Reply #2: Sadly, I had to vote YES on this one ...

[NanceGreggs]

I remember that when I was a kid in high school, the history teachers used to talk about the fact that all great 'empires' eventually failed - the Roman Empire, Czarist Russia, etc. - and that someday, the United States would not be the country as we knew it then.

I never accepted that - I always thought, "Well, yes, those others -- but not the United States, beacon of democracy!

Well, I was wrong - and I NEVER thought it would happen in my lifetime.

We have lost our traditional values, we have become a nation divided. We have lost our traditional allies, our stature in the world as a model of democracy. The American Dream is now something only attainable by the wealthy and, in too many cases, is attainable only be stepping on the backs of fellow citizens to achieve that wealth.

I believe there is a back-lash to what's going on right now, and that there will be a turnaround with a new (Democrat)Administration. But the damage that's been done is so horrific, it will never be set truly right again.

With the inauguration of a new Democratic president in 2008, we will all be back at Square One. It will be 1776 again, and we as a nation will have to struggle to create a free and democratic society from the ground up.