SPEAKOUT

Clinton was cleared

I'M CALLING about the comment "Breaking the law." If the caller would bother to read the newspaper, he would know that the special prosecutor has cleared Clinton in the FBI file investigation. He has also cleared Clinton on Whitewater, on Travelgate and other investigations.

Time for a lawsuit

Thank you, Morley Swingle, for giving us information on the 1994 criminal statute on homosexuals. Clinton and Gore are violating that law by allowing homosexual criminals in the United States military service and furthermore causing honorable servicemen to be court-martialed if they so much as offend these sodomizers. Shouldn't there be a class-action suit against allowing these criminals in our honorable military?

Protecting somebody

CONGRATULATIONS TO Mark Bliss. Mr. Bliss recently wrote an insightful piece on Sen. Peter Kinder's presence at the GOP presidential nominating convention. The opinionated, sometimes-controversial Kinder spoke at great length about the tight security at the convention that he claimed was designed to protect delegates from protesters he deemed "crazies." This may be true, but it's also at least possible that the heavy police presence was there to protect the protesters from the combative Kinder.

Animal debate

TO THE person who thinks cats are dumb. Do you think your garden is the only untouched thing on your street? Cats are very smart and born with certain instincts. If you had any sense at all, you would put a fence around your garden or use a product that repels cats and dogs. You say cats pollute, but what are you doing when you burn chemicals? And unless you're a vegetarian, then you're also killing animals to eat meat. So what's your excuse?

Not too muddy

ONCE CAPE Girardeau wanted a new federal building so much that the city fathers traded away Courthouse Park to the federal government. Only Judge I. R. Kelso was brave enough to file suit to stop this clearly illegal transaction. Today, Jim Drury is being attacked because he supports the law that says that the River Campus bonds did not pass. What is there about those university people that they don't understand the word "failed."

Taking a stand

I'M CALLING about John Peukert's letter regarding Jim Drury. I'm curious how Mr. Peukert know how someone else feels in his heart. I don't have a grudge against the university, but I agree with Mr. Drury. This is ridiculous. We were asked to vote on something. The voters spoke. And SEMO University has just gone around our no votes to do what they want anyway. Then they have the audacity to ask us for more money so they can fund something we don't want in the first place. Drury is doing what a lot of people wish they had the power and the means and the guts to do: stand up to Southeast Missouri State University, which has ridden roughshod over us for years.

Stay in there, Jim

I AM responding to John Peukert's letter to the editor. I'm for Jim Drury 125 percent. He has been able to voice his opinion, which is also the opinion of many of us who are unable to bring to the public what we peons also feel. Stay in there, Jim Drury. We have had the Show Me Center and the River Campus shoved down our throats long enough.

We need an outlet

BAN VIOLENT video arcade games in Cape. That's what a Speak Out caller urged a while back. They're trying that in Indianapolis. On the surface, it sounds like a good idea, but I'm worried about experimenting with it here. I believe we need the violent video game outlet for our feelings of indignation, outrage, hostility and aggression after our daily reading of Southeast Missourian editorials.

Act your beliefs

WOULD EVERYBODY who believes in prayer in school and the Ten Commandments being posted in schools, please go to church on Sunday and support the church of your choice?

Work on the bridge

I THINK the amount of time it's taking to build the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is pathetic. The old bridge was built in less than two years' time. What is the holdup on this new bridge? They say people are working on it, but you never see anybody out working. Why don't they work on the Missouri side and finish up that pier? Why doesn't the city cut those weeds along the road by the bridge? This bridge started out costing $51 million. Now they say it's going to cost $100 million. Something is terribly wrong somewhere. Somebody goofed, and I think some heads should roll on account of it. This bridge should have been up and completed by this time.

Children of the corn

I'M NOT sure who the Speak Out callers from Iowa were, but I'm so jealous of them I could scream. I've been calling Speak Out all of my adult life and have merited virtually no responses at all. It's almost as if my comments didn't exist. Then along come these folks from Iowa. Their comment, dissing Cape's Riverfront Park, merited a massive column of reaction from the respected Linda Banger of Marble Hill's Banner Press. I'm beginning to think these migrants from Iowa have extraordinary powers over us. In fact, I believe they're -- yikes, I'm outta here -- they're the children of the corn!

Get facts straight

REGARDING John Peukert's letter on Jim Drury: Mr. Peukert should research all money, employment and contributions Mr. Drury and all Drurys have made to the city of Cape. It is Mr. Drury's hotel/motel tax that has helped pay for all the projects Mr. Peukert mentioned. Also, taxes paid by his employees has helped. The Drurys have more than done their part to help Cape survive. I am also a middle-class voter and SