And Ron Paul Was There!

Here's an excerpt from a Daily Reckoning, good stuff.

*** Chris Mayer, reporting from Gaithersburg, Maryland:"I headed over to the Empire Salon to hear Kevin Phillips deliver a talkon his latest book: American Theocracy: The Peril And Politics Of RadicalReligion, Oil And Borrowed Money In The 21st Century. The Salon meets regularly in Washington D.C. where one can practically hear the beatingheart of empire and feel its tremors in the ground. They look to hash outthe implications of American Empire. In Phillips they had the man for thejob."Phillips is a former Republican strategist turned fiery critic of theRepublican Party's metamorphosis under George W. Bush. He has alsodedicated much of efforts in studying leading economic powers of the past- Great Britain, Spain, the Dutch and Rome in particular. Phillips hascome up with some yardsticks to gauge the decline of these powers. Allpast empires suffered through the following. And all of the below "seem tobe intensifying under the George W. Bush administration."
"1. As the empire topped out, there was a popular sense that something waswrong - loss of jobs, increased violence, moral decay and more."
2. An intensification of religious fervor (See the rise of the megachurches in the "red states.")"
3. Conflicts between faith and science (witness the Evolution-creationism"debate.")"
4. Imperialism and global overreach. (See the Iraq War, which Phillipscalled "the most poorly thought out war in U.S. history.)"
5. Decline of industry and the rise of finance (as Phillips says, "movingmoney around as opposed to building things.")"
6. The burden of excessive debt. No need to comment here."The other interesting wrinkle Phillips tackles is the role of energy.Past empires mastered an energy source and as the importance of thatenergy source diminished, they could not make the adjustment. America'saddiction to increasingly expensive oil will play a role in its downfall,Phillips says. "The U.S. is not going to make it with another energy regime." It is oil or bust."Finally, attendees got a surprise when congressman and presidential hopeful Ron Paul showed up. He made a few remarks, which brought cheers from the gathering: 'I'm not running based on what I'm going to do for you. I'm running telling you what I'm not going to do. I don't want to run your life. I don't want to run the economy. I don't want to police the world.'"Are the American people ready to walk without a shepherd? Many will decide in 2008. Somehow, there is little suspense as to the answer."