"it's strange that the country is always going to hell in a handbasket but never quite gets there?"

Germany started going to hell in a handbasket after the 1933 election. They finally got there in April 1945.

Italy started going to hell in a handbasket after Mussolini joined Hitler's war with France and the UK. They got there by 1943.

Japan started going to hell in a handbasket when their Army generals took over the civilian government and invaded China in 1937. They finally got there by August 1945.

Saddam Hussein and Iraq started going to hell in a handbasket when he foolishly decided to invade Kuwait. They got there in 2003 and have been there ever since.

The USA started going to hell in a handbasket sometime in the post-WWII years, probably around the time they got involved in abrogating the scheduled national elections and preventing the re-unification of Vietnam, following the exit of the French colonial regime.

When will the USA finally "get there" (to hell)? Well, that's hard to say, but "don't think it won't happen just because it hasn't happened yet". (Jackson Browne quote)