, to those of us who, these last decades, have been howling and gnashing our teeth in the cold shadow of the "Reagan revolution".
Now, as of January 20, 2009, most of us will no longer be smarter than the president. But one out of two ain't bad.