It seems Americans are optimistic about what’s to come in 2007, according to the latest Associated Press-AOL News Poll.

Oh, wait, no, they’re not.

That was quick! Either public opinion is more volatile than I thought, or the AP is covering its bases. Or it’s really true about glass-half-full and glass-half-empty people.

And now a quiz: What event did 25 percent of Americans think was likely to happen in the year 2007?
a) Gerald Ford will rise from the dead and form a synthesiser duo with James Brown
b) Donuts will rain from the sky, deliciously killing onlookers
c) Jesus Christ will return to earth
d) George Bush will admit he did something wrong

Oh, you guessed it. It was c).

None of these notions, in my view, is any less likely to happen than the others (except for d). Yet, all but c) would probably poll at less than one percent (counting perverse answers and Perot voters), while c) is believed by 25% of respondents. Think about that. Get four Americans in a room, and one of them thinks that Jesus is coming out of the sky this year.

Silly people! Everyone knows Jesus is coming back in the year 2437. It’ll take at least that long for the Apple sponsorship deal to come through.