Speak Out A 10/17/01

Not long distance

MAY I be blunt about Matt Blunt? The Missouri secretary of state needs to resign his office while on active duty. This time of terror is no time for long-distance governing.

Eloquent letter

NOTRE DAME Regional High School student Rayme Hooten's letter to the editor was eloquent, impassioned and instructive.

Let the pros do it

ALL THIS editorializing about the need for parental involvement in public schools is a political stunt to make everyone excited about community involvement. Public schools would be better served if parents stayed out of their business and left it to the professionals.

Plenty of training

TO THE caller who seemed to imply that the Central High School football team does not prepare and train during the off season, nothing could be further from the truth. Members of the team have spent countless hours over the past several summers training, conditioning and lifting weights. They have played so many pickup games with each other that it boggles the mind They are in exceptional physical condition. My son is one of the smallest members of the team, and he can bench press 240 pounds. How do I know they have been training rigorously? Because I have seen them day in and day out all summer long.

It won't work

THEY'RE BACK again. During the presidency of the first George Bush, I noticed the bums standing on the street corners with their little "Will Work for Food" signs. After the election of Bill Clinton they all conveniently disappeared at once. Now that George W. Bush is president, they all have conveniently showed back up again. I spotted one on the I-55 ramp at Route K. I think I have figured out what is going on here. When there is a Republican president, the Democrats hire these people to stand around with these signs to make that president look bad. They're not going to succeed this time. It's too coincidental.

Go, then stop

WHY COMPLAIN about just one stoplight in Cape? In my opinion, all of them need to be reset. By many of us, Cape is referred to as "Stop 'n' Go Town."

Man of influence

I JOIN millions of others in hoping Rush Limbaugh gets all of his hearing back or at least keeps enough of it to be able to continue his wonderful show. He is all the things Joseph Farah said about him and more. At first, I thought Farah was laying it on a little thick or trying to be facetious. After all, he wrote that Limbaugh "has done more for the cause of liberty, free enterprise, individual rights, limited government and just plain common sense over nearly a decade and a half than any other president, any author or any individual in American life." Initially, I thought the few that might supersede or at least rival Limbaugh in influence would include the Founding Fathers, Abe Lincoln, FDR, Harry Truman and, in more recent times, Ronald Reagan. But I concluded Farah is absolutely right. When it comes to historical figures who have had the most influence, Rush may not rank up there with religious leaders and teachers like Moses, Jesus, Paul and Mohammed, or even scientists like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein. But when it comes to those who have had the most positive influence on political thought and practice, Rush is or should be ranked No. 1 in all of American and human history.

If you use it, you pay

I'VE LIVED in Jackson all my life and appreciate the many things the city does for us. The streets are in good condition and swept on a regular basis. We have street lights, fire protection and, until now, free trash pickup. I don't like increases any more than the rest, but facts are facts. The only fair way is for the city to sell the sacks and let the people who use the most pay the most.

Pray for peace

ALL CHRISTIANS, Jews and Muslims believe in God. Let us unite and pray to our God for peace in our world. We were put on this earth to make it a better place and then go to heaven to be with our God. Let us all unite with our prayers to work to make our world safe again. May God bless America.

No NBA fans

I'M AN avid sports fan who has lived all my 50 years in the Cape-Jackson area. Naturally I know a lot of people and most of them are also avid sports fans. We follow baseball, football, hockey and high school and college basketball. Of all the people I know, I can't think of a single person who gives a hang about professional basketball, yet the Southeast Missourian gives extensive NBA coverage. I'd be surprised if there are a dozen people in your circulation who follow the NBA.

Speed it up

ALL YOU people driving on the interstate between Scott City and the Diversion Channel during the construction, the speed limit is 50 mph, not 15. What are you afraid of, the orange barrels?

Clinton fired missiles

I'M A Democrat, and I believe President Bush is handling the attack on America well. I know this is no time to be making negative comments about our president and the Republican Party. To those who believe Clinton wasn't concerned about al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden are wrong. Clinton fired cruise missiles at their training camps during his impeachment hearings, and the Republicans were trying to say he was causing a distraction from his hearings. Bush made a real smart move when he asked the American children to send a dollar to the Afghan children in the mail directly to the White House even when he knew anthrax was being sent in the mail.

Hands-on experience

JON RUST'S extensive travels in the Muslim world give him extra insight in this crucial time. Most pundits and talking heads are reduced to writing often erroneous abstractions about the world of Islam. Not so for Rust. He is able to personalize and share with the readership hands-on experiences others can only speculate about.

MAD was better

CAN SOMEONE please bring back the relatively worry-free period of the Cold War? How I yearn for the halcyon days of mutually assured destruction.

I AGREE with the reader who says we should stay out of foreign policy. That would be nice if we could, but it's far more complicated than that. It's naive to think we could just let them battle it out among themselves. Face it, we're there because we need their oil. We will have no use for Saudi Arabia or Kuwait when we learn to wean ourselves from our gasoline addiction. It's always been feared that to let them battle it out risks the oil falling into the wrong hands and we lose the ability to buy our gasoline for a dollar-something. We are about the only country in the non-OPEC world not paying $3 or $4 a gallon. So next time you fill up your tank and think how cheap gas is these days, thank our foreign policy.

Guns prevent crime

READING A few comments from the readers compels me to scream. There is no safety in gun control. When guns are illegal, only the criminals will be armed. Kennesaw, Ga., a suburb of Atlanta, made it mandatory to own a gun. I might add that crime has decreased there. People aren't going to assault or rob someone they know is armed. Given a choice of whom to rob -- a known unarmed man or a grinning grandma with a 9-mm in her hand -- who are you going to rob?