SPEAK OUT

But it's free already

I STRONGLY disagree with the Cape Girardeau City Council's decision to finance Fourth of July fireworks. We already have explosive, frequent, free-of-charge fireworks on display at meetings of the city council.

Bohemian feeling

IT'S RARE to have a libertine letter-to-the-editor writer living in the area, but you've got to love it. Donn Miller's defense of Clinton's dalliances and the Bush girls' boozing was so Bohemian it made me feel like I was living in Greenwich Village.

Entitled to privacy

I JUST have one question: If I had attempted to order a margarita when I was 19 years old and got caught, would you have cared? I didn't think so. It seems that the press can't let those girls go to the bathroom without making note of it. I recall an instance of Chelsea holding hands with a boy making the news. Is it that hard to find something to report on that the media have to impose on people's privacy? Get a life, people, and let others live theirs.

Grateful for lifesavers

THE FARMER'S wife needs to get her facts straight. The police officers and firefighters did not ask for their families to be taken care of in the event they are killed or injured in the line of duty. A group of caring and appreciative individuals in our community has taken it upon itself to do this, and we are very grateful. We are thankful for our farmers, and I'm sorry the farmer's wife feels her husband is not appreciated. But that does not give her the right to belittle our firefighters and police officers. Many volunteer firefighters are farmers. They risk their lives for no pay at all.

Designated drivers

SOMEONE THINKS the Bush daughters are just making bad choices in spite of everything their parents have tried to teach them. Everyone was so upset that Bill Clinton "abused" the Oval Office. I'm upset that Secret Service agents are being used as designated drivers for these brats.

You call this dignity?

WORDS CANNOT express how very impressed I am with the dignity which has returned to the White House. So impressed, in fact, that I cannot wait to vote against it.

More white crime

"IT WOULD be ridiculous to stop more blacks if you know more illegal activities are being committed by whites," clamored a Speak Out caller. That's the whole point. More crimes are committed by whites than blacks.

There goes the fun

APPARENTLY, THE last Cape Girardeau City Council meeting went smoothly, with no finger pointing, indignant comments or phony posturing. Darn it.

Confessing crimes

WE HAVE reached a new low in America when a Speak Out caller praises the president's family because some of its members confess their crimes.

Someone to blame

"BOYS PLAY with hidden gun in lab experiment," read the headline. My wife and another mother with experience raising their own children had the same immediate reaction: "Where is the respect for other people's property?" Why were those children snooping in cabinets? Children who will do that are less likely to pay attention to other training they have received. The parents are reported as witnessing the experiment. Those parents should have been very embarrassed by the demonstration that their home training had been so ineffective. But, of course, if someone else is raising your children, as is the case so often, then you can blame it on the school and the teachers.

Not a senior yet

ARE YOU part of the Baby Boom generation born between 1946 and 1964? How do you feel about restaurants that classify us at age 55 as senior citizens? When I was growing up, 65 was considered senior. I'm not a senior.