Your story about Ms. Palin reminds me of a bit George Carlin did some years ago. Carlin said, "On election day , I stay home. Because if you vote you have no right to complain. You elect dishonest, incompetant people; they get in office and screw everything up. If god had wanted us to vote, he would give us viable candidates.

Palin's simply the latest, in a long line of candidates that cannot spell tomato.

Ms. Palin's performance last night can only be graded as barely passing. Sure, she was folksy and yes, she did look into the camera and smile but it is difficult to reconcile how those characteristics coincide with any type of debate victory. The format, with its obvious lack of follow-up depth thankfully favored Palin. Can you imagine the carnage had she been asked to clarify any of her answers? I can. Today we would all have had our pity towels out for Sarah. Lets face it, Palin's style is like our current President albeit with better photogenics. She may be a fine and some say hot Govenor, but beauty and apparently brains are only skin deep.

Many Americans today are wondering just how did the current financial mess get so bad. These same Americans look to the candidiates for answers. Notably, Mr. McCain's approach to clean-up Wall Street and Washington is devoid of any information as to "how" he intends to accomplish his clean-up. The pundits and media offer their assessments that ranges from corporate greed to incompetence but like poor marksmen they are all missing the target. Indeed Mr McCain's lack of any coherent answers suggests he would rather focus on a 1960's radical rather than address the economic woes that many in his party are directly responsible for.

A case in point. Following the Great Depresion, regulations were put in place to limit the activities of Banks and other financial institutions. One law that stood for 65 years was the Glass Steagel Act which prohibited Banks from the securities or insurance business.

Fast forward to 1999. The "Financial Modernization Act" was voted into law. Congress at that time was controlled by the Republicans. The bill was sponsored by Phil Graham who is Mr. McCains Senior Economic Advisor and by the way close friend of W. The bill eliminated the Glass-Steagel Act, allowed Banks to sell sceurities and insurance, like credit default swaps and further, specifically prohibited oversight of financial firms engaging in those activities. This was de-regulation of the highest order. John McCain's yes to the Senate version of the bill comes as no surprise as he is, and always has been a proponent of deregulation. We now are paying a severe price for allowing these so-called mavericks to de-regulate the markets and allow un-fettered capitalism to rule. I shudder to think want will be should Mr McCain and his band of cronies occupy the White House in January.

The GOP is, and has always been, the party of fear. From Goldwater to Lee Atwater to John McCain today the Republicans and their bretheren wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism and proclaim that the next boogie-man is just around the corner. If you watch and listen carefully the topic changes but the message is still the same. From the march of communism, to the war on drugs, to the evil empire, the war on terror and now the "mystery" of Barack Obama.

The objective of their campaign is to simply scare the populace, just enough, so that we lose focus on the issues at hand. They very well understand that a scared public can be manipulated to do what would ordinarily be impossible, for example rushing to war in Iraq without substantive and clear intelligence.

If as some say the past is prologue, then Americans need to wake up, once and for all, and reject these age-old and transparent tactics from the party of fear.

If an association with Rev. Wright or Bill Ayers is a reflection into Obama's character and judgement, then what can we deduce about McCain's DIRECT involvement with Charles Keating? Or the fact that prior to his tour of duty in Vietnam, McCain had married a model from Philadelphia, Carol Shepp. While he was imprisoned, she was in an auto wreck, thrown through her car's windshield and left seriously injured. After his return to America, McCain had an extramarital affair with Cindy Lou Hensley, whose father owned Hensley & Co., a Phoenix-based liquor company that is the nation's second largest Anheuser-Busch distributor. McCain and Shepp were divorced in 1980, and 44-year-old McCain married his 26-year-old millionaire mistress the following month.

Did someone say character?

I said it once and I'll say it again. Focus on GOP fear tactics (i.e "Muslim", "Black", "Terrorist", "Unknown") and Mr. McCain's character and that will set you free!

"Megachurch"--sounds like a vitamin. These so-called churches are an anathema to the true mainstream religions of the world. They are run by poilitical hucksters simply trying to make a buck and influence public policy. Why is it that we seem to find a preponderance of these phoney operations throughout the south and west? These backwater reservations of hatred and narrow-minded "non-christians" need to be exposed for what they really are and taxed by our government. Bless you and good riddance!

The great outpouring of emotion shows the depth and breadth of the American soul indeed a truly unique expereince we call the United States of America. Who can now deny that our country has taken the decisive step forward in recapturing the moral highground. While the roots of this astonishing event are as American as apple pie, the world reaction to Mr Obama's selection speak volumes about our role as beacon of democracy and leadership. A new day has dawned and it's September 12th once again in the USA.