I watched John McCain and Barack Obama being questioned recently. It’s surprising how much of what they say is almost alike. It’s too bad all the Democrats and Republicans couldn’t come up with those kinds of solutions to our country’s problems. I wonder how long all this kindness will last or if it will at all.

I’ve been saying for a long time that we should have a two-year draft for people getting out of high school. But, I would give them a choice of going in the military, job corps, or Peace Corps. And make sure they had an income, three meals a day and a roof over their heads. Our young people would get a chance to grow up knowing what it is to work together as a team with other people and get some great experience. They could also earn money toward college. By the time they got to college they would be more serious about studying instead of thinking they need to party all the time.

I tend to think the things talked about in these forums are mostly rhetoric. Which I think is probably disappointing to most of us taxpayers. I would rather see a president and vice president who are unafraid to stand up and say what they think and have the guts to take action when needed.

I can only hope we don’t end up with another Jimmy Carter. We truly need someone with a backbone.

Larry Hawley, Minot