BENJAMIN C. COOK, Kennewick

We are traveling down a dangerous road of economic degradation and despair, and it's getting worse. We are becoming a nation of handouts, rather then using the benefits of our own resources. The number of food stamps recipients have increased dramatically, those on some form of welfare number around 66 million, but our downfall doesn't stop there.

We have had problems with abortion, the silent holocaust, since 1973 because of one of the most incipient decisions in Supreme Court history. Now, in our own state, two new evils have raised their ugly heads. Gay marriage and the use of marijuana as a recreational drug, which by itself is already causing problems at the state level, from figuring a way to manage it to dividing families.

We have lowered our standards and principles for the sake of political correctness. We have sold ourselves out for the sake of pride and envy.

Without a change in direction, the end result will remain the same. So far, the direction we're traveling without the necessary corrections for good can only end in disaster. It is the choices we make that will define who we are and ultimately decide our own history and the fate of America, our Constitution and this nation's people.