[Osnome]

>>We are not an empire ruled by an emperor. Such a comparison was more apt for the British. We are a republic. As such, comparisons to the Roman Republic are more apt. Why did the Roman Republic fall?<<

I am not making a verbatim parallel of America to Rome.
I am making a loose analogy based on similar trends that I have discerned

To entertain your line of thinking, why did their Republic Fall~ many reasons; greed, softness, and addiction to luxury(this includes an addiction to using slaves), the loss of the sense of Public Duty, the increasing ambitions of many Generals/Politicians.
But in the end the form of government that suited a city state could not govern and maintain a multinational empire.

It was inevitable that the Romans gravitated to authoritarian and increasingly despotic government.

That is the Fall of the Roman Republic.

With us it is the rapid growth of Big Government and dependence on Federal support.
We have been evolving into a Washingtonian Empire for the past 90 odd years.

Fall of a Great Republic, Democracy, Empire never happen in a day and are a combination of causes both external and primarily internal.

[Daniel II]

Gravitating from a republic to empire is likely a natural progression. When one thinks about it, the Roman empire was a totalitarian regime akin to fascism, which, I believe, is where we are heading.

When a government has so many tentacles spread out over the world, it is only natural for it to try to protect its interests.

I'm not saying Obama is our Julius Caesar, but he may wind up being our first emperor - without clothes.

[Daniel II]

And I might add, that Islam may be wholly put down because they have the oil we need.

No blood for oil? Yeah, right.