1.   The news plunged the nation into a febrile, agitated state.

2.   A big tax cut, they said, would not only endanger those objectives, but risk plunging the nation back into a morass of budget deficits.

3.   Bush said achieving those goals would require heavy doses of money that will plunge the nation into a deficit for the first time in four years.

4.   But Congress is understandably reluctant to go on record as admitting that its most significant achievement during the Bush presidency has been to plunge the nation deeper into hock.

5.   But that could plunge the nation into a legal and political quagmire.

6.   In the loss of such myths, and the revelations of a grimmer reality, lie elements that can plunge a nation into moral crisis.

7.   So far this year the president survived an impeachment effort and plunged the nation into a bombing campaign in Yugoslavia.

8.   The deaths plunged the nation into a prolonged period of reassessment over the inherent risks of its space program and its goals.

9.   The nation will be plunged into months of pain and despair.