Speak Out 9/5/08

No bike parking

A month or so back you ran an article about bike lanes and other bike-related matters in Cape Girardeau. I am all for bike lanes, but getting to places on a bike isn't the problem. In my opinion, the problem currently is that when you get somewhere you have no place to put your bike. We have a number of "plazas," "villages," etc. and other places that have several stores in them, yet they have no bike racks of any sort. If you look at any city that does have a large number of bicyclist, they all have bike racks all over the place.

Drinking not that bad

I JUST wanted to say that the article that was in last Thursday about raising the drinking age to 25 because it kills brain cells is not true. I just wanted to let you know that alcohol actually kills off the weak brain cells like a wolf picking off the weak sheep in the back of the herd. It takes off the bad ones. So it actually could help you in the long run if you drink in moderation.

Shame on CNN

LAST WEEK, I witnessed one of the most chilling things that I've ever seen in my 63 years on this earth. I watched Bill Maher promoting his upcoming movie on Larry King. In the course of his comedy routine, he expressed the need for the 16 percent of atheists in the U.S. to band together to stop this Jesus and God fantasy. Well, he has a right to believe or not to believe. But shame on Larry King and CNN for promoting him on national television. That 16 percent is hogwash. This is a Christian nation except for a few like him. Will I go to see his movie? Hell, no.

Refreshing Palin

HOW REFRESHING it was to hear Gov. Palin speak about the sanctity of life. She has delivered five children into this world, the last of which has Down syndrome. I also respect Sen. Obama's hands-off approach to this matter. Even though he said that this topic is above his pay grade, he too must have a feeling for the sanctity of life.

Eyesore at school

CAN SOMEBODY please clean up our school and ground at North Elementary? It's a big eyesore.

Public information

I WOULD just like to ask Presiding Commissioner Gerald Jones when he is going to get it through his head that county business is not something that he can discuss at will — it is public information. The days of his good-old-boy activities are over. He should not be discussing county business in private.

Plenty of time

THERE HAS already been questions about whether Gov. Palin will have to time to fulfill the duties of vice president while being mother to five children. Come on, now. If Dick Cheney can take Haliburton from bankruptcy to a multibillion-dollar company and still fulfill the duties of vice president, then what's the problem?

A beer-drinking road

I WAS just wanting to know about the County Road 532 issue. I've lived out in this area for more than 30 years. Mainly, the area they're talking about is lower than the water. Nobody lives down there. You can get out from one end to other. Basically, that's just a beer-drinking road for all these years. We've never had any type of emergency out there, if you can't get out from one end to the other. There's no houses on this road, there never has been. It's strictly a flat road and I can't understand why they are doing all this work to it.

Politics and morality

CAN ANYONE please explain to me how you can be a Christian and still vote Democrat and condone abortion and gay marriages? I just need that question answered.

Leave children alone

THE CHILDREN of political candidates should be off-limits for the news. I'm not even going to mention the names of the candidates or their children because it shouldn't be discussed. We should leave the children alone. Let's talk about the politics and the reasons people want to run for office. Let's talk about how they serve in office. Let's talk about the job that they want to do for the country. But let's not talk about their children. Children have to grow up by themselves.

GOP made wrong choice

WHEN ALL the smoke and dust is cleared and all this done, you realize we could have had Rudy Giuliani running for president and maybe even Joe Lieberman for vice president. It's just like one of those old V-8 commercials where you hit yourself on the head and say "Oh, we could have had this."

Sacrifice vs. choice

I WONDER how many families have had the heartbreak of a teenage daughter getting pregnant. I would say very few. Our heart breaks when we hear of our young men killed in service, the sacrifice they give. We kill more people every day in our country by abortion than in the wars. That is a sacrifice, but abortion is a choice.

Shake things up

I AM so glad we're going to finally get a candidate in Washington that's going to shake things up like McCain instead of another cookie-cutter Democrat like Obama.

More praise for Newt

I'D LIKE to thank the person who called in and gave Newt Gingrich credit as the one who balanced the budget during the Clinton administration. Bill Clinton had nothing to do with that and yet he stands up in front of everyone at the convention and takes credit. But Newt Gingrich was the one who did it.

Tied down too late

I Just want to thank the fellow traveling on Highway 34 west around Burfordville Saturday afternoon. He was towing a small trailer filled with lumber. Two pieces fell off, and due to oncoming traffic I could not miss them. As I traveled on, I came upon the fellow tieing down his load. Too late. When I arose Sunday morning, my passenger side tires were both flat. Thanks to his carelessness, I now probably need to replace my tires.

Political food for thought

If, as the Republican spin machine is trying to argue, to criticize Sarah Palin's lack of experience is "demeaning to women," then surely it is equally true that to criticize Obama's lack of experience is demeaning to blacks?