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[16] “President Ahmadinejad: U.S. Collapse Imminent,” Fars News Agency, June 4, 2011, http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.php?nn=9003143193.
[17] See “Ahmadinejad Says Israel, U.S. Will ‘Collapse’ in Near Future,” Haaretz, June 4, 2011, http://www.haaretz.com/news/international/ahmadinejad-says-israel-u-s-will-collapse-in-near-future-1.365843.
[18] “Satisfaction with the United States,” Gallup, http://www.gallup.com/poll/1669/general-mood-country.aspx.
[19] Frank Newport, “Americans’ Satisfaction at All-time Low of 9%,” Gallup, October 7, 2008, http://www.gallup.com/poll/110983/americans-satisfaction-alltime-low.aspx. Also see Gallup data: “Satisfaction with the United States,” http://www.gallup.com/poll/1669/general-mood-country.aspx.
[20] The poll was taken September 19–22, 2008. See NBC News/Wall Street Journal historical polling data at www.pollingreport.com/right.htm.
[21] The poll was taken December 11–14, 2008. See ABC News/Washington Post historical polling data at www.pollingreport.com/right.htm.
[22] Dana Blanton, “Fox News Poll: 79% Say U.S. Economy Could Collapse,” FoxNews.com, March 23, 2010, http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/03/23/fox-news-poll-say-economy-collapse/.
[23] Specifically, 78 percent said they were dissatisfied, while 20 percent said they were satisfied. The poll was taken June 9–12, 2011. See Lydia Saad, “U.S. Satisfaction Dips to 20% in June,” Gallup, June 16, 2011, http://www.gallup.com/poll/148070/satisfaction-dips-june.aspx and Gallup historical polling data at www.pollingreport.com/right.htm.
[24] Specifically, 39 percent of Americans feared a permanent decline of the American economy in June 2011, up from just 28 percent in October 2010. The polls were taken on June 24–28, 2011, and October 21–26, 2010, respectively. See New York Times/CBS News poll, http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/213045/nytcbspoll.pdf.
[25] Specifically, 48 percent of Americans believe a Great Depression is coming. See “CNN Poll: Obama Approval Rating Drops as Fears of Depression Rise,” Political Ticker (blog), June 8, 2011, http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/06/08/cnn-poll-obama-approval-rating-drops-as-fears-of-depression-rise/.
[26] An NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll in November 2011 found that 73 percent of Americans believed the country was on the wrong track. See http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/A_Politics/November_Poll.pdf. An ABC News/Washington Post poll in September 2011 found that 77 percent of Americans believed the country was on the wrong track. Only 20 percent believed the country was on the right track. The poll was taken August 29–September 1, 2011. See “Obama’s Approval Ratings Skid to New Low; Economic Stewardship in Question,” The Washington Post, September 5, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/obamas-approval-ratings-skid-to-new-low-economic-stewardship-in-question/2011/09/05/gIQACwxH5J_graphic.html. A Reuters/Ipsos poll taken in August 2011 found 73 percent of Americans believing the country was on the wrong track. See Steve Holland, “Most Americans Say U.S. on Wrong Track: Poll,” Reuters, August 10, 2011, http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/08/10/us-usa-poll-idUSTRE7794EX20110810.
[27] See Keith Olbermann, “Beginning of the End of America,” MSNBC, October 19, 2006, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15321167/ns/msnbc_tv-countdown_with_keith_olbermann/t/beginning-end-america/.
[28] See Glenn Beck, “Beck insists audience ‘must not allow’ health care bill to pass, warns it would mean ‘the end of America as you know it,’” video, Media Matters for America, from The Glenn Beck Program, Premiere Radio Networks, November 19, 2009, http://mediamatters.org/mmtv/200911190012.
[29] Former VP Gore was speaking on threats to American democracy; see “Text of Gore Speech at Media Conference,” Associated Press, October 6, 2005, http://www.legitgov.org/transcript_gore_media_conference_071005.html. With regards to the planet facing an emergency, see Al Gore’s Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Oslo City Hall, December 10, 2007, http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2007/gore-lecture_en.html.
