"I can't believe how far we have fallen"

Perhaps because you were long under the illusion that we as a country were so magnificent in the first place?

I spent the first 17 years of my life living in 5 different countries- 8 years in America, 5 years in Switzerland, 2 in England, 2 in Pakistan and 1 in Italy. For the past 15 years I've split time between Baltimore and Zurich but now I've settled in Halifax, Nova Scotia and its great. I never had the opportunity to develop such illusions about America. I'm sure it was much better before I was born. At leas the music was.