“Our only hope as a nation lies in the heart and motivation of the part of our population that are driven to make a difference – people like the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines I see volunteering to take a bullet for this country. They come home and instinctively find ways to make themselves and this country better.”

Do you mean our young servicemen and women currently over in Iraq, that have been serving multiple consecutive tours of duty? I’ll suggest taking a visit to your local VA, outpatient psych ward and/or any dive bars within walking distance of the above to get a feel of how our current veterans are doing, courtesy of our foreign policy.

Or maybe you mean the current crop of new recruits, like the cat iv’s? You know, the ex-cons, mentally ill and unemployed angry kids dressed up like gang-bangers?

I work at an engineering school and interface with many highly-motivated, intelligent and creative “American” engineering students. Sure, there are not many of them, but its a tough profession and not for everyone. I have a feeling they will be rewarded for their hard work, however, as there is always demand for good engineers, recession or otherwise.