I'm not so sure that I'd agree it's over, manned (US) space flight may be on hiatus for awhile, but definitely not at an end. What I don't get is that there has been more than enough time for NASA and the Gov. to come up with a viable successor to the space shuttle...think about it, they've had over 25 years to come up with a replacement for it, and knowing that we've already lost two of them to unfortunate accidents should've been more than enough incentive to come up with a plan.
EDIT: oh yeah, almost forgot about the telescope. I'm not really sure what to make of it, it seems that there's always something somewhere that's a victim of budget cuts and cost overruns, or just bad luck and timing.