Speak Out 7/13/08

Board snapping

ONCE AGAIN, Cape Girardeau School Board member Laura Sparkman displays disrespect toward others she is supposed to be working with. This time she snaps at a fellow board member, telling him to "stop talking." She owes Paul Nenninger an apology.

Limiting police mileage

COME ON, Jackson. Is this the way to make our city better? I have heard that our policemen are only allowed to put 50 miles on their cars within a shift. What is going on at city hall? When you see policemen sitting in their cars, complaints need to be made to the city administrator and the mayor. These changes are not going to make the city better. They are going to make the city worse. Come on, aldermen. You are there for a reason. Do something about this.

Smoking on campus

DR. KEN Dobbins, president of Southeast Missouri State University, sent a questionnaire to students, faculty and staff on the issue of smoking. Four hundred fifty students and 350 faculty and staff members responded. This small group has declared that the outside air is theirs to rule, so no smoking. We smokers must tuck ourselves away as lepers lest they even get a whiff of the foul tobacco stench. If you don't like my smoke, go around me when I'm smoking outside. I have rights, too. Guess what. This is not going to happen. You can ban all you want, but when I'm walking across campus in the open air going from class to class or even to my car, I'm lighting up.

The Bush Doctrine

THE BUSH Doctrine was based on the idea of humanitarian intervention in foreign countries by the use of force. Thus the doctrine has never really been implemented. What about Iraq? As commentator Samantha Power says in Time magazine, "The war in Iraq was fought over alleged weapons of mass destruction, a contrived link to 9/11, a father's unfinished legacy -- but not as a humanitarian intervention."

Excusing the parents

YOUR EDITORIAL said "so many parents make excuses for their children." You had it backward. More often than not these days, children are making excuses for their parents.

Hillary was right

YES, CHARACTER education should take place everywhere, including family, church, school and so forth. Hillary Clinton was right when she said that it takes a community.

Headline welcome

WHAT A nice summertime welcome back to school. I'm referring to the headline "Cape police train for shooter at Central High."

Victim card

"I HAVE been unfairly branded." What has happened to him? Never in my life did I think I would see the victim card played by columnist Michael Jensen.

True greatness

SHOULD RUSH Limbaugh receive a statue (or a halo above his head on the "Missouri Wall of Fame" mural) just because he has made a $400 million deal? Granted, those who have vast amounts of money impress many people, but I would rather build statues to honor men who have done great things to help mankind. Limbaugh seems to do well at helping himself, but what has he done to help others? To me that's the true judgment of character and greatness.

Just like Kentucky's

I LOVE the new Missouri license plates. They are so easy to mistake for Kentucky's. I hope I'm never a witness to something that requires a vehicle description.

A job well done

I AM tired of hearing people complain about Libertyfest lines and parking. The people who planned the event invested untold time and effort only to have the location changed on them less than two weeks before the event. Could any of you move an event of that scale with such short notice? I think the organizers did an amazing job with the amount of time they had. The air show and fireworks were wonderful. As far as the parking, I don't see a better way to get that many people out of such a small space any faster. All the complainers need to congratulate those who orchestrated the event for a job well done.

Gathering signatures

CAPE GIRARDEAU County's prosecuting attorney, Morley Swingle, is gathering signatures for an independent candidate to run against 2nd District Commissioner Jay Purcell. It appears this is motivated by Purcell's recent actions challenging the Good Old Boy network. Swingle might consider reading up about a prosecutor drunk with power who was recently disbarred. His name is Mike Nifong.

Good for innovation

YES, POLITICAL signs are more annoying than guys holding signs on roadways. But so are babies on airplanes, three-legged dogs, liberals who want to prove they have a higher calling in life and conservatives whose minds are closed tighter than the doors of a Swiss bank against the plummeting dollar. Logic like that is what keeps innovation churning.

Chinese demand

TEN THOUSAND Chinese purchase cars daily. There are over a billion people in China. Over a three-and-a-half-month period, this equates to a million new cars with a million new tanks of gasoline to fill. The demand for oil is not going to go down. The supply isn't going to last forever. Whether or not we drill for oil here is not going to cause the demand to decrease. The Chinese don't care how much they pay for a gallon of gas. If we drill here, the oil companies are going to sell to the whoever is paying the highest. Period.

Growing in office

GET OFF Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder's back for allegedly being a Johnny-come-lately in favoring legislation that would end the sordid practice of state officeholders working as political consultants. It is just one more positive sign as to how much Kinder has grown in office.