I tried to view the debate thru the eyes of someone who knew little about either candidate.

I viewed it thru the eyes of my working class and professional friends .......

I found both of them too "distant" but McCain came across as someone totally oblivious to the plight of people outside the circle of his friends and associates.

Obama came across as well educated but not especially elitist ......... unless you mean he doesn't show much emotion ....

Still, I really don't care about personality quirks or mannerisms .....

I am not thrilled with either candidate.

I believe McCain has been insulated too long in wealth and the "cushy" world of the senate and he either has no idea what is going on with working class people or does not care.

There is a way out of the financial crises but I believe McCain will be too interested in protecting his rich friends to do what is necessary but threatening to them.

The world situation ? Nobody has the answers ....... the situation is fluid and will remain so and the next president will have to be fluid in using many approaches to find one that works ...... he cannot be one who clings to ideas that are not working.

I believe McCain is too much a part of the monied and power class to do what has to be done ....... stop the irrational and destructive behaviors of the special interests groups.

They wouldn't put it on ........ which is to say it is less a comment on the shows' producers (who are amoral and could care less about what exactly is making them money) than it is the american public.

Nah, more like yosemite sam ......

....... don't know much about economics .....

Even now the behavior of the Congress in being involved in the "bail out" shows them to be totally corrupt or witless idiot sheep.

If the US govt wants to get involved in "bail-outs", let it do so as a share holder.

Better yet, let it simply provide short and long term loans directly to the real economy ....... people who produce real goods and/or services ...... small and large business who may suffer as credit tightens as the "collections of financial instruments" collapse.

No money to the greedy whores who got us here. Force them to liquidate their worthless assets and bite the bullet as the average citizen has to do (especially those 40% of the people who do not have health care).

Do you know what this bail out is really about ??? It is not enough money to protect against the collapse of 180 trillion dollars of derivative debt ...... it is simply to buy a little time ....... just enough to allow Bernankes and Paulson's and the Fed's and the Congresses' and the higher level govt types' friends, golf buddies, fellow party goers, givers of inside information and political contributors to "get their ducks in a row" ...... to cash out before the stock collapses with their golden parachutes ..... before the shit inevitably hits the fan.

Hitler's "Enabling Act" but instead he's had to settle for scribbling disagreements on legislation ("daddy, I didn't get my way").

Again, I blame the american people and particularly the Congress (who are suppose to protect the people) for this tragedy) ..... there are no fucking white hats here.

There is something fundamentally wrong with our political process ....... there has to be something wrong to give us someone like Palin.

We need to Convene a Constitutional Convention ...... one of its priorities would be to establish a multiple party friendly structure.

As for Palin ....... we are doomed.

Could have bought Merrill-Lynch for half the price if it had just waited one more day ......... are we then to suppose they are stupid ????

Who knows what those MF's have been promised/given in exchange for buying out these failing companies ????? What have Bernanke and Paulson being doing in secret behind the public's back (standard operating procedure for Bush Administration)?

Manufacturing jobs (thru which true "wealth" is created), have been shipped abroad.

Anything that could not be sub-contracted abroad (including professional jobs such as engineering, etc) was filled with illegal labor where possible.

Even our pharmaceuticals are now made in China, India, and eastern europe.

We no longer have a real economy. We no longer produce wealth.

We just "manage money".

The US is now a "service economy" with distribution and consumption. That's it.

The only way to maintain the economy and try to expand it was to loan money to people (credit) who could no longer (for the reasons listed above) earn it.

But eventually a time comes when people have more debt than they can make payments on ........ we have arrived at that point.

900,000,000 dollars is not going to give us a real economy again.

The end of the ride has come.

The solution for the credit crunch is for people to live within their means. A shrinking of the economy will occur but in the end, people will be better off ....... you are not what you own.