Speak Out 6/8/11

Dignity displayed

PRESIDENT Obama ranks with presidents Kennedy and Reagan in reflecting the dignity of the office and evoking the wild popularity of his persona when visiting abroad. His recent trip was an unqualified success. It makes me so proud of our president and so proud to be an American.

City spokesman

DOES Mayor Harry Rediger own stock in Isle of Capri? I always thought that our mayor was essentially a mouthpiece for the community. After reading Rediger's apologist remarks on the casino it makes you wonder whose interest he cares about. Cape Girardeau was lied to but that's OK because the shareholders cannot be made to suffer.

Cat-napping?

If you see a well-fed, clean cat who is not only neutered but declawed, chances are it belongs to someone. There are many ways of returning a lost pet, so educate yourself and pick one. I've exhausted every resource available searching for my lost cat and have come to the conclusion that someone has to have him. He has not been hit by a car or turned in to any animal shelter or come back. This is so unlike my cat that the only possible explanation is that someone spotted a beautiful all-white male cat that already has all the necessary requirements for a house cat (i.e. declawed, neutered) and claimed him for themselves.

Fan experience missing

INSTEAD of putting money into a splash pad at Capaha Park, why not beef up the seating and amenities at the ballpark? If the Redhawks and Capahas were promoted at the park and the experience was more like that of a real minor league or big college park more people might watch and spend some money on souvenirs. As it is, it's really hard to get behind one of these teams. The fan experience has been left out of both.

Letter People

IF the Letter People are inexplicably forced to leave an area school, and it's still an open question, I hope they are allowed to exit with dignity, marching out with applause for their well-documented literacy promoting efforts, heads held high, in a single file and, of course, in alphabetical order.

Fan of disc golf

I share with another Speak Out caller an absolute adoration for Frisbee or, I prefer to call it, disc golf. If the weather is cooperative, I almost always play a round or two.

Will Cape Ever Learn?

FIRST it was the airport building and all the promises. We paid dearly and never received any of what they were promising. Now it is the Casino. What Cape has received is a drop in the bucket of what is going to be taken out of our area. Oh yes, there will be more, but it still will just be a drop of the bucket that they will take in and send somewhere else. Cape is fooled again by so-called promises at a cost to the local people.

Reprehensible Republican

I'VE seen and read a lot but I don't believe I've ever read anything as reprehensible as Republican Representative Eric Cantor's rant holding up federal aid to tornado ravaged Joplin, Mo. until there are enough cuts from other programs in order to pay for it. Unfortunately, that kind of mind boggling mean spiritedness and cold heartedness in the face of a natural disaster is indicative of all too many Republican wretches.