Last Tuesday, Dr. Thomas Sowell was interviewed on The Rush Limbaugh Show by Walter Williams, who was serving as guest host.  During this interview, Williams inquired about Sowell's opinion of direction that America is heading in . "Are you optimistic or pessimistic?"  Williams asked. "Pessimistic, and I am fighting off becoming despairing," replied Sowell. [1] 

Sowell's words should not be taken lightly. As a recent Investor's Business Daily editorial about Sowell said, "Doomsters are a dime a dozen. But when a leading economist who's been called "the nation's greatest contemporary philosopher" sees serious trouble ahead, we'd better listen up."   

The editorial went on to explain:

Sowell sees the national equivalent of a "perfect storm," a gathering of "dangerous forces (that) have been building .. . for at least a half-century."  

Yes, he says, our great nation has weathered many storms. But, he quickly notes, so did the Roman Empire before it collapsed. "Is that where America is headed?" Sowell asks upfront. "I believe it is. Our only saving grace is that we are not there yet - and that nothing is inevitable until it happens."......

The Obama administration "is not the root cause of the ominous dangers that face this country at home and aboard," Sowell says. But "it is the embodiment, the personification and the culmination of dangerous trends that began decades ago. Moreover, it has escalated those dangers to what may be a point of no return."  

"The ruthless and corrupt way this bill was forced through Congress on a party-line vote, and in defiance of public opinion, provides a roadmap for how other "historic" changes can be imposed by Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. What will it matter if Obama's current approval rating is below 50 percent among the current voting public, if he can ram through new legislation to create millions of new voters by granting citizenship to illegal immigrants? That could be enough to make him a two-term president, in which case he could appoint enough Supreme Court justices to rubber-stamp further extensions of his power."

"Just one year ago, would you have believed that an unelected government official, not even a cabinet member confirmed by the Senate but simply one of the many "czars" appointed by the president, could arbitrarily cut the pay of executives in private businesses by 50 percent or 90 percent?  

Did you think that another "czar" would be talking about restricting talk radio? That there would be plans afloat to subsidize newspapers - that is, to create a situation where some newspapers' survival would depend on the government's liking what they publish?  

Did you imagine that anyone would even be talking about having a panel of so-called "experts" deciding who could and could not get life-saving medical treatments? ...   ...Does any of this sound like America?"

"People ask me all the time, "Rush, you'll tell us when it's time to panic, right?" I say, "Yeah, and it's not time to panic." But I have just finished a column by Thomas Sowell that strikes me as somewhat remarkable. There should not be any doubt with Americans interested in the truth about who Barack Obama is and what he represents, it's become clear, surreal clear. Dr. Thomas Sowell, a brilliant, accomplished man, a distinguished gentleman. When distinguished gentlemen, distinguished Americans such as Thomas Sowell think and write as he has in his latest column, it's time to stop gathering evidence about Obama's character and do anything within the boundaries of the law to stop his agenda." [2]