Pundits have been crying for some time now about the imminent decline of the West in general and the United States in particular. I believe the first mention of imminent decline was found in a cave painting in southern France. Empires grow sclerotic and decline; democracies do not. Democracies are self-cleansing.

Since I’m in my declining years

And rid of my once youthful fears

I find the prospect of decline

To be a little short of fine

But on the whole I can’t complain

My life has been good in the main

I lived when honor was the way

That men and women lived their day

When presidents did not tell lies

And games we played could end in ties

The country was much better then

And better still will be again

The present always looks so dark

The prospects always seem so stark

But we’ll survive we always do

We’ve miles to go ‘fore toodle-oo