Comment by troyvit

Call it the pebble that started the landslide but I lay it at the Patriot Act, which was passed in October, 2001. The passing of the law was bad enough but the subsequent extensions of the law by both parties cemented the government's intent.

In other words we might have killed Osama Bin Laden, but he won. The U.S truly is a "shadow of it's former self."