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It was a disappointment, especially after the VP debate. I never recovered from Senator McCain's early promise to order the secretary of the treasury to immediately buy up the bad home loan mortgages in America and renegotiate at the new value of those homes -- at the diminished value of those homes and let people be able to make those -- be able to make those payments and stay in their homes.

Aside from having no idea what that means or what it would cost, I don't think another big government solution to a problem that government helped to cause will do very much other than throw away both more money and more freedom, a feat that Senator Obama seems quite capable of doing. I would prefer that Senator McCain take the more conservative approach, the one that Governor Palin expresses so well.

You might find interesting the Amity Schlaes book, "The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression." Reading it in the days leading up to the current financial nightmare was like reading the script before watching the play. Other than the Hoover/Roosevelt initial tightening moves, the knee jerk throw money and programs at the problem seem scarily similar to recent reactions, along with the hopeful but timid Dow increases we have seen lately, increases that quickly reverse course and become severe crashes.

Better buckle up. I think that we are in for a long and unpleasant ride. Better yet, pray.