Speak Out 2/15/04

What others think

KUDOS TO the Southeast Missourian for publishing the Saturday editorial cartoon and the Tuesday editorial from Al-Ahram. It's high time folks in Southeast Missouri got a taste of what the rest of the world thinks.Divided learning

MY TEACHER was teaching the Big Bang theory. I asked what if I didn't believe in that. She jumped all over me. She told me what I learned at home stayed at home, and what I learned at school went for school. How is that freedom of religion?Too much competition

JACKSON CANNOT support a YMCA. For an area of this size, we are served by more fitness programs than necessary. A YMCA in Jackson is a lose-lose investment.Speaking evil

SAME-SEX marriages speak evil of the sanctification of the Christian marriage that radicals are trying to change.Political betrayal

SOUTHEAST MISSOURI State University and Cape Girardeau should be relieved by the good news. The Missouri House firmly rejected Southwest Missouri State University's request for a name change to Missouri State University. That name change would have demoted Southeast Missouri State University and caused a loss of students and funding. It would have had serious economic consequences for Cape Girardeau. But state Sen. Peter Kinder, who is from Cape Girardeau, is "optimistic" that his Senate bill supporting the name change will eventually pass. Kinder's efforts betray his early political base.It's getting better

PRESIDENT BUSH inherited a recession with some of the lowest growth rates since the 1970s. Our economy grew at the largest rate in 20 years during 2003. And, we're experiencing decent growth already in this first quarter of 2004. That has been reported over and over. We stumbled for a while. It took us a little time to get our feet under us after 9-11, but things are getting better.Not a new idea

WATER STREET for years was a one-way street. It's probably a very good idea to make it one way again. It goes to show that some archaic ways of doing things should stay the same. Then the city wouldn't have to put out the additional funds to revert something back the way it was originally.Having it both ways

POOR DAVID Limbaugh. Grudgingly he seems to be accepting that George Bush was wrong in pursuing this war. But he wants to blame everyone else as well. Now he blames Congress for trusting the president. Had Congress rejected the Bush claim of imminent threat, Limbaugh would have been the first to ream them as he reamed the war protesters. You cannot criticize Americans for not trusting their president, and then criticize them for trusting him.Make cuts first

I AGREE with the comment about not letting police officers drive their city vehicles home. Look around town and you will see police cars parked at residences. I will never vote for a tax increase until the city cuts its budget first, just like we cut our household budget when we spend for the wrong things.Basic criminal thinking

TALKING ABOUT Iraqi WMDs: If I'm running a meth lab out of my house and a neighbor tips me off that the police are preparing a raid, I'm either going to move the lab or destroy the evidence. Even the dumbest thugs know that.Getting the records

PRESIDENT BUSH pledged to release documents related to whether he fulfilled his Vietnam-era National Guard duty. Then the White House claimed the documents it released fulfilled that pledge. However, just hours after that declaration, White House communications director Dan Bartlett "confirmed that Bush's complete personnel file is being forwarded to Washington from an archive in Denver" but only "for review" by the White House -- not necessarily release to the public. If you don't smell another Bush cover-up, your nose must be clogged.