The Dept of Defense didn't want it
They considered it a bad waste of money at a time when they needed those resources for other things, like fighting multiple wars where the F-22 wasn't a fit. Neither the Chinese nor Ruskies are developing any new generation fighters so this really would have been a waste of money. The pentagon is still spending nearly a trillion over the next couple decades on the F-35, which is more versatile and cheaper.
I'll go with the opinion of military leaders over Mark Helprin, a journalist/novelist.