It's hard to ignore the significance of widespread claims that "America may be turning the page on an era," as The Wall Street Journal put it (Nov. 5, 2008). The challenges the new president faces are daunting. Foreigners have placed much of the blame for the current global downturn squarely on America's shoulders.

Peer Steinbrueck, German finance minister, stated in a speech to the Bundestag, Germany's parliament, that "the U.S. will lose its status as a superpower of the world" and "the world will never be the same again" (The Guardian, Nov. 21, 2008, emphasis added throughout).

The Russian leadership shares this viewpoint. Russian president Dmitry Medvedev stated that "the financial crisis in the United States should be taken as a sign that America's global economic leadership is drawing to a close" (International Herald Tribune, Oct. 2, 2008).

A Guardian article states: "The United States' leading intelligence organisation has warned that the world is entering an unstable and unpredictable period in which . . . [the United States] will no longer be able to 'call the shots' alone, as its power . . . begins to wane" ("2025: The End of US Dominance," Nov. 21, 2008).

As The Good News has warned for years, the United States, barring national repentance, is heading for severe decline and fall. Are we seeing its early stages?