I believe the Bush Administration will be known for the destruction of US political and economic influence as much as anything else, and that's saying a lot.

The US is not on a firm economic footing any more, much of our debt is owned by foreigners, the balance of payments is tragic and getting worse, and we've shown ourselves to be the "paper tiger" that China once called us. We are sort of like a chocolate Easter Bunny, once solid but being scraped away from the inside, not the least by corruption as practice by Bush.

And being bogged down in two losing wars against third-world countries doesn't impress folks with a military superpower, with the capacity to end life on Earth as we know it. What is the sense of being a "superpower" if one can't fight real wars? The US is geared toward imaginary wars, against imaginary enemies, not realizing that wars are fought with planes and bullets but won with hearts and minds.

And we've taught China how to manufacture everything needed for a first-world country. Believe it or not, they have surplus manufacturing capacity, factories galore.

I believe the space programs are a good demonstration of what is happening. The US is stuck with the past "glory" of the Shuttle, while the ROW is moving forward. The US is still in the game, but if Russia were funded by the Chinese, for instance, or by the EU, with just the money paying the interest on the debt accumulated by the war in Iraq that particular "race" would be over. (While the US was busy explaining that the next generation shuttle would be good for 8 or 10 flights a year at a cost of 100 devalued dollars/pound to LEO.) The US is the biggest Easter Bunny, hollower and hollower, while the ROW is gradually adding layers of chocolate over their mold.

Arf