Inauguration Day has come and gone, with all its pomp and bands and parades and speeches, leaving us wondering what the next four years will bring to our country.

The presidency means power. But the president’s reach has to be limited by his powers of persuasion, and he hasn’t persuaded a lot of legislators to follow him. We look at him with our own agendas, which are widely divergent. Business worries about our ability to compete. The military tell us they have to have a big slice of the budget to keep us safe. And economists keep telling us we’re spending too much.

It’s hard to be an optimist these days, but let’s try, anyway.