China's free fall only partially explains it

The Dow and the S&P 500 went on a wild ride coincident and commensurate with that of Chinese markets late last week and early this week, and much of it was due to contagion.

There was a uniquely post-American factor as well, though:

the fact of the matter is that Wall Street's steep sell-off wouldn't have happened to the degree it did if the U.S. economy were running at full throttle.

Job creation has been anemic. Economic growth has been stuck in the 2 percent range. Consumer spending is nothing to write home about. Wages remain flat, the retail sector is weak, and the housing sector is stuck in neutral.

The Commerce Department announced Tuesday that new home sales came in at around 481,000 last month, less than the 510,000 housing economists had forecast.

These and other disappointing developments have sent America's economic confidence into a nose dive, Gallup says.

"Americans' perceptions of the economy's direction became more pessimistic last week, as the outlook component score fell six points to -21, the lowest weekly average since the end of July 2014," the polling firm said.

Gallup's latest survey found that only 37 percent of Americans say the economy is "getting better", while 58 percent said it is "getting worse."

Predictably, as global markets began falling last week, U.S. investors followed suit on Monday, fearing the worst.

The stock market wasn't the only number in a free fall. President Obama's job approval polls sank to 45 percent this week. And 51 percent now say they disapprove of his job performance as president.

As for Obama's insistence that the unemployment rate has fallen into the low five percent range, Gallup's daily job polls paint a darker employment picture.

A devastating 14.7 percent of part-time Americans are "underemployed" and need full-time work, but can't find one.

The blame falls squarely on the Most Equal Comrade's agenda of planned decline.

But listen to me, post-America, and listen carefully: The solution is not a manically narcissistic, utterly incoherent, shallow, vulgar pop-culture icon.

There is a bench of candidates who understand, and have fealty to, the free market. For once, post-America, I implore you, let's make one of them president.