Speak Out 12/24/03

Prayer for military

I WOULD like to extend a special prayer to all of the people in the area with loved ones in the military. Please know that, in spite of all of the negativity you hear in the media, the majority of Americans are behind you and yours. Know that as you worry and miss them during this holiday season, there are millions praying and wishing for their safe return. May you all have a merry Christmas and happy new year.

Running stoplight

IT IS absolutely ridiculous the amount of people who run the stoplight at Mount Auburn Road and William Street. If a cop sat there in an unmarked car, I can almost promise he'd get someone practically every time the light changed. People, please do not continue this. Running lights not only gets you tickets, but it can take away lives as well.

Political expediency

I'LL TELL you who else flip- flopped overnight on the abortion issue in order to get a shot at vice president: the first George Bush. When he ran against Ronald Reagan in the Republican primaries, he was pro-choice. I know this because I am a pro-choice Republican and was a supporter of George H.W. Bush in the 1979 primary season. When Reagan offered him a spot on the ticket if he would change this "one little thing," Bush made an immediate switcheroo and overnight became pro-life. Political expediency is prevalent. It's not a matter of Democrat or Republican.

A rave review

A BRIEF review of Friday night's "Nutcracker" performance by the Minnesota Ballet Company: Bravo! Give us more.

Religious backlash

LET ME explain the state-religion problem in a nutshell: If the religious right were not so intent on forcing its views and supposed morality on everyone else, there would not be such a strong effort to keep religion out of the schools and the courts. The backlash is a predictable and necessary response to an obvious agenda and bias.

We need a plan

NOW THAT you have proven that Jackson schools have more students and less money and Jackson students perform better on standardized tests with less discipline problems, the report we need in the newspaper is how Central High School can emulate Jackson.

Funding for safety

IF YOUR house catches on fire or if someone is breaking into your house, you will want the most well trained, well-equipped and most highly qualified firefighter or police officer possible to come to your rescue. The problem is that no one seems to recognize the need for better public safety until he becomes a victim. I say it's better to fund those departments now so it will decrease the likelihood I'll become a victim.

The weight of junk

TO THE parent complaining about her child's backpack weighing so much: Did you look in the bag to see how much was school stuff and how much was junk?

Best of the best

HEIDI HALL, your column Wednesday was the best of the best. It revealed the soft side of your heart. It made me cry happy tears.

Funding for equipment

THE FIRE department needs money. I will agree with that. What I do not understand is how city leaders can take funds from the county for extrication services and not use some of that money to maintain the equipment that allows for that contract. If they are not willing to spend the money to replace equipment, maybe the contract should go to a department that has newer equipment and trucks that can make it past the city limits.

Remember the troops

I WANT to wish everyone a wonderful and merry Christmas and a happy new year. May all of you have a wonderful time and remember the true meaning of Christmas and remember our troops that are away from home over the holiday season.

Wearing them out

AFTER LOOKING back at the fire department reports over the last week or so, it looks like it responded to about 25 medical assists and one fire in a trash container. No wonder the department needs a new truck. It wears them out going on ambulance calls.

Where's the funding?

THE CAPE Girardeau mayor and council members should be horsewhipped for not budgeting sufficient funds for the fire and police departments. If this means not building a shelter in Arena Park, closing the golf course or not sweeping the streets, so be it. The tactic of scaring taxpayers into voting for a tax increase by not funding essential services is unconscionable.

Thanks to Clinton

I WOULD like to applaud the capture of Saddam Hussein. But to those of you who believe President Bush can do no wrong and former president Bill Clinton can do no right, I want to offer the following quote: "A commander-in-chief leads the military built by those who came before him. There is little that he or his defense secretary can do to improve the force they have to deploy. It is all the work of previous administrations. Decisions made today shape the force of tomorrow. And when the Gulf War ended, the first thing I did was to place a call to California and say thank you to President Ronald Reagan." -- Vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney in August 2000. So by Cheney's logic, the military built by Clinton defeated the Taliban, freed Iraq and captured Saddam. America and the Bush administration should thank him.

No hard evidence

I THINK the only reason the terrorist threat level has been raised to orange is because the government is guessing. In the end the government is doing us a great disservice and trying to justify all the expense it has incurred by making assumptions around the holidays with nothing more than guesswork to back it up. I'd like to see one shred of hard evidence that the government knows anything at all. Of course that won't happen, because they don't have any.

Fat cats cause obesity

IF THE U.S. government would subsidize healthy foods (fruits and vegetables) to the degree it does foodstuffs that aren't so good for us, obesity would become obsolete. I place most of the blame on the fat-cat politicians.