Speak Out 9/7/08

Enough cowboy antics

Resident Russophile Jon Rust's recent rhetoric aside, I would rather not have a hot-headed, impulsive, trigger-happy McCain dealing with a resurgent Russia than a talk-first, shoot-later president, more prone to pursuing diplomacy first than exercising the military option in a knee-jerk style. We've had enough of cowboy diplomacy.

Professor's campaigning

The Speak Out caller who criticized a Southeast professor for openly campaigning outside the classroom (he has every right to do so) did so because the professor was (in the caller's opinion) campaigning for the wrong candidate.

Palin doesn't have time

The media needs to lay off a thorough vetting of Sarah Palin because she is a woman attempting to take care of a large family and possibly become the vice president. She doesn't have time for all that mess.

Muzzle please?

Cindy McCain says she disagrees with Sarah Palin's belief that abortion should be prohibited, even in cases of rape and incest. Will someone in the GOP please muzzle the beer baroness?

Not a maverick

The McCain-Palin 'maverick' and 'reformer' claim is really falling apart. One by one McCain is abandoning every sane position he held as a senator in order to mollify the right-wing extremists of the Republican Party. Meanwhile, Governor Palin rejected the "bridge to nowhere" but kept the money. If I did this, it would be called embezzlement -- and I'd probably end up in jail.

A Palin pummel

Sarah Palin will pummel Joe Biden so badly in the upcoming vice presidential debates that he might as well concede.

Laws on breaks

In regard to the uninformed person who stated in the Sept. 4 Speak Out that there is a law that employers have to give you a lunch break and two 15-minute breaks every day, I say you must brush up on facts. Neither the federal law nor Missouri law requires an employer to do that. They also do not have to give vacation time, holiday pay or any other paid time off.

Violence in Chicago

I just read that the number of people shot and killed in Chicago this summer was twice the number killed in Iraq. Why would our country elect as president someone whose main claim to fame is being a community activist in one of the most screwed-up cities in the world? Democrat politicians have thrived in the corrupt cultures of our cities. Detroit, New Orleans and Chicago are testaments to their incompetence. Why should we give them the rest of the country to ruin?

Learning is No. 1 job

As a teacher, I do take recess away from students for not completing their homework on a continued basis. My students have ample time to do their work in class, and they have little homework during the week. If they cannot take the responsibility to do the small amount of homework that they have and complete their learning assignments which are top priority, then I will take their recess away. It is my job to make sure that they are learning.

Toward the center

I agree with nationally syndicated columnist and commentator Charles Krauthammer who noted the oddity of a Republican (John McCain) accepting his party's nomination and then attacking his party. Will it work? The independent voters will tell the tale. One thing is for sure. This nation has shifted from center, center-right to center, center-left. For the time being, Reagan conservatism is dead.

Battleground anecdotes

I know it's a cynical spin, but when I listened to John McCain's acceptance speech it seemed like his anecdotes about helping families were confined to only helping families residing in battleground states.

Freedom applies to all

It's good to see the right-wingers are out again -- pushing back the boundaries of freedom -- to agree with them. Why is it that the good right-wing, freedom-loving folks think that others give up their freedom to express themselves when employed by the state? In a nation that supposes itself to love freedom, anyone -- yes, even a university professor -- should be allowed freedom of expression. And when years of academic study and research lead professors to political conclusions, rather than trying to suppress their views, an intellectually curious person would want to hear them. But intellectual curiosity has never been the hallmark of right-wingers. And this freedom-loving right-wing Speak Out contributor thinks professors should be suppressed even when speaking their views in a bar far away from campus or classroom. Thanks for the defense of freedom and liberty.