Why blame Nero?

The surreal dissonance of the media in the US is not very far from the tales of Nero fiddling while Rome burned. And, unlike the tales of Nero, this one is actually true.

Let me first of all apologize for repeating the inaccurate story about Nero. He couldn't possibly have fiddled in the great fire in Rome. First of all, the fiddle hadn't been invented. Also, accounts by historians alive at the time suggest that his palace burned down and that he took people in after the fire and gave them aid and comfort. The distortion was probably an effort to sully the historical record of Emperor Nero

What is happening currently in the US is, on the hand, is flabbergasting. We are now discussing Lippygate, Bristol Palin and bridges to nowhere. You'd think that we were in a daytime soap opera or a bad Lifetime movie. If you listened to the news you'd never guess the magnitude of the challenges that confront the US. Let me try running through a few:

• The US just narrowly avoided a financial meltdown largely by getting the already overextended US government taking on $5 Trillion in mortgage debt. However, this is not the end. The crisis has already forced Citibank to cede a huge part of its capital to Arabs, forced the closure/sale of Bear Sterns, Countrywide and Indymac, is forcing massive asset divestment by a bunch of banks (Lehman being the latest), and its far from done. The US government is not made of money. How much further will it go? How much worse will it get?
  

• Meanwhile, US unemployment just crossed the threshold of the theoretical full employment and the psychological barrier of 6%, and it shows no signs of reducing. Some economists point out that this is among the softest slowdowns in US history. The problem is that the slowdown hasn't really peaked. In fact, its only just starting. And, by the looks of things, the government and the Fed have few fiscal and monetary options left. What now?
  

• The international situation is creating a whole new set of issues. Russia's dominance is of concern as is China's growing power. Meanwhile, other problems are brewing. The melting Arctic is fast becoming a disputed area between great powers over oil and key trading routes, Pakistan is increasingly a terrorist haven leaving the US with no good options, North Korea might shortly change guard, Russia just sent a couple of bombers to Venezuela on training (reminds of you something?), India just arrested a bunch of smugglers with Uranium yellow cake (where was it headed?) and the old issues like Palestine and Africa still linger.
  

• The ice caps are melting, and whether we agree on the nature of global warming, we need to find some radical solutions as our current infrastructure and agricultural approach won't sustain the world's energy and food demands post such warming.
  

• The aggregate US debt is an eye popping $9 trillion dollars. It rises by $1.6 billion a day. This does not include the unfunded social security and other social commitments. It doesn't include the $5 trillion the US government has taken on through Fannie and Freddie. Even with these exclusions, the national debt is about to hit a 50 year high by 2010. The government will owe roughly $90K per household. How is the US going to meet this?
  

This doesn't even begin to discuss the education gap in the US, the unending involvement in Iraq, the unsustainability of personal debt levels, the declining middle class incomes, health care, etc.

Is America so enamored by the near mythical version of Rome so admired by its founding fathers, that it has decided to blindly emulate the callousness that Nero was so egregiously accused of?