Speak Out 8/16/12

The photo of the albino deer in the Sunday paper is awesome. I agree with the photographer that shooting that deer should be a misdemeanor.

Recognizing Obama

The Southeast Missourian should rename the Opinion page "Biased Opinion." It is rather sickening, day after day, to see political cartoons that hammer Obama when he has not done anything to deserve this hammering. George Bush left this country in shambles: We had an auto industry that was falling apart, and the banking system was collapsing. And instead of giving the big thanks to Obama, the Southeast Missourian has to be anal-retentive and not recognize the good things Obama has done as president. I certainly will vote for Obama come Election Day.

Water table

For those who are expressing concern about the water table and Cape Girardeau residents having enough water to drink, the problem isn't the farmers irrigating. It's the fact that city leaders decided, without public approval, to stop using the river for our water needs and instead dig a bunch of wells. As for the farmers, I'm sure if they were to quit irrigating, all the crops died, and food prices skyrocketed, you and others who do nothing but criticize other people would be back here raising Cain about their irresponsibility and how it has affected your pocketbook.

Political signs

I can't take cold turkey. As a result, I beg all of the area political office seekers who lost to remove their signs gradually.

Ideology won

The Romney pick of Paul Ryan for vice president means that ideology and theory have won out over the pragmatic or practical and that, my friends, is bad news.

Blame game

A recent Speak Out caller blamed the Republicans for spreading hate. They think the Democrats don't do anything like that? I am tired of the venom from both parties. The politicians are here to represent the American people. It is people like the caller making that statement about Bush causing the problems in America. Someone else is still blaming Bush and he has been out of office for almost four years now. America will never get out of this mess until we have someone with a backbone in the White House and members of both the Senate and House who will work for the citizens. Not big corporations or special-interest groups, but the taxpayers. Stop with the blame game and party-line talk. That's the only way things will change.

Protecting a purse

I was just reading about a purse being taken out of a cart at Walmart. On each cart there is a seat belt to keep children from falling. I loop my purse through it to make it more difficult for someone to grab and run.

Farm bill

Kudos to President Obama for chastising Congress' failure to pass a farm bill. This drought has made the passage of said bill particularly crucial, and it's good to know that the president empathizes with those who till the soil.

Culture influence

All mass killings take place in and are influenced by the cultural context, no matter how "insane" the killers. We like to disavow this because we want to think the shooters are isolated loners and seriously mentally ill. They may suffer from mental illness but are usually not unaware of nor immune from societal forces influencing them.

Obama's words

"With an aging population and rising health care costs, we are spending too fast to sustain the program. And if we don't gradually reform the system while protecting current beneficiaries, it won't be there when future retirees need it. We have to reform Medicare to strengthen it." This is Obama's statement about cutting Medicare expenses. It wasn't a Republican.

No complaining

Please do not complain about the farmers irrigating with your mouth full of food.