Speak Out 11/25/05

Outstanding concert

CONGRATULATIONS TO the Southeast Missouri State University jazz bands for an outstanding concert this past week. These young people should be commended for the excitement and enthusiasm in their high-quality performances. We really enjoyed this show and plan on hearing the bands play downtown next month.

An American hero

CONGRESSMAN WAYNE Morse stood alone for a long time in saying enough was enough in Vietnam and was a laughingstock in many quarters. However, he was vindicated by history. Congressman John Murtha, a Vietnam War hero, is virtually standing alone in saying enough is enough in Iraq. He is no laughingstock. Attempts to demonize him will backfire. Murtha is a legitimate American hero.

In-school honors

VETERANS ARE honored more by in-school assemblies than they would ever be by the youths if schools were closed.

Include the police

IF JACKSON plans on asking for a fire tax, why not do as Cape Girardeau did and ask for a police and fire tax to help out the police department with new equipment and raises as well as the new fire substation and raises for the fire department?

Resorting to lies

KUDOS TO Gene Lyons for pointing out that the Bush-Cheney White House folks are -- yet again -- resorting to lies and distortions to further their political agenda. Are the ever -dwindling pro-war, pro-death folks really ignorant and gullible, or do they simply not want to know what these zealous extremists have done in their names and what is really going on in the world?

Pointing fingers

WE SHOULD create a new position in government: National Scapegoat. After said position is created, we would have no problem finding out who is at fault for mistakes in government. If this logic holds true, then the U.N. could be an International Scapegoat so everyone could have someone to blame.

Good investment

THE BILL Emerson Memorial Bridge cost $100 million, far less than the amount a recent caller cited. Regarding its short-term purpose, if there is a major earthquake it will probably be the only bridge standing between St. Louis and Memphis. For the long term, the bridge will cost less to maintain, it looks darn impressive and it will prove to be a vital link to Illinois down the road. This was money well-spent.

Cut the postage

I SEE postage is going up 2 cents after the first of the year. It ought to go down two cents. I mailed a letter from our post office here in Cape Girardeau on Sunday to Birmingham, Ala., and it hadn't been received by Friday night. Either lower the postage or go back to the Pony Express.

Slower is safer

I AM irritated by the comments wanting everybody to go fast on the highway. That is not necessarily the safest thing to do. If you're driving at the minimum speed level and you stay in the right lane where you belong, that should be perfectly acceptable. Some people are better off driving at the minimum allowed speed. You're going to find a lot more of that as we baby boomers get older. My husband and several other people I know are perfectly safe at 55, but you really don't want them going 85.

Dark around cemetery

I WOULD like to give major kudos for the front-page article on Old Lorimier Cemetery. I would like to comment that Terrell Weaver, the manager of Cape Girardeau's public cemeteries, has a good point about the neighbors watching for people who might be running around at the cemetery. I happen to be one of those neighbors, and it's so dark over there that we can't see anything. There's a two-block area that's completely dark at night.

House divided

ARTICLES BY U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman and Vice President Dick Cheney in Saturday's paper should be read by everyone. They are the best I have read in some time. They are heartfelt and true. I was taught to honor and respect our leaders, something sadly lacking today. A house divided against itself cannot stand. God bless our country.

Free enterprise

THE SOCIALISTIC cry for socking the oil industry for excess profits of 20 percent or more is wrong. Why don't we sock the banks? The banks made 19.6 percent. The oil industry only made 7.7 percent. Let's quit being a free-enterprise system that made this country great.

No more hitting

WHEN I was in grade school, we had a principal who paddled some student on an almost-daily basis. This behavior only made the children hate the school and the principal. We have got to stop the people from hitting our children. We are not allowed to hit grown-ups or animals. Please, do not hit our children.

Street lights needed

WE NEED Major Jay Knudtson to drive up Fountain Street from Broadway and see how dark it is for the whole stretch along Old Lorimier Cemetery. There are no street lights from the corner of North Street/Park Street all the way up to Mill Street, which is three or four blocks. Neighbors can't watch the cemetery if we can't see what's going on. We've got to light up these streets.

Collecting leaves

I'M CALLING about the wonderful job our city leaf-collecting guys are doing on Clark Street and Drury Lane. These three men are caring individuals and doing a wonderful job. I think they should be praised for their work.

Scouting for food

THANK YOU to all the Scouts who took time on two weekends to collect food. These boys and the parents who helped need to be commended for their efforts. This is the single largest canned food drive in the United States. Thank you to the Scouts.

Growing needs

CAPE GIRARDEAU needs a transportation system. Those who do not believe it need to look at their neighbors. There is a significant elderly, disabled and low-income population that would benefit from a bus system. Realize that your city is growing and needs a bus system to go with it.

Foreign adoptions

THE REASON so many people go to foreign countries to adopt is because the United States makes it almost impossible for anyone to adopt. And children in foreign countries need love and opportunities too.

Complicated plan

THE COMPLICATED Medi-care Part D for prescription drug coverage is an indicator of who is really running our country: lobbyists, one of whom received $1 million from the AMA and a pharmaceutical company for his efforts toward bringing us this wonderful program. Wouldn't it have been great if we seniors could have had a big part in the final decision? We must be too simple-minded to figure out that maybe a program giving us even 25 percent or so savings on our prescriptions would have helped us a lot.

In need of help

SHAME ON U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson for wanting to cut our programs. She evidently hasn't had the misfortune of needing this kind of help. Many of us are not so lucky. Some of us work full-time jobs and still have trouble paying the bills. I'm tired of having to choose between paying the rent or buying food or paying the utilities. I don't go to the doctor because it costs too much even after insurance. It's the ones who work and try to make it and those who are disabled who deserve the help.

Fight there, not here

WE HEAR so much about the anti-war rallies and the criticism against the war on terrorism. Where would the extremists be attacking Americans if our military was not in their face, on their land and engaging them where they live? I can give a good guess: right here on American soil. If the fight isn't on their land, it will be on ours. I have huge amounts of empathy for those who have lost loved ones in the fight. I also pray for our leaders to figure out a way to solve this crisis soon. But let's not forget that before 9-11 we were not engaged. We were attacked for the first time since the Revolutionary War. I am not saying that leaders shouldn't be held accountable for every single death and that those boys and girls are not this era heroes. But please don't let those soldiers have died for nothing. They believed in keeping America safe. Let's stand together and support them. They go there to fight so that the fight doesn't come here. And for that I thank them.