SPEAK OUT

Wrong decision

THE FIRING of principal Randie Fidler was unfortunate. He is a great man and was a tremendous asset to the Cape Girardeau school system. As a community, it is our responsibility to make sure that things like this don't occur in our school system. We can not afford to lose good people like Fidler just because our school board doesn't have enough courage to do what is right.

Keep it up

HAVE THE young Rusts turned restless, even rebellious, and sent the Southeast Missourian lurching to the left? If so, power to the people. Peace. Make love, not war. And all of that. Running a Bush-bashing column by onetime conservative-turned-radical leftist Ariana Huffington brought a balance to the editorial page of the Southeast Missourian not seen in a long time. Keep it up, guys.

Ringing bells

I'LL ADMIT I'm a conspiracy-theory nut, but I still think I'm right. I believe the failure of Cape Girardeau County to pay its telephone bill on time resulted in a decision by Southwestern Bell to retaliate by intentionally discontinuing publication of randomly chosen telephone numbers. The message seems clear. Don't mess with a Baby Bell unless you want yours rung.

Poetic justice

I HAVE a sense that the following Speak Out poem is an accurate reflection of prevailing public sentiment concerning a just-completed project:

I have arthritis.

I have the gout.

And yet I'd rather

twist and shout

than navigate

the roundabout.

Where was NAFTA?

NOW THAT the election is over and George W. Bush has won, I would like to know one thing: Why didn't Bill Clinton and Al Gore campaign on the NAFTA issue? Why wasn't that in the campaign?

All fall down ...

TODAY I went out to Gordonville Road and I came to that little ring-around-a-rosy out there. How ridiculous. Who's idea was that? It's the most stupid thing I've ever seen.

Bad custody law

I'D LIKE to speak out about the article in the paper regarding divorced parents and repeal of relocation laws. I'd like to say that I think it's perfectly understandable that a parent would want to keep their children in the same state. But in this case, the woman had legitimate reasons for moving across state. She was going back to college, and she was remarried. Just because she wanted to move across state, they took custody away from the mother and gave it to the father. I don't agree with this. I think our legislators should look at this situation and try to get this law repealed.

Holier than thou

I HAD to laugh at the Speak Out caller who was threatening all judgmental people with the fires of hell. Guess what? The very fact that you called Speak Out to judge others indicates that you are no better than they are. Open your holier-than-thou eyes.

No apology needed

I DON'T think we need to apologize to Japan as much as it needs to apologize to us for the Pearl Harbor attack. We were not at war when that attack was made. That caused the war, but they had a plan to wipe us out. How many of our sailors were killed there and are still at the bottom of the ships? They owe us an apology.

Athlete favoritism

MY CHILDREN went to Central High School and never got in trouble. I also subbed at Central and saw what goes on. I have no personal complaint with Randie Fidler. But I saw incident after incident where athletes were treated with different standards than other kids. My own kids saw it, and kids talked about it and lost respect for Fidler. They thought it was a joke. I think it's time we get a principal who's not a coach. This needs to change.

Not much truth

I READ Joe Sullivan's column with interest. He makes one error. His statement included, "This column is for the truth seekers of the future." The only thing true about the Southeast Missourian is the crossword puzzle.