I have not chimed in very much during the campaign because so many of the posts were personal attacks. Secondly when I did post a harmless joke (which I prefaced with a disclaimer that it could be turned around to be used for either side), even that resulted in a mean-spirited response. That was my last post on politics. That typifies the mood in which the nation seems to be.

Since the early '90s I have been of the opinion that not just our nation, but the world was on its way for some very hard years. I do not blame one nation or one administration. But certainly our nation, as the only remaining "super power" has an effect on the rest of the world. I am over simplifying here, but the biggest problems as I perceive them are greed at all levels and overuse of credit. And most of us, myself included, are guilty of one or both of those errors. Personally I have used plastic to pay when I should have been more frugal and waited until I could pay cash. And my debt is small potatoes compared with many.

As far as the real estate loans are concerned there is plenty of blame to go around. If lenders were not willing to have borrowers overextend themselves, the market wouldn't have collapsed so suddenly. If borrowers had not been willing to be so imprudent in the types of loans they were willing to take out, the same is true. Again, I admit I am oversimplifying.

Unfortunately we have been willing to allow our government also to spend wildly, with borrowed money, of course. We have been building a house of cards which is beginning to collapse. This has not happened overnight, but over several administrations, congressional sessions, and generations. Neither will the problems be solved overnight or without some self denial. Maybe a lot of self denial! I perceive from some posts that the self denial has already begun for some of us.

Wayne, I remember well that when Jan and I were first married we were so poor that when we figured our tax returns we discovered that we were eligible for President Johnson's poverty program (of which we did not avail ourselves). Those were difficult years, yet we survived them and appreciated the simple things in life. We are rediscovering that those are the things that really count, not all the material things that we have accumulated. I hope that the rest of our nation can rediscover that, too.

I voted for McCain, not as the lesser of two evils, but because I felt that he would have been a good leader. The majority of the electorate did not agree with me. But I've been around almost 65 years, and one thing I've learned is to have hope. In a couple of months Barack Obama will be my president, and although I may be critical of the some of the things he does, other things he does will be good. I will need to give credit where credit is due. For those of us who believe in prayer, I believe that we would do well to pray for the President, and all levels of our government. For those who don't believe in prayer, well, I guess you can just contemplate your navels while the rest of us pray.