SPEAK OUT

Big fat zero

I ALSO work a minimum-wage job, paid my taxes and get by the best I can with a child. Guess what I'm getting back from our wonderful president: a big fat zero. Thanks a lot, Mr. Bush. I grew up in Cape. I haven't lived there in about five years. I miss the town terribly and relish every trip I make back. I love to see all the changes that have been made, I think the city is doing a wonderful job. Especially with that bike path. Little things like that make a huge difference, but I also agree that I found numerous people to be really rude. Not salespeople in businesses I frequented, just the majority of the public. It's such a shame to me to see that happening in such a wonderful city that I am so proud of. Why not try to be a little more polite?

The girls are leaving

WHAT A rough week. First, Cindie Jeter says she is leaving the radio station to work for SEMO. Then, I read Tamara Zellers Buck is leaving the paper to work for SEMO. Why are my girls doing this to me? Seriously, I wish both of them the best of luck in their new positions with SEMO. I have enjoyed them both so much. Thanks for sharing their lives with us. It has been a bright spot in mine. Now, Heidi, don't you pull anything like this. Don't get me wrong. I like Joe, Sam, Mark and Marty, but they aren't the girls.

Smoke and mirrors

I SAW on TV that they are pushing this Big Tobacco issue again. It's ridiculous how all these poor victims get lung cancer and blame it on the tobacco companies. Who bought those cigarettes? Who smoked them? You have no one to feel sorry for except yourself. Don't expect me to help pay for your mistake. The real victims are the ones who've had to smell your cigarette exhaust at home, work and public restaurants. I wish Missouri would pass a law like California's to prohibit smoking at any indoor restaurant or public area.

Radical ideas

I AM still surprised when you run columns by onetime conservative turned radical leftist, Ariana Huffington. In the installment you published recently she called for class-action lawsuits by inner-city schools in order to try to increase their funding. If her idea met with success in Missouri, it would likely be to the detriment of schools in this area, at least when it comes to money received from the state. Has the Southeast Missourian been bought out by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch?

Arts and sports lover

I TOOK great offense at the comment about ball games and beer. I think beer's pretty good. And few things rival a great football game. I am also a supporter of the River Campus. Just because I like ball games and beer doesn't mean I don't enjoy and respect other works of art. It is noble and inspiring when men and women display the fruits of hard work and creative energy, whether it is on the ball field or the stage. The main difference is that most people who go to ball games just want to enjoy the game and have a good time. People I meet at the theater or art gallery too often seem to derive more joy in looking down their noses at the rabble than in the works of art they are viewing. Why criticize beer drinkers and ball fans as a class? That's snobby and short-sighted, and it does a disservice to your very cause.

Quietly working for us

THERE GOES George W. Bush again. He helps the House of Representatives pass a patients' bill of rights. His energy bill also passes the House. And his farm bill that authorizes billions of emergency aid to farmers without breaking the bank passes both the House and Senate. While everyone else was apparently obsessing about Gary Condit and what Belgium thought about global warming, Bush was working for the American people. How come so many people underestimate Bush? He keeps working, quietly, and America becomes a better place for it.

A little compromise

RUSH LIMBAUGH often rails against those who even occasionally urge compromising their strict conservative principles. Thus, it was comical to hear El Rushbo defend President Bush's move to the middle on the patients' bill of rights as none other than a necessary compromise of conservative principles.