"Turning Aspens" photographed in Guanella Pass, Colorado by Michelle Kerr

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The presidential campaign has entered the pants-on-fire portion of the sorry spectacle we call an election.

The perennial claim by political strategists that negative campaigning is unfortunate “but it works” is on full display. The question is how to avoid it if your opponent attacks. Does the attackee sit tight and let lies and damn lies float by without refuting them, in order to take the proverbial high road? History seems to say they don’t have that luxury. Remember Sen. John Kerry’s lackluster responses to the Swiftboaters who successfully smeared Kerry’s status as a decorated veteran? We all know what happened then.

Peter Wallsten of the Los Angeles Times has a nicely balanced piece today about what the two campaigns are up to in going negative.

The LA Times also has these two short pieces of interest: “Barack Obama’s connection to William Ayers” and “John McCain’s ties to Charles Keating.”

In my last blog I wrote, “It seems to me that the real lesson of 9/11, besides that terrible things can happen to innocent people, is not to depend too much on law enforcement agencies for your safety, or for rescue.”

That’s law enforcement agencies. But as for the government itself—well, who knows? The government bails out and bestows privileges on special interest groups, which includes everyone but working folks. But somehow we got in! We put some money down on a reasonably priced house in rural Utah at the height of the boom and our loan was approved by a major mortgage company which then cratered spectacularly. Seemed like bad timing, especially with the interest rate we had to pay, but that we were approved at all may have been because of Bill Clinton's and George Bush III’s push for more housing of the indigent. The “push” that resulted in looser standards for lenders and ultimately, bizarre financial instruments that couldn’t possibly have worked, except in theory.