"It may be that the US is ceasing to be a great and enlightened country..."

So the myth goes.  "Great"?  In industrial terms, up to about 50 years ago, no question. Those times are gone, for a variety of reasons, and will not return for generations--if at all.  In military terms?  No question.  Until, again, about 50 years ago, when America's US Marines-led conquest of foreign lands ("From the halls of Montezuma to the shores of Tripoli...") started to fault and fail. 

Enlightened?  Rarely.  Not that Americans were stupid.  They--like Canadians--remained blissfully unaware, for the most part.  Uninformed rather than ill-informed.  The advent of electronic media (radio/TV/the web) was to change all that.  It hasn't.  Now Americans are--like many Canadians--both uninformed AND ill-informed.  

 "...you may be more concerned about making America wise again."  History tells us that many times, neither Canada nor America was 'wise' at all.