[30] See Charles Krauthammer, comments on Fox News All-Stars, Fox News Channel, June 8, 2011, quoted in “Krauthammer’s Take,” The Corner (blog), National Review Online, http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/269140/krauthammers-take-nro-staff.
[31] See Noel Sheppard, “Paul Krugman: The American Dream Is Dying,” NewsBusters, September 26, 2009, http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2009/09/26/paul-krugman-american-dream-dying#ixzz1Oj9ALtky.
[32] See Peggy Noonan, “A Separate Peace: America Is in Trouble—and Our Elites Are Merely Resigned,” Wall Street Journal, October 27, 2005, http://www.peggynoonan.com/article.php?article=289.
[33] See Chalmers Johnson, Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic, (New York: Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, 2006), p. 71.
[34] See Thomas Sowell, Dismantling America: And Other Controversial Essays, (New York: Basic Books, Perseus Books Group, 2010), pp. vii–viii.
[35] See Cullen Murphy, Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America, (New York: Mariner Books, Houghton Mifflin Company, 2007), p. 197.
[36] See Pat Buchanan, “Pat Puchannan: Overextended U.S. Empire Is Coming Down,” video, Real Clear Politics Video, from Morning Joe, MSNBC, July 6, 2011, http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2011/07/06/pat_buchanan_overextended_us_empire_is_coming_down.html.
[37] See “Health Care Law Signals U.S. Empire Decline?” CNBC, March 24, 2010 http://m.cnbc.com/us_news/36013573/1.
[38] See Thomas L. Friedman, “The Earth Is Full,” New York Times, June 7, 2011, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/opinion/08friedman.html?_r=1.
[39] See Rick Newman, “9 Signs of America in Decline,” U.S. News & World Report, October 26, 2009, http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/flowchart/2009/10/26/9-signs-of-america-in-decline.
[40] See Alfred W. McCoy, “How America Will Collapse (by 2025),” Salon.com, December 6, 2010, http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/12/06/america_collapse_2025.
[41] See Fareed Zakaria, “Are America’s Best Days Behind Us?” Time, March 14, 2011, http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2056610,00.html#ixzz1PNPJ3xm5.
[42] See Ray B. Williams, “Why America Is In Decline,” Psychology Today, March 13, 2011, http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/wired-success/201103/why-america-is-in-decline.
[43] See John Barry and Tara McKelvey, “Gates Says U.S. at Risk of Losing Global Supremacy,” Newsweek, June 19, 2011, http://www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/2011/06/19/the-defense-rests.print.html.
[44] Naomi Wolf. The End of America: Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot (White River Junction, VT: Chelsea Green, 2007), p. 19.
[45] Ibid., pp. 1, 14, 151, 152.
[46] Mark Steyn. After America: Get Ready for Armageddon (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2011), p. 2.
[47] Ibid., p. 4.
[48] Ibid., p. 5.
[49] Ibid., pp. 6, 22. See also Steyn’s conclusion on pp. 347–349.
[50] Fareed Zakaria, The Post-American World: Release 2.0 (New York: Norton, 2011), pp. 1–2.
[51] Ibid., pp. 4–5.
[52] Zakaria noted in the original edition of his book that “the Mall of America in Minnesota once boasted that it was the largest shopping mall in the world” but “today it wouldn’t make the top ten.”
[53] Ibid., p. 3.
[54] Ibid., pp. 241–242.
[55] Ibid., p. 243.
[56] The phrase “leading from behind” comes from an unidentified advisor to President Obama, quoted in New Yorker magazine. For a link to the original reference and some of the controversy ignited by the remark, see Ryan Lizza, “Leading from Behind,” New Yorker, April 27, 2011, http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/04/leading-from-behind-obama-clinton.html. See also Charles Krauthammer, “The Obama Doctrine: Leading from Behind,” Washington Post, April 28, 2011, http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-obama-doctrine-leading-from-behind/2011/04/28/AFBCy18E_story.html and William Kristol, “A Leader from Behind,” Weekly Standard, May 9, 2011, http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/leader-
behind_558488.html.
