Nov. 22: Ask what you can do for your country

On this 45th anniversary of Pres. John F. Kennedy's assassination, I keep hearing this amazing sentence from his inauguration speech:

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.

I thought of these words during the past week when the Detroit auto execs were up on Capitol Hill seeking bailout money. I've been thinking of JFK's words a lot during the past year, as many of "my fellow Americans" worked hard to reclaim our democracy. Ask what you can do for your country! During the past eight years, all we got was Bush's version of this line: "...ask what you can do to your country." Yes, and the Bushies did plenty to us. But we also deserve a share of the blame and the burden. Now it's time to clean up the mess. Persevere, and ask what you can do for your country beside vote and write a few pro-Dem blog posts.

Kennedy's words will be in the air when Barack Obama is inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009.