As of Monday, the country realized that we are perhaps in the worst fiscal crisis in our generation.

Lehman Brothers, a major investment bank, filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. Merrill Lynch was forced to sell itself to Bank of America for significantly below its standard exchange rate. American Investment Group, or AIG, another major investment bank, revealed that it was requesting a government bailout. This was combined with Hurricane Ike. Ike, a just shy of Category 3 behemoth, hit my hometown of Houston, Texas. Houston is the nations 4th largest city and home to nearly a quarter of the national profit in our energy sector. These revelations combined caused the Dow to plunge 500 points on Monday, the worst drop recorded since the reopening of the market following the attacks of September 11, 2001. This follows last week’s move from the Bush Administration to take control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, public-private entities that combined guarantee or own nearly half of all mortgages in the US, totaling a staggering $12 trillion, due to the near collapse of the companies.

With these actions, the fundamental shape of campaign 2008 is now officially in flux. The economy, already the top issue for voters, will now have a stranglehold on the last 50 days or so left in the campaign.

The question you may be asking is, why the hell does this factor into the intersection of technology and politics. Now, more so than ever, technology lets us see disasters occur in real time no matter where you are. We can track the stock exchange, and we saw live the battering of Ike; satellites confirmed Ike’s movements towards the Texas coast.

So, too, was the reaction of those seeking to lead our troubled nation able to be seen in real time. You Tube allowed us to see Republican Presidential Nominee Sen. John McCain’s (R-AZ) response.

To show us just how flawed his reasoning was, we were able to comapre his words to those of Alan Greenspan, arguably our nation’s most impressive economic mind.

Technology is, at a minimum, allowing us to see our financial market collapse in real time. It also is allowing us to see how those who aspire to lead us believe we should be moving from here.

Former Economic Adviser to McCain, Sen. Phil Gramm (R-TX)

Democratic VP Nominee Sen. Joe Biden (D-DE)

Democratic Presidential Nominee Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)

Never before have we truly gotten to see in such detail where we are, where we might go, and how we are going to get there.

I end today with an editorial message: People were shocked at how quickly this crisis came about, yet every sign was there. Before Freddie and Fannie, Lehman, and Merrill, we saw the collapse of Bear Stearns, and the near collapse of Citigroup. We stand in a war of (unwise) choice costing us billions a month funded on poorly thought out tax cuts. Our dollar is weaker now than at any point in modern history. It was plain for the eye to see this coming. If we don’t take action, if we elect those who hold a near identical worldview, America will truly be able to say its best days are behind it. America, wake up.