Speak Out 10/14/03

IT'S ONLY a couple of weeks to Halloween. I encourage folks who remember their fun nights of trick or treating as a child to bring back some of that magic for their children. Parents, stop thinking the mall is a great candy destination. Get out of your cars and walk with your children down blocks and spend some time with them. Folks who don't go out, buy a simple bag of candy and turn on your porch lights. Have fun admiring the wide range of costumes. Let's get back to basic trick or treating.

Money is for children

I AGREE with taxes being held out of child-support checks, since many of the recipients who have several children make a living off child support. I would like to see receipts showing that this money actually goes to the children instead of being used for the other parent's entertainment.

School guilt trip

IT'S INTERESTING that Central High School is in such dire need of space, materials and financial resources so soon after construction of the new state-of-the-art building. Voters were told the tax money raised would be well-used. What we weren't told was what was not included in the budget. Who builds a school without desks? How long will it be until the school district comes begging for more money? Officials planned this so that they could continue to ask for more money and guilt the voting public into helping the poor students who don't have proper resources for learning. I hope we're not foolish enough to give them what they want again.

Getting humility

I AM so glad Rush Limbaugh is admitting he has faults too. He has always appeared to be entitled to express his opinions about all subjects that the majority of the time are detrimental to minorities. I hope he succeeds in his treatment and gains a little humility.

Fool me twice

CONGRESS WAS hoodwinked by the White House into granting President Bush authority to invade Iraq. It turned out, as many suspected at the time, that all the evidence and arguments were a crock. Now, our U.S. representative, along with many other equally empty-headed representatives, is claiming she will support the $87 billion request because the White House must have a good reason. Our representatives should remember the old saying: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Lots of questions

ARE YOU kidding me with the article about Central High School? Do they need 13 special education teachers in the high school alone? I know of a local school district that has a higher student population and has far fewer special education teachers and staff. How do you spend $25 million dollars on a building and know that it's going to be too small? I don't remember that information in any of the articles I read in the Missourian while it was being built.

Become a teacher

THE COMMENT "Quality problem" shows just how ignorant the public is regarding education. Everyone wants to be a critic, but few want to step up to the challenge of dealing with 140 to 150 students a day, making lesson plans, grading assignments, doing duties, picking up extracurricular responsibilities, maintaining a sense of order and decorum, raising standardized test scores and taking a rear-end chewing from some arrogant and irresponsible parent. If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem. So, kick it in high gear, get your degree in education and come show me how it's done. I bet you're too busy complaining to actually educate yourself.

Support for comedy

MY FRIENDS and I went to the comedy club downtown on Friday night. It was a great performance. But more people should support live comedy in town. Otherwise, we'll remain small forever. The murals looked good too. More people should come downtown to see them.

No sense of loyalty

WHAT KIND of a newspaper is the Southeast Missourian? When something goes bad for Rush Limbaugh, after years of praising him you dish the dirt of his drug problem on the front page? You guys prove that you have no sense of loyalty. Rush helped change this country, and we should support him during this time of trouble, not headline it obnoxiously as the biggest news of the day.

Seeking opinions

HOW TYPICAL it has become for conservative commentators to insult and degrade those with a contrary opinions rather than simply disagreeing with them. And now the latest hypocrisy: accusing any judge who issues a ruling they don't agree with of being dishonest and ignoring the will of the people to pursue the judge's personal agenda. Isn't that exactly what we have with people like Peter Kinder, David Limbaugh and the like? When was the last time either one of them asked anyone else for an opinion? They do what they want and pursue their own personal agendas day in and day out. I can assure you that Kinder doesn't represent me in the legislature.

National embarrassment

HERE IS our mayor making a comment to Newsweek. "'The Limbaughs in Cape Girardeau are royalty,' says Jay B. Knudtson, the mayor of Limbaugh's hometown on the Mississippi River." Memo to Mayor Knudtson: When Newsweek or any other national media calls on you to make a quote, it may be best for you to just say "no comment." Please do not embarrass the residents of Cape Girardeau on a national level. You do quite well on a local level. Isn't that enough?

Treatment is best

I HOPE Rush Limbaugh gets what he deserves for illegally obtaining drugs to support his addiction: treatment and a return to sobriety. I hope a sober Limbaugh will then point out to his millions of dittohead listeners that the best solution for our drug-abuse problem is treatment, not criminalization.

Still proud of Rush

I ADMIRE Rush Limbaugh for admitting his problem. We have so many people who get into a habit of rushing to judgment when something likes this happens. All of us have skeletons in our closet. I don't care who you are or what your profession is, none of us is perfect. Hang in there, Rush, and get well. We are still proud of our native son here in Cape Girardeau.

Political reality

DEMOCRACY IS government by the people, exercised either ("either" being the key word) directly or through elected representatives. If we had a true democracy in America, we would have the choice of direct action, as citizens, where the majority vote rules. A republic, which we live in today, is a political order in which supreme power lies in a body of citizens who are entitled to vote for officers and representatives responsible to them. I know which one I would prefer to live in. It makes me stop and think about the fiasco in Florida during the 2000 election. Republicans are the ones who want the political new world order where supreme power will lie in the hands of themselves and their wealthy aristocratic supporters. It's time to step up and say it like it is.

Personal or public?

I JUST read David Limbaugh's new book. As a conservative, I think he's paranoid. He seems to confuse his own personal problems with public events.

Learning a lesson

I HOPE that since Rush Limbaugh has admitted he's just a human being too that he'll be a little less hateful toward others. I think there's a lesson for his listeners in this too.

Less judgmental

I AM a liberal with no use for Rush Limbaugh's views on most issues, but I do understand human frailty and have a lot of compassion for him in his drug addiction. I can't help but wonder, though, if his admission will make him and his followers a little less arrogant and judgmental of others. I certainly hope so.

Those highs, lows

INDEED, THE national economy has highs and lows. The highs are usually under a Democratic president, while the lows are under a Republican president. Mere coincidence? I think not.

Still the same

IN RESPONSE to the comment about the Scott City police: I am 23 years old. When I was in high school there, it was the same way. The police always seemed to pick on the same people and then let the others go. It's a shame. I don't think it will ever change.

A father's rights

I CAN'T help but comment about the issue of child support that has been a topic of discussion lately. I've always wondered why a woman, when pregnant with a child, can make a decision to abort that pregnancy whether the father of the child wants her to or not. So if a man decides he does not want to be a father, but the woman refuses to have an abortion, why should the father have to pay support? I would love to watch judges cringe if men began going to court claiming custody rights of an unborn fetus.

Offensive T-shirts

I WAS very shocked at the inappropriate T-shirts being sold and sponsored by Central High School's student senate. It was offensive to the people of Jackson. An apology should be made.

Slow construction

WHAT IS going on with the new bridge at the Diversion Channel on Interstate 55? You never see anyone working on it except an occasional crane operator. There are street lights in place, but they are not lit, which makes it very dangerous to drivers when it is raining and foggy. What is the date for construction to be completed? Winter is fast approaching and only half of the bridge looks even remotely close to being done. People still drive 70 mph through the construction area. The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge was a much more challenging project. Officials said they had one goal: get it done before the other bridge falls down. How about a similar goal for the 1-55 bridge?