Speak out 3/4/02

Unbelievable headline

I FIND your headline "Online cheating growing, but not at Southeast" as believable as I would a National Enquirer headline reading "Aliens land in Missouri cornfield."

Some similarities

SOME OF my worries are beginning to come true. Sounds to me like Kinder Morgan has quite a few similarities to Enron. County commissioners, get away from these people before we all end up paying their bills and they file bankruptcy just like Enron.

Buried in the sand

SEEMS LIKE 70 percent of the Republicans are trying to convince the other 30 percent that 100 percent of the Democrats are godless, liberal homosexuals who deal in pornography, rape and use abortion as a form of birth control. Next they will include sleeping with top executives who steal their employees' pension plans and being church leaders who molest our young boys. I fear they may suffer from brain damage from a lack of oxygen by having their heads buried in the sand too much.

Spend on education

THREE CHEERS for rural legislators who are going to try to block state funding for a new baseball stadium in St. Louis. We already bought a new football stadium in St. Louis. Now we'll have to buy a new baseball stadium in St. Louis, and you know Kansas City is going to want its share of the money. So there will be a backroom deal that Kansas City gets a new football stadium and new baseball stadium, or maybe they just want to remodel them because their stadiums are already beautiful. Why do we need to spend all this state money on football stadiums and baseball stadiums? What we need to spend money on is education. Education helps everybody.

Don't blame Lewinsky

AS THE news report discussed the Monica Lewinsky special appearance on HBO, my friend, a strong Bill Clinton supporter, quickly grabbed the channel selector and changed programs, then mumbled, "Who wants to listen to that tramp?" I agree Lewinsky is someone to be ashamed of, but to lay this scandal on just her is ridiculous. She was a young, naive employee. Clinton was old enough to be her father, a married man with duties as a president. I think the greatest president ever in my friend's words should have been more decent and had more character and respect for his family and the nation. To condemn Lewinsky and then praise Clinton as the macho man is about as sexist as anyone with any intelligence could get.

Changing Democrats

RECENTLY A Democrat friend of mine was bemoaning the fact that area voters are overwhelmingly Republican. I feel most voters in our area are independents and will vote for the party that best represents their values. Not all that long ago, Cape County voters elected mostly Democrats. Our congressman at that time, Bill Burlison, was a Democrat. Our state senator, Al Spradling, was a Democrat. My state representative then, Marvin Proffer, was a Democrat. Practically all the county officeholders were Democrats. As an independent voter, I voted for these people. However, in the last 20 or so years, the Democratic Party has gone from representing the average working person to representing and promoting a whole hodgepodge of radical special-interest groups. The voters haven't changed. The Democratic Party has changed, and it's costing them.

Great performance

THE MUSICAL "Annie Get Your Gun," presented by the Central High School music department was great. Congratulations, students, directors and all. Excellent talent and the blending of the voices and orchestra made a very enjoyable evening and one to remember.

Great coaching career

I WANT to congratulate Ed Arnzen on a great coaching career at SEMO. He's going to be truly missed. Thank you, Ed.