[57] Barack Obama, “President Barack Obama: Why I’m Optimistic,” Smithsonian, August 2010, http://www.smithsonianmag.com/specialsections/40th-anniversary/President-Barack-Obama-Why-Im-Optimistic.html.
[58] Ibid.
[59] William J. Bennett, The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators: American Society at the End of the Twentieth Century (New York: Broadway Books, 1999), pp. 5–6.
[60] William J. Bennett, A Century Turns: New Hopes, New Fears (Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers, 2009), p. 275.
[61] Larry Kudlow, “Never Sell America Short,” National Review Online, September 18, 2008, http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/225720/never-sell-america-short/larry-kudlow.
[62] Larry Kudlow, “No ‘End of the World’ Stock Market Trade,” National Review Online, April 12, 2011, http://www.nationalreview.com/kudlows-money-politics/264529/no-end-world-stock-market-trade.
[63] Joseph S. Nye, “The Misleading Metaphor of Decline,” Wall Street Journal, February 14, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704358704576118673650278558.html.
[64] Charles Wolf Jr., “The Facts about American ‘Decline,’” Wall Street Journal, April 13, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704415104576251292725228886.html.
[65] Walter Russell Mead, “The Future Still Belongs to America,” Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2011, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304450604576419700203110180.html.
[66] See Thomas Jefferson et al., Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776, transcription of the original document at the National Archives, http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/declaration_transcript.html.
[67] Washington Irving, George Washington: A Biography (New York: Doubleday, 1976; abridgement of original book published in five volumes from 1856 to 1859), p. 202.
[68] Ibid., p. 202.
[69] Ibid., p. 203.
[70] Doris Kearns Goodwin, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), pp. 143–144.
[71] Ibid., p. 307.
[72] Ibid., p. 156.
[73] Ibid., p. 374.
[74] Ibid., p. 347.
[75] Ibid., p. 481.
[76] Ibid., p. 673.
[77] “Gettysburg,” CWSAC Battle Summaries, Heritage Preservation Services of the National Park Service, http://www.nps.gov/hps/abpp/battles/pa002.htm.
[78] See Abraham Lincoln, “Gettysburg Address,” November 19, 1863, http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/gettyb.asp.
[79] Goodwin, p. 346.
[80] Amity Shlaes, The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression (New York: Harper Perennial, 2008), p. 15.
[81] Ibid., p. xiii (timeline).
[82] Ibid., p. xiv (timeline).
[83] See “Timeline: A Selected Wall Street Chronology,” “The Crash of 1929,” American Experience, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/timeline/crash/2/; David Goldman, “Great Depression vs. ‘Great Recession,’” CNN Money, http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/recession_depression/.
[84] Goldman.
[85] Shlaes, p. 144.
[86] “The suicide rate in the United States rises when the economy slumps, and falls when economic times improve. And this has been the case at least since the Great Depression, which started with the stock market crash of 1929, the CDC says in a new study. ‘Knowing suicides increased during economic recessions and fell during expansions underscores the need for additional suicide prevention measures when the economy weakens,’ James Mercy, PhD, of the CDC’s Injury Center’s Division of Violence Prevention, says in a news release. ‘It is an important finding for policy makers and those working to prevent suicide.’ . . . The largest increase in the overall suicide rate occurred in the Great Depression of 1929–1933, surging from 18 per 100,000 people in 1928 to 22.1 per 100,000, an all-time high, in 1932, the last full year of the Great Depression. That four-year period witnessed a record increase of 22.8 percent compared to any other four-year period in U.S. history. The suicide rate fell to its lowest point in the year 2000.” Bill Hendrick, “Suicides Go Up When Economy Goes Down,” WebMD, April 14, 2011, http://www.webmd.com/depression/news/20110414/suicides-go-up-when-economy-goes-down.
[87] Franklin Delano Roosevelt, “First Inaugural Address,” March 4, 1933, http://www.bartleby.com/124/pres49.html.
[88] Shlaes, p. 392.
