So, I was flipping through channels to see if the Packers game was on on Sunday, and I found something much more exciting -- a Obamaniac rally featuring The Clintons and Bidens speaking together in Scranton, Pa (I wonder if Michael or Jim went...). While the funniest moment of the rally, to me, was a bunch of applause for Bill and Hillary having the same last name (somedays) for 33 years yesterday, the most terrifying moment was when Hillary bellowed "WE SHOULDN'T BE ASKING WHO YOU ARE FOR, WE SHOULD BE ASKING WHO IS FOR YOU!" (thunderous applause).

I'm deeply disturbed by this comment and the strong response to it. I am certainly not a fan of the famous Kennedy remark of asking what you can do for your country instead of what your country can do for you. However, the notion that is so thick in this country of government saving us at each problem is really starting to irritate me.* When the economy gets bad, we send out $2,000 checks. When people made irresponsible decisions in taking out mortgages they couldn't afford, we buy the houses. We take care of retirement and will soon guarantee health care. It is so easy to get a piece of paper saying you finished high school, I honestly don't understand how a person can not do it unless they have extreme financial problems requiring them to work.

A couple weeks ago when I was freaking out about the bailout failing and the country going to hell, Scouse, my RA, told me to calm down and stop thinking about the crisis in large terms. I am a freshman in an excellent University. If I work hard for four years, I will get a good job and make a lot of money and be set. Now, I understand that many Americans do not have my skills or my opportunities. Still, I have to believe that America is still a country held up by individuals striving to do the best they possibly can for themselves, and not wanting to depend on others. I fear that the sense of Independence that has made us great is slipping away, and as we turn more power over to the Federal Government, they will have more and more control over our lives. The government is looking into ways to intrude into the banking industry, and this scares the shit out of me (http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/10/14/miron.banks/index.html). I am for a bailout, on some level, because I think that some sort of a rescue plan to keep the banks solvent is necessary. I just don't trust the government to be as big as it has gotten.

I'm very confused with where I stand politically. I clearly know what I think will make America great, I just don't know how much I like America these days. I feel like we as a nation have been spoiled and lulled into a dangerous position of indifference. Life has become to easy, and it is about to become very, very, difficult. I don't know what I want, but I am pretty sure that neither John nor Barry is going to bring it for me. How tragic.

*I'm writing from the standpoint of an American taxpayer, not a Christian dedicated to serving others