I have read, with some dismay, the letters recently written by readers of The Daily Item in regards to the election, the economy, health care and gasoline prices.

Let me speak plainly for just one moment. While it is true that economic hard times are indeed upon us, it seems to have escaped the public and especially the media's mind, as to exactly who we are as Americans. We have been through depressions, World Wars I and II, Vietnam, Katrina, 9/11. And, yet, it is all doom and gloom in the media. No hope at all!

Now, let me enlighten you. It has been Americans all along who have creatively found ways to resist the gloom and doom predictions by using their heads and hands. For the oil crisis, I read recently that a farmer used oil from his sunflowers. The AMA is coming out with their own health care plan for the uninsured. I know someone who is just finishing up a plan to generate his own electricity. These, my friends, are Americans. These are the leaders and innovators that make our country great. These leaders don't have to preface their name with Senator or Congressman. They have chosen to not allow our government to dictate their future or to follow it blindly wherever it leads. Moreover, they have chosen not to allow it to be their sole means of survival. This is why we are free. Free to be creative, free to test the limits, free to make our own lives prosperous.

Finally, if you are one of these Americans, then now is the time for us to get up and get moving!

Amie Miller,

Middleburg