In a few short years, American legislators have shot their country in the foot so many times that its moral, economic, political and military influence in world affairs is unlikely to recover for decades.

In fact, it may never recover since other major nations are not sitting idle while America weakens from within. A main reason for this growing weakness is the state of US democracy.

Seen from the outside, the American people are stuck in a quagmire of “democracy fatigue�. Polls show that a large majority of Americans oppose many of the Bush government’s policies but are too discouraged to vote in the November 7 elections. The general attitude is “what difference will it make?�

At the same time, a tough minority of Americans sees a chance to take advantage of the overall voter apathy to push through people and ideas that could help it to control political power over the entire nation for a long time. One of its goals is to reinterpret “American values� in its own image and then use the power of State to export those values to other countries.

This minority’s growing influence has plunged Americans in an epic struggle among domestic political factions and forced foreign nations to study ways of countering American evangelism in foreign policy, trade and aid.

Vultures are already gathering in preparation for the time when American democracy will be so riven by factionalism that the nation will not be able to counter the political weight in world affairs of China, Russia and other rising rivals.

The other great nations see opportunities to erode US influence by exploiting the narrow-mindedness and ignorance of American legislators about foreigners and their cultures. Apathetic American voters might complain, “Most of the world hates us anyway. So what does it matter if America switches off the world.�

That is a serious mistake. The world matters more to the daily lives of Americans than they matter to the world. For a long time, American prosperity will continue to stand on a house of cards held together by the dollar debt to China and Asia. American consumers are living well partly because Asians sell them fine quality goods and services at low cost.

Worst of all, the physical security of American voters is hostage to fanatics currently in the Middle East but belonging to a religion, whose tiny minority of violent zealots is spread right across the globe.

In Iraq, factions fight violently to acquire power. The violence is no different in America. Political factions do not use guns, IEDs or suicide bombers. But the political destruction is no less costly to the nation. The process is the same as in Iraq – sacrificing the public good to score immediate political gain.

Looking in from the outside, the November 7 elections are careening towards tremendous wasted opportunities. Here is the world’s richest country with unparalleled access to knowledge and wisdom. Yet, its people are so riven by factional infighting that they are slowly destroying their nation’s power.

Politicians quarrel about ideology; the religious quarrel about belief; and the secular quarrel over how to preserve their way of life. Quarrels are even more divisive over domestic issues, including jobs, medical care, pensions, energy, abortion, gay rights, tax cuts and homeland security.

All of these arguments would simply be the healthy debating process within a fine democracy, were it not for the “I am too fed up to go to the polls,” attitude of so many voters.

Whatever the November 7 outcomes, the business of quarrelling will continue as usual. If the Democrats win Congress and Senate, the witch-hunts of “accountability� will open against the Republicans.

If Republicans hold either house, the Bush administration will see the outcomes as a continued mandate from voters to do “what we think is right� on all matters whether foreign or domestic.

Like the Iraqi people, Americans are sinking into quicksand of their own making. The Iraqis are sinking into self-destructive violence through pig headed obstinacy. Blinded by rhetoric and religion, factions are dismantling the nation to protect the narrow interests of their tribes, clans and warlords. Vengeance trumps rational self-interest.

Similarly, the American people are sinking into demoralization and democracy fatigue. Members of US Congress and Senate sworn to serve the good of ordinary people have done almost nothing in the last 5 years to honor their duty. And many Americans do not seem to care enough to think through the issues or to vote.

Perhaps some hidden forces of destiny have absurdly twinned American votes with those in Iraq. Both could live better each day in the homeland if they were to hold their legislators to sworn duty.

But Iraqi voters are helpless because the gun-toting militias of their politicians have taken them hostage. Americans have made themselves helpless by throwing up their hands with a “These clowns disgust me, and I am powerless anyway.�

How can any good come of that?