12/10 I am already sick of hearing about president-elect Obama, and he hasn't even been sworn in yet! He scares me. People said they wanted change--well, is this the change you wanted? The government in control of health care? The government in control of big businesses and Wall Street? Where does it end?

This is what I meant by the world being turned upside down. Personal freedoms and personal motivation and incentive have all but disappeared in a short period of time. During the election season (which lasted two years too long, in my opinion), I heard a commentator say that the pendulum seems to be swinging further from far right to far left. I disagree. The pendulum is swinging further left and not as far right as it used to.

Conservatives who represent the Republican Party, like George W. Bush, are not true conservatives. A true conservative would never have agreed to a bailout of banks and other businesses. If they fail, let them fail. They will learn from their mistakes and return to fight another day. If the "Big Three" fall, let them. Other auto makers will step in to take their place and we will get better cars in the process. If people were stupid enough to get mortgages they couldn't afford and banks were stupid enough to let it happen, let them both pay the consequences. We are all paying for it, either way. Our economy is in the tank as a result of people's stupidity.

But you know what? The only way people learn to stay out of the fire is by getting burned. It hurts but they learn.

This is what Barack Obama will do: discourage personal freedoms and growth and encourage big government and our dependence on government. As a result, we will get lazier, our freedoms will continue to erode, and prosperity will continue to decline. If you think it's bad now, just wait! The return of the "misery index" is imminent!