Hello all,

I have been sitting out here in Detroit simmering as I watch this mess of an election. I sit here with no free time and no one to sound off to. After two weeks of letting it all boil and brew within my wee brain, I have HAD IT. I finally lost it yesterday when an email from an unidentified individual referred to my wife and I as huge Obama "fans".

Now I can understand that many will question why I would lose it over such a small reference, in fact more than a few of you are wondering what exactly the reference was. Well when someone trivializes the amount of effort and investigation I have put into this election, it sets me off. It is this attitude that has this election as close as it is, the attitude that you choose your president the same way you select the winner of American Idol or the way you end up with a favorite baseball team by following the choice of your parents. That you are a "fan".

Before I get into the present, I think we all could use some perspective. Take a second and recall where you were eight years ago when Bush was about to "win" the 2000 election.

I was 24 years old and had hair. This shot is from the following summer. I couldn't find a single photo from back then since I didn't own a digital camera or a cell phone. In the years following the terrorist attacks of 9/11 occurred and then two years later we went off to war in Iraq. Now let's contemplate this for a second, we have been at war for 5 years, longer than my daughter has been alive. She has only lived in a world in which the United States has been at war. While it is simple to marginalize the war, consider that my daughter has lived in nearly the same amount of war time as I have. The point is that the stakes are high, this is serious, it is time to decide who you support and why, not who you are a "fan" of.

With that brief moment of perspective, let's get down to the dirt. The economy hit the fan today, again. It looks like it may go for another spin in the next couple days. Your GOP candidate stated that the fundamentals are sound and you may be inclined to believe him. Let's admit it, it is much easier than facing the pain that has been staring you down for awhile now. STOP. First of all this man, your candidate for the highest office in the land, has lost any ounce of credibility that he may have once had. All you people that see me as a "fan" are thinking, but S Nathaniel you are biased, of course you would say. Perhaps you should read the GOP bloggers, the supporters, who to say the least are disgusted.

Poulos - The trouble is that regardless of whether McCain’s campaign even cracks the top ten sleaziest campaigns in American history, it simply sucks. We know that much. We are on a need to know basis, and it is all we need to know. At this point, I don’t see much point in prevaricating over the truth: this campaign is flying beneath the pride of conservatives and Republicans.

Cohen - McCain has turned ugly. His dishonesty would be unacceptable in any politician, but McCain has always set his own bar higher than most. He has contempt for most of his colleagues for that very reason: They lie. He tells the truth. He internalizes the code of the McCains -- his grandfather, his father: both admirals of the shining sea. He serves his country differently, that's all -- but just as honorably. No more, though.

Now I want to leave you with one last thing to think about. The Obama campaign is too high minded to bring this up, but it is relevant and critical given the nature of the storm we face. McCain may have the most experience with economic times like these. That is due to the fact that he was snuggled right into the last major economic mess. In fact he was investigated over it. I urge you to do a bit of research. Especially think about the quote in bold below in regards to his statement today about the economy.

The U.S. Savings and Loan crisis of the 1980s and 1990s was the failure of 747 savings and loan associations (S&Ls) in the United States. The ultimate cost of the crisis is estimated to have totaled around $160.1 billion, about $124.6 billion of which was directly paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.
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The Keating Five were five United States Senators accused of corruption in 1989, igniting a major political scandal as part of the larger Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The five senators, Alan Cranston (D-CA), Dennis DeConcini (D-AZ), John Glenn (D-OH), John McCain (R-AZ), and Donald W. Riegle (D-MI), were accused of improperly aiding Charles H. Keating, Jr., chairman of the failed Lincoln Savings and Loan Association, which was the target of an investigation by the Federal Home Loan Bank Board (FHLBB).
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The senators' initial defense of their actions rested on Keating being one of their constituents; McCain said, "I have done this kind of thing many, many times," and said the Lincoln case was like "helping the little lady who didn't get her Social Security." - Wiki