Speak Out 07/04/04

Thanks for blacktopping

I DRIVE Highway 25 each day. I want to tell the Missouri Department of Transportation that I appreciate the blacktopping of Highway 25.

No right to silence

WELCOME TO Gulag Amerika, home of the shredded Constitution. On June 21, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that citizens no longer have the right to remain silent when questioned by the police and that "the state's interest in protecting police and investigating crime" takes priority over the constitutional rights of citizens. That's a horrifyingly broad umbrella. Bye-bye, Fourth and Fifth amendments.

Direct line to God

I STOPPED going to church because my tithes were paying for new gymnasiums and sound equipment instead of feeding the poor. The sermons were laced with politics and hate rather than Gospel. And the pews were filled with the self-righteous who would probably be surprised by many things in the Bible. God doesn't need me in a specific place, especially one that has corrupted his very teachings, to hear me.

Car still works

I HAD a car in my driveway I didn't drive for three months, maybe longer. I would say a car is abandoned only if it's not in workable condition. My car happened to be in workable condition, but I didn't want to drive it.

Obey the law

AS A Cape Girardeau taxpayer, I continue to be concerned and irate over the number of city employees who are not obeying traffic laws. Yet we citizens are expected to. I was driving on Lexington Avenue and crossed over Kingshighway. A police officer in an unmarked car zipped around me, breaking the speed limit. I tried to see if I could keep up with him and followed him as best I could. He went to a bank ATM and then went to get something to eat. Two times he made turns without using his turn signal. Police officers routinely monitor traffic on Mount Auburn and pick up our kids right and left during the school year, but yet they don't obey the laws. Later I saw a parks and recreation truck with the tailgate down and about four employees sitting in the back of the pickup truck traveling on Mount Auburn Road and breaking the speed limit. City employees should obey the same laws that they expect us to obey.

Sidewalk repairs

IT WOULD certainly be welcomed if the city could see fit to repair the brick sidewalk at Main and Themis streets.

Dangerous pumping

I SAW something at the gas pump that I could not believe. A fellow was pumping gas with a cigarette in his hand, holding it close to the nozzle where the gas goes in the automobile. If I owned this station and saw anybody smoking while filling a car, that person would be banned from my station. If you want to take a chance on blowing yourself up, that's your prerogative. But please don't blow me up with you. When you fill a car with gasoline, please put out the cigarettes. It doesn't take but just a tiny little bit of fumes to start a devastating fire.

Cheers for the judge

THREE CHEERS for Judge Peter L. Statler. I'm so thankful to see we have somebody in the court who has enough sense to see what troublemakers some of these malicious mothers really are.

Trying to save gas

THAT CAR that has been parked on the street since April may not be abandoned. A lot of people are avoiding high gas prices and are finding other means of transportation.

Some good docs

ONCE AGAIN, the people who call Speak Out are going to lump every doctor into the same category. They don't take into consideration the amount of time and money spent on a medical education and that doctors are at the mercy of people who like to sue. Not all doctors are greedy, rude or play golf every day. Walk a mile in their shoes and then judge them for their attitude. They have civic responsibilities and family responsibilities, and they're good Christian people and do the very best they can.