America: Gone are the Days of Grandeur

As I sit contemplating the prospect of America's economic failure, a dark cloud looms over my head. How did we get to this dreaded point? What will this mean for the commoner? Is this just more media hype?
With Obama surging past McCain, and the stock markets dropping precipitously, something feels different about this moment. It's as if the decades of careless opulence have caught up with us. No longer will the "American" image be one of glamour and wealth. Our lack of leadership has made sure of that. Our ill-conceived dependence on foreign oil has backed us into a corner. The question is whether we can fight our way out of this one. Sure, we bounced back from the Great Depression, but it took a World War to do it. In this day, we are already at war, and it no longer stimulates the economy as it once did. Huge defense money is recycled thru the dirty hands of politicians, and big business...while young people die in the sand. It's a wicked cycle.
Meanwhile, the American public champions wack performers like Sarah Palin. After 8 years without legitimate leadership, somehow we are still fascinated by the fashion show which is American politics. It's downright shameful. We've allowed the media to lash us back and forth in a popularity contest based on color and gender.
It's perplexing that the masses are so ignorant to mistake flash, for true leadership capability and insight. For, as the country struggles under the combined weight of 8 years of mismanaged government: (the S&L scandal, Enron, 9/11, war in the Middle East, rising gas prices, the devalued dollar & the mortgage crisis)...the crooked barons who've lead us here are not even questioned. Needless to say, they will be the least effected by the chaos since they've taken sufficient time to pad their pockets.
We live in changing times, in a crucial moment. How will we handle this great responsibility? The entire world watches with baited breath, as the true meaning of globalization is slowly realized. I pray that we can come together as a diverse, but unified people and overcome this challenge. But, with fear, greed, and racism at a seemingly all time high, it feels like the chances are slim. Yet, there is still the opourtunity to fly in the face of convention and finally, once and for all, do the right thing. We will soon truly see what the American people are made of.