My friend Chris Sciabarra has written a fundamental analysis of the bailout, in which he elucidates the deeply systemic nature of the problems facing American finance, politics, and economics. He concludes:
[I]t does not matter one iota who gets elected President. The emphases might vary slightly under Obama or McCain, but the fundamentals of U.S. political economy, and, I should add, U.S. foreign policy, will not change. Indeed, even for those of us who view the current Bush administration as the worst in our history, well, certainly the worst in our lifetime.... it is clear that nothing proposed by Obama or McCain is going to change the structural defects of this system.
I really do think that the best one can do now is to withdraw consent rather than to vote for any of the offered "alternatives".