Speak Out 09/29/04

No one is perfect

IT'S TIME to quit bashing Dan Rather. Have you ever passed on a story that you found out later was false? He who is perfect should only be the true judge of another. I don't care for Rather, but he is not perfect, and neither are we.

Toilets appreciated

THANKS FOR putting the portable toilets at the West End Boulevard entrance of Shawnee Park. They were needed.

Message from Iraq

I AM in Iraq, while most of you who will read this are not. I see the successes and failures in Iraq, while most of you will only read about Iraq in the newspaper or listen to the stories on TV with the slant of that particular media outlet. Stop talking about how bad it is here. We have made a difference, but there is still much to do. Stop speaking about things about which you have no base knowledge or understanding. We are building roads and repairing water systems, schools and police stations. Our efforts here are providing jobs and the foundations for freedom. We are fighting very few Iraqis but a lot of Sudanese, Jordanians, Egyptians and Iranians. We have experienced failures and will freely admit our mistakes. Each day I travel down roads lined with smiling, waving Iraqis who are glad were here. I see those smiles and waves. You don't.

Looking for facts

IN RESPONSE to David Limbaugh's columns, I have to ask: If he were to sit down and write an article using only facts -- the cold, hard truth -- would he have an column at all? Or would he realize, as he was putting it together, that the data either contradicts just about every argument he has tried to get across of late or proved him, his fellow Republicans and President Bush to be not only liars, but the biggest hypocrites on this planet?

School board disgrace

IF, ACCORDING to their quotes in the paper, members of the Cape Girardeau School Board feel they are not qualified to hire a superintendent, then they shouldn't have been qualified to fire the existing one. This is a disgrace, and every board member who voted to employ an outside agency at a minimum of $15,000 should resign immediately for ducking his or her responsibility, especially when the budget is in the shape it is in and the taxpayers have just been strong-armed into an increase.

Goal is good pet care

I'M GLAD to hear the petition drive for unlimited pets has failed. I hope they also get enough common sense to stop their push for possible court action too. I understand they don't like the limits, but the limits are meant to serve a purpose that goes beyond their scope of thinking. Not everyone who has animals is competent or compassionate. Let's work within these limitations to make sure that all pets are treated right.

Way too easy

THE PEOPLE living on fixed incomes now are the same people who worked themselves to death trying to give their kids more than they had. We worked to put our kids through school and made sure they had a good life, so we didn't have every chance to save our money. Most of you young people have it way too easy now as a result. That's why you're fat and spoiled. I can only imagine what your fat kids are going to be like.

Plenty of evidence

REGARDING THE comment on mercury in vaccines not being a cause of autism: You are sadly mistaken. I will be happy to share the plethora of scientific, peer-reviewed articles from leading medical journals that attest to the acute neurotoxicity of thimerosal and its association with neurodevelopmental disorders (autism being one). The most damning evidence is by far the internal reports, transcripts and e-mails from the CDC, FDA, American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization.

Fine Janet Jackson

AFTER READING in the Missourian about CBS and all their affiliates being fined over the Janet Jackson fiasco, I am outraged. Why didn't they go directly to the source and fine Jackson for indecent exposure? How was anyone to know she was going to pull such a stunt? It got her what she wanted: lots of publicity.