SPEAK OUT

Roadside assistance

I JUST wanted to say thank you. My car broke down on the interstate, and three nice people stopped. One was the driver of an 18-wheeler. He had to stop and back all the way to us. There are still nice people. Thank you.

Power to the GOP

TO THE caller who said, "The Clintons, the Kennedys, Ted Turner, the Hollywood crowd and Gore will have enough power to get by with," what do you think the rich Republicans are using? Mud tires?

Pitching comes first

I HAVE a suggestion for the St. Louis Cardinals. Before they spend money on a new ballpark, spend money on a good pitching staff.

Ironic spending

GOVERNOR HOLDEN asks state agencies to hold down spending. How ironic, considering the highly expensive inauguration show Holden put on. What an ostentatious spending example. Now he's pleading for holding down the spending.

Won't support that

IN REGARD to the editorial "Cape offers plenty of arts and entertainment." You asked where we were when Sheryl Crow played at the Show Me Center. Do you not understand that it was to benefit the River Campus in Cape Girardeau, and we had said, "No, we will not support the River Campus"? Had it been a regular concert, I would have gladly sent myself and my family to it, but I will not support the River Campus or anything that pertains to the River Campus. Get it through your head.

Mules eat briars?

WITH ALL the problems that need to be dealt with in the country and in the world, it seems like every other time I see our president on TV, he is in a classroom with fourth graders standing there grinning like a mule eating briars. I just wonder what's really going on in his head.

We're too preoccupied

IT'S SORT of a shame that while the national and local press were so busy with the Chinese incident, there was no mention made of an American ship sinking on April 1. It's kind of sad that we're more preoccupied with the other stuff.

Pay off our own debt

THE UNITED States needs to pay off its own debt, but the United Nations wants U.S. taxpayers to pay off foreign debts of third-world, deadbeat countries where dictators amass huge fortunes for themselves from U.S. loans. No wonder we have a $5.7 trillion debt.

Too much filth

I'M CALLING about Heidi Hall's April 17 column. After the first three paragraphs, she has lost me as a reader. If she enjoys that type of filth, that's her business, but I don't care to hear what she says anymore.

Help the workers

SO FAR, it seems Democrats are against reducing taxes paid by the working people. When is paying more taxes good for the working man? Let him keep his money instead of letting politicians spend it. Democrats need to realize they have been fed a bunch of lies for a long time.

We don't use sidewalks

IN MY neighborhood, the city is cutting down shade trees to build new sidewalks. The sick joke for taxpayers is no one walks on sidewalks around here. They walk in the street and dare cars to hit them. If there were escalator sidewalks, it wouldn't change a thing.

Drivers who can see

AS A 43-year-old, I think senior citizens are more dangerous than teen-agers. At least teens have their eyesight.

Wasting less time

CITY WORKERS might correctly respond to a Speak Out caller's complaint that they stand around doing nothing as still being a more productive endeavor than calling Speak Out.