Speak Out A 04/02/02

Religion and fads

CAL THOMAS' column regarding the crisis in the Catholic church was very informative and persuasive. You cannot remain a Christian and continue to reject the teachings of the Bible, while at the same time embracing every politically correct fadism that comes down the pike.

Something worse

CHARLES KRUSE, president of the agribusiness conglomerate known as the Missouri Farm Bureau, recently alleged a nightmare scenario for Missouri's state government. He said that "it would be hard to imagine a worse formula for disaster than the one our state government is continuing to follow." I can imagine at least one scenario that would have been worse: the occupation of the governor's mansion by Kruse.

Diverting the money

PETER KINDER pointed out in his Sunday column that $150 million has been diverted from fuel-tax revenue and away from MoDOT. I think most of us already knew this from previous articles. This raises the question: Why has Kinder and other politicians allowed this diversion to continue? Surely, over the 10-year period something could have been done to stop this. Now some legislators want to increase the fuel tax again in order to help offset this diversion. Just how stupid do these politicians think we are?

Squishy on terrorism

CONSERVATIVE columnist George Will is correct as usual. President Bush's wishy-washy support for Israel as well as his already articulated support for a Palestinian state is a terrible foreign-policy flub. Indeed, Bush's virtual appeasement of the terrorist Yasser Arafat undermines our war on international terrorism by making our policy seem inconsistent at best and at worst vastly increases the threat to the civilized world we're supposedly trying to stop.

Green light

THREE CHEERS for Mona Charen for telling it like it is between Israel and the Palestinians. It is time for the United States to recognize Yasser Arafat for what he is: a terrorist. Charen is right. Give Israel a green light to stop these insidious acts of terrorism.

If it had passed ...

JUST THINK. If Missourians had passed legalizing the carrying of concealed weapons, Cleo Johns might have been within his rights and would not have been charged with a crime. Oddly, the Southeast Missourian chastised Johns severely even though the newspaper was perceived as having led the failed crusade to allow Missourians to legally carry concealed weapons. I would have thought the Southeast Missourian would have been a bit more favorably disposed to vigilante justice.

No CHAMPUS care

UNTIL SEVEN months ago I had good health insurance. I was lucky, because I have four life-threatening diseases making it necessary for me to see the doctor frequently and have expensive lab tests. Since I lost my job and health insurance, all I have left is the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services. None of the doctors in our area will see anyone with CHAMPUS, which is for active-duty military and retired military and their families. Soon my prescriptions will run out. When they do, I figure I will have about six months to live. Thanks and goodbye, America. My husband protected you for 20 years while we were separated for over eight years because of military duty. I guess that doesn't count for anything.

Good way to celebrate

TO THE people slamming the pub crawl, I say lighten up. It's a good time once a year for adults of all ages. I'm a grandmother, and I've been doing the pub crawl for several years. It's a good way to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Our group had a designated driver.

Giving it away

I CANNOT believe George Bush is going to give Peru $195 million when our own economy needs boosting here at home.

Lack of logic

THIS IS a teacher responding to "Teachers day off." This is one of the things I love about Speak Out: the lack of logic. As a communication arts teacher, I'm responsible for helping students learn reasoning, logic and critical thinking. The caller said it's nice to see teachers on the front page go shopping, but they're all supposed to be at the regional teachers' meeting. Perhaps the meeting didn't last all day. A teacher might go to his or her respective meeting and then go to the mall. Unfortunately, the logic here insinuates the teachers only got off so they could go to the mall.

Plenty of money

GOV. BOB Holden tells us that the state is out of money and he wants to raise tax rates. Now the truth comes out that tax collections for the state are actually 3 percent above the same period as last year. They don't need to raise tax rates. What the state needs to do is find a priority of what we should spend money on and live within our means. The state has plenty of money.

I WOULD just like to say 75 is not old. You have a wealth of knowledge, experience and education at that age which can be shared, and should be, with others. You have your hometown interests at heart, not special-interest groups. By the way, I'm 79 and still going strong.

Growing abominations

I WATCHED with disbelief as a stone with the Ten Commandments was removed from public land in Milwaukee, Wis., where city officials decided not to fight the suit brought against them by the ACLU and other get-God-out-of-our-country groups. How can a country founded on religious values -- God in our Constitution, on our currency, swearing under oath to God -- accept this? The men who were God-fearing patriots would have been in a state of shock and disbelief and would have disdain for the backbone of the American people. Every day we lose what made our country great and gain what will destroy it. Many laws and legal practices in our country now are an abomination to God.

Tossing cigarettes

I REALLY can't stand it when I see people throw cigarettes out their windows. I guess there's something inherent with the smoking habit that makes the smoker feel he is free to pollute. I remember laughing at the irony when I saw a car drive down Kingshighway with three American flag magnets on it and "God bless America" written on the rear window with soap and watching the cigarette come flying out that window. The other day I saw a new low when I was driving at night on a dry country road behind a rural fire department's truck. Three lit cigarettes came flying out of the windows of the fire truck. Now I guess I've seen it all.