Someone famous once said: “Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.”

I reckon he is pretty right.

With the crisis in the US and, closer to home, Canberra, I can’t remember the last time the future looked so gloomy.

Of course in true Australian fashion, alcohol consumption and gambling will increase, as I think we are seeing at the moment, but what the hell has happened? How did we get into this position?

More importantly, how can we blame a government that has only just got into power for this ungodly mess we seem to heading for?

Even our new regional council seems to be in the firing line and, again, they seem to be getting the blame in record time for doing damage, considering the short time they have been in power.

Locally, I support some of the decisions they are making, but can’t agree with the “shut-up-shop” approach that some residents seem to be pushing.

Realistically, how can we or should we be stopping people coming to the Sunshine Coast if they want to? Sure it’s crowded; the traffic is bad and you might have a considerable wait if you get sick, but in my opinion if people want to move here we should not stop them.

It seems to me, whether it is local, state or federal government, everybody is talking up the one game – a shocker, doom and gloom wherever you look.

I guess what I need explained to me is whether Peter Costello, like me when I went to school, let his homework mount up until Sunday night before anything was done about it and by that time it was too late.

Or did Kevin and Wayne run on to bad ball down the blindside, delivered by a cagey coalition government that saw this coming?

Thinking back to when Gough Whitlam flew into power, didn’t things immediately go pear shaped then as well, with Malcolm Fraser proving that indeed “life wasn’t meant to be easy”?

Of course another famous saying, “It’s not easy being green”, by Kermit the Frog, has taken on a whole other meaning lately.

He only had to worry about trying to get a hold of Miss Piggy, while Kevin and Wayne are torn between our huge mining assets, a little joint called China and us getting our feet wet.

Surely the Labor party hasn’t caused that all of a sudden.

On top of all that come accusations from the opposition bench that Kevin 747 should be toughing it out in Australia with the rest of us, rather than juggernauting all over the globe imparting his huge IQ to whoever needs his help.

I am a Nambour boy and I can’t agree with much else the opposition is hurling at him, but in my tiny mind he should be here with the rest of us battling it out.

You never know, all that money spent flitting around the world could probably go towards giving the pensioners a pay rise. God knows they deserve it.

Also, while he is at the coalface, he might want to play coach and motivator for a while by getting the premiers and mayors together and giving them a bloody good pep talk.

While he is at it, he might want to give the banks a bit of a liven up as well. For instance, instead of talking about the money they have written off or lost, talk about the huge profits they are still making. If we concentrate on the positives, you never know things might actually improve.

Maybe Jack Nicholson - “The truth – you can’t handle the truth” - would be a good place to start.

In my opinion, the truth is we have a great country and we, as Sunshine Coasters, live in a great part of that country.

Maybe if both sides of politics started telling the truth a bit more and we, the public – the ones with our health and the ability to do a job – took a bit of “Chopper” Read’s advice and “hardened up” a bit, things might improve.

More importantly, we might realise that things probably aren’t that bad.