Sunny side up

Today will be a beautiful, sunny fall day for millions upon millions of Alabamians. But the events of the last month suggest that not everyone will share in that splendid feeling on this Columbus Day. Among the people who've been having terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days lately:

• Anyone who doesn't want a nuclear-armed tinpot dictator acting up in North Korea.
• Anyone who continues to believe the unstable situations in Afghanistan and Iraq will right themselves under the Bush administration's current policies.
  
• Anyone who thinks "whatever President Bush damn well feels like" isn't stable enough ground on which to rest federal and international law.
  
• Anyone who placed a bet on Lt. Gov. Lucy Baxley to cover a 20-point spread this fall.
• Anyone who hoped to coast to victory on the coattails of Gov. Bob Riley, whose lead is so large thanks partly to considerable support among conservative and moderate Democrats, in a year when the mood among many GOP voters is decidedly sour across the country.
• Anyone who watched the Arkansas game and screamed for Alabama's offensive play-calling to be less conservative than whatever John Giles is calling his group these days.
• Anyone who laughed at Alabama's misfortune in Fayetteville and boasted about Auburn's national title prospects, only to watch the team that the Crimson Tide outplayed on the road deliver a thorough beatdown to the Tigers at their place Saturday.

That last bullet point, of course, means the Iron Bowl just might be a toss-up this year after all. And hey, isn't that good enough news to break through even the darkest clouds?