“I can’t remember when I last heard someone genuinely optimistic about the future of this country. I know that when I get together with friends, we make a conscious effort to change the subject [from the state of the country] and talk about grandchildren, reminisce about the past and the movies we’ve seen, though we can’t manage it for very long. We end up disheartening and demoralizing each other and saying goodnight, embarrassed and annoyed with ourselves, as if being upset about what is being done to us is not a subject fit for polite society.”