OpinionSeptember 16, 2009
Speak Out 9/16/09
Tour of Missouri; Bus rules; Great race; Repeat offenders; Four-wheelers; Destroying it all; Shine a light; Road warning; When in need; Never forget; Unpopular government; No pandering
Tour of Missouri
WHAT a senseless waste of money. We don't have money for education, roads, health care for the poor and so on ad nauseam. But we have money for the Tour of Missouri bicycle race. Just as much was spent for the 5,000 who were at the finish line in Cape Girardeau as if we had the turnout of 30,000 that was predicted.
Bus rules
A recent comment said school bus drivers need to make children sit down on the bus. How is a driver who's trying not to run over children, animals and other vehicles and get the bus down the road supposed to spend his or her time also making children follow the rules? It falls on the parents to get the rules across to their children.
Great race
THANK you, Cape Girardeau, for a wonderful Tour of Missouri. I saw people of all ages, young families and older people with smiles on their faces and enjoying the wonderful day in our beautiful city. Cape Girardeau is my hometown. I've been a resident of this town for 64 years. You made a memorable day for me. It was a wonderful event. I thank Peter Kinder and all the volunteers, the police, all the city workers, everybody who put such effort into this event. It was a wonderful day, and the enthusiasm was wonderful. I never thought I would ever see a professional bike race come through downtown Cape Girardeau. And with the crowd so enthusiastic.
Repeat offenders
REGARDING counseling for repeat criminal offenders: I can give you some pretty good inside information. I have two sons who are repeat offenders. They have had counseling. They've been put on medicine. If children repeat something over and over, you might as well put them in some kind of dog house, because that's where they belong.
Four-wheelers
BOLLINGER County officials are giving permits for $15 to four-wheeler operators so they can run up and down our gravel roads uninsured and unlicensed. I see a lawsuit coming.
Destroying it all
MY people have been on this continent since 1640. We came here to avoid oppressive government, not for health care. We have participated in every war this country has been involved in, from the French and Indian war through Desert Storm. Obamacare is an abomination. It is the prelude to a socialist government agenda that will ultimately destroy everything that my forefathers fought and died for. This is unacceptable.
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Shine a light
THE controversy surrounding President Obama's publicity stunt of using America's students as political props was a success for a couple of reasons. First, it forced him to remove suggestions in the study guide asking that schoolchildren write letters on how they could support the president. Second, it showed Americans that when you shine a light on this president, he can be knocked off his radical course. The more Americans learn about who Obama really is and whom he has surrounded himself with, the harder it becomes for him to push his radical agenda on America.
Road warning
DRIVE with caution on County Road 458 in Oak Ridge because it is pitted with potholes and the roadside has not been mowed this year.
When in need
I started using government assistance when I lived in Vermont and had five young children to raise. I had a lazy husband who wouldn't work, so I kicked him out and tried to find a job. We went on assistance and were relieved to have it. It's not a fun thing. I used to go to the neighboring town to use food stamps. I was ashamed. But there are a lot of people in dire need, and they shouldn't be made fun of or looked down upon.
Never forget
WAY to go, Southeast Missourian. That tiny Sept. 11 article on Page 4A will make certain that we never forget the events of eight years ago. If you won't do it, then let me say thank you to all the men and women who keep my family safe here in the greatest country on Earth. God bless the United States of America.
Unpopular government
MODERN-day conservatism has been reduced to 19th century racist John C. Calhoun's assertion of the rights of states to nullify laws passed by the U.S. government. One problem with this is that, according to a recent poll, state governments are as unpopular as the federal government.
No pandering
U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson has not abandoned her conservative philosophy. An admittedly growing group of reactionaries have (with righteous indignation) abandoned conservatism, even though many of them try to cloak themselves in its mantle. In a word, these birthers, deathers, secessionists and their ilk are on the fringe, and I admire Emerson for not pandering to them.
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