[89] See online historical charts for the Dow, including Yahoo! Finance, http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ta?s=%5EDJI&t=my&l=on&z=l&q=l&p=&a=&c= and StockCharts.com, http://stockcharts.com/freecharts/historical/djia1900.html.
[90] William Grimes, “Christopher Lasch Is Dead at 61; Wrote about America’s Malaise,” New York Times, February 15, 1994, http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/15/obituaries/christopher-lasch-is-dead-at-61-wrote-about-america-s-malaise.html.
[91] Christopher Lasch, The Culture of Narcissism: American Life in an Age of Diminishing Expectations (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1979), p. xiii.
[92] Ibid., pp. 3–4.
[93] Kevin Mattson, “What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?”: Jimmy Carter, America’s “Malaise,” and the Speech That Should Have Changed the Country (New York: Bloomsbury USA, 2009); Steven Hayward, The Real Jimmy Carter (Washington, DC: Regnery Publishing, 2004); and Jonathan V. Last, “Malaise Forever: A Review of The Real Jimmy Carter,” Claremont Review of Books, Spring 2005, http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.977/article_detail.asp.
[94] Jimmy Carter, “Crisis of Confidence,” nationally televised address, July 15, 1979, transcript at “Primary Resources,” American Experience, PBS, 2002, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/primary-resources/carter-crisis/.
[95] Jimmy Carter, “Report to the American People on Energy,” nationally televised address, February 2, 1977, transcript at Miller Center, University of Virginia, http://millercenter.org/president/speeches/detail/3396.
[96] Carlos Lozada, review of Kevin Mattson, “What the Heck Are You Up To, Mr. President?” Washington Post, July 10, 2009, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071002343.html.
[97] Ronald Reagan, An American Life: The Autobiography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990), p. 227.
[98] Dinesh D’Souza, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader (New York: Free Press, 1997), p. 89.
[99] See Table 5.24, “Retail Motor Gasoline and On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices, 1949-2009,” U.S. Energy Information Agency, http://www.eia.gov/emeu/aer/txt/ptb0524.html.
[100] See Jad Mouawad, “Oil Prices Pass Record Set in ’80s, but Then Recede,” New York Times, March 3, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/business/worldbusiness/03cnd-oil.html/.
[101] Robert D. Hershey Jr., “How the Oil Glut Is Changing Business,” New York Times, June 21, 1981, http://www.nytimes.com/1981/06/21/business/how-the-oil-glut-is-changing-business.html.
[102] “Ronald Reagan TV Ad: ‘It’s morning in America again,’” YouTube video, posted by “avmorgado,” November 12, 2006, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU-IBF8nwSY; text of the ad available at Wikipedia, s.v. “Morning in America,” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_in_America. (Sites last accessed January 12, 2012.)
[103] Reagan, An American Life, p. 317.
[104] D’Souza, p. 110.
[105] Ibid.
[106] Ronald Reagan, “Radio Address to the Nation on Proposed Natural Gas Deregulation Legislation,” February 26, 1983; see transcript at The American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa Barbara, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=40982#ixzz1VExHr0rg.
[107] For more on this important topic, I would recommend an excellent resource: John F. Walvoord, Every Prophecy of the Bible (David C. Cook, 1990, 1999, 2011). Walvoord was one of the most respected scholars of prophecy in the twentieth century. Before his passing in 2002, Walvoord served on the faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) for half a century. He was the president of DTS from 1952 to 1986, and he l
ater served as chancellor.
[108] Survey for Joel C. Rosenberg, “American Attitudes toward Bible Prophecy,” National Omnibus Survey, conducted by McLaughlin & Associates on February 13, 2006, of 1,000 likely voters. Margin of error +/- 3 percent. For detailed survey results, see Joel C. Rosenberg, Epicenter: Why the Current Rumblings in the Middle East Will Change Your Future (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, 2006), Appendix 2, pp. 303–305.
[109] See “WWI Casualties and Death Tables,” resource for The Great War and the Shaping of the 20th Century, PBS, http://www.pbs.org/greatwar/resources/casdeath_pop.html.