Speak Out 09/26/04

She has true grit

HOORAY FOR Emily Hendricks in Voices of 2Morrow. Sounds like she has true grit. In today's world it's good to see a young person recognize the love and support of parents, grandparents and friends. It sounds like she's come a long way. Thank you for putting this in the paper.

West side is forgotten

THE WAY Jackson is growing so much on the east side, the west side is being forgotten. West Main Street is starting to look like a ghost town. We need a grocery store that stays open until 10 p.m. and a gas station on that end of town.

Welfare drain

CORPORATE WELFARE is a much bigger drain on our economy than the drain created by individuals who are currently receiving it.

Not a superpower

ONE THING that I think the war in Iraq has shown is this: We are not the superpower we like to think we are. A superpower would be able to take care of almost any situation. I don't know the answer over there, but it is sure not pretty.

Everyone pays

THE ONLY money that the federal government has is what it takes from the taxpayers. Now Cape wants all the people in America to finance improvements to Kiwanis Park. Wouldn't that be nifty?

Tip jar at the fair

I NOTICED the online poll question and the person's comment about how much the corn dogs were at the SEMO District Fair. How about someone at the fair putting out a tip jar? That beat anything I'd ever seen. As if the food at fairs isn't overpriced, someone had the nerve to put out a tip jar as I'm wearing my legs out walking all over the place.

Telling the truth

DAN RATHER apologized for using documents on "60 Minutes II" that he could not prove were authentic. What he didn't say was everybody knew they were forged documents. He ought to tell us the truth. Rather needs to resign.

That's our money

I WATCHED Colin Powell on "Good Morning, America" talking about how generous Congress was in providing money to rebuild Iraq. Congress wasn't the generous one. It was the American people, and we had no choice. Our tax dollars were taken by Congress. I'm getting tired of people saying Congress is being so generous. It's our tax dollars. Let Iraq pay for everything itself. If we can't pull the troops out right now, get them home quickly. But quit funneling money over there.

Time to go, Dan

DAN RATHER and CBS's attempt to save face and credibility only adds to their scandalous behavior and proves they don't research their obnoxious claims. How treacherous can they get? Dan Rather should either retire or be forced out.

Safer toilets

I ALSO think the city needs to put more toilets at Shawnee Park and other parks around the city, but not portable toilets. I think there should be concrete toilets.

Feed the children

WE ARE spending billions attacking a people who's only sin is being poor and living in an oil-rich country. It doesn't require very much reasoning to conclude that as long as we continue to harm them that their warriors will continue to fight back. We have a war machine. They have acts of terrorism. There is a solution. Feed their children. How many people in American buy an expensive car every year? Can we convince 100 of them to forgo the new car for just one year and spend that money to help feed the children of potential terrorists? Quick math: $30,000 x 100 = $3 million. Could we convince 1,000 Americans to forgo the new car for one year? Could we convince anyone to do this in the name of Jesus Christ?

Propaganda network

NOW THAT Dan Rather is eating some of what he's been putting out, can we accept the truth in changing the long-held CBS network designation from "the Tiffany Network" to simply "the propaganda network"?