A Silver Lining?

It's been said that being sentenced to be hanged concentrates the mind wonderfully. (I'd just as soon not find out for myself.) But I wonder if a good economic depression could possibly have a similar effect on what we might call -- without a trace of irony! -- the "national mind." This makes me wonder:

Support for Israel among American voters dipped slightly over the first half of 2009, but this was not accompanied by a rise in the single-digit backing for Palestinians, a new poll has revealed.

According to a Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research poll conducted for The Israel Project last week, 49 percent of US voters consider themselves supporters of Israel, down from 57% in January. Just 7% see themselves as supporters of the Palestinians, down from 8% in January. Fully 31% are either undecided or support neither position.

Without worrying too much about the meaning of the responses to a poll conducted for an entity calling itself "The Israel Project," I do wonder whether there might be an increase in the fraction of Americans who might "see themselves as supporters" of America, maybe. Perhaps world management is seen as a luxurious hobby to be indulged during flush times. Of course, many may not realize that "flush times" are multiple decades behind us; but pretty much everyone outside of D.C. probably realizes that these ain't them.