In case you're still wondering about America -- and what went wrong...
...check out
» READ MORE: this story in tomorrow's New York Times
, about the obscene bonuses that Wall Street paid out for profits that weren't really there:
But those earnings from mortgage-backed securities -- that have since collapsed -- were a mirage:
When I think of an empire collapsing, I always think of some toga-wearing Roman dude on the couch getting hand-fed grapes. I guess this madness is our own version of that.