jm of Augusta, ME Y-B:

"The fall of the USA into depravity."

You mean like torturing prisoners? Or approving casinos to send our money to Vegas mobsters?report abuse

Yankee_Biker of Augusta, ME I have to respectfully disagree with professor Reisert. The main reason the Roman Empire fell was that they devolved from a proud state governed by honorable men with a strong military and became an nation of narcissists and hedonists with little honor and a weakened military. Upon seeing the ruins at Pompeii it became clear to me that in the later days the Romans were more concerned with the pleasures and perversions of the flesh and not with the honor and dignity of maintaining a great civilization.
If you would make a comparison to today's USA, you will see the nation headed in the same directions as the Roman Empire. No longer do we respond to the challenge of our leaders "Ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what you can do for your country" or "Do not judge a man by the color of his skin but by the strength of his character".
These days more and more we hear the cries of "I want everything I'm entitled to" and "tax the evil rich so I can sit around because I'm too disabled to work".
Will the USA make it 500 years, at the rate we are going, not a chance. We had a good run of 200 years. When I celebrated the bicentennial I didn't realize it was a wake, but that's the way it has gone down.
A victory by the Democrats in any race will serve to hasten the fall of the USA into depravity.report abuse

jm of Augusta, ME Reisert ignores the "elephant" in the room. He correctly notes that democracy is threatened when power is concentrated in the hands of one person, but he fails to note that Johnny McSame has voiced approval of Dubya's expansion of Executive power. Bush has often placed himself above the law, defying the Courts and Congress to rein him in. A victory by McCain would continue the trend toward a government by secret directives and signing statements.report abuse