Growing public anger reflects widespread feelings of impotence

Queuing up recently in a post office in Cleveland Park, Washington, D.C., a woman complained to me in a loud voice about the long line of customers being serviced by only one clerk. She then angrily provided a long list of what is going wrong in the United States.

Americans are known for being optimistic, but the word most often used to describe public sentiment in the US these days is "angry".

A number of polls in recent months have shown more Americans saying they are angry and that those that were already angry are angrier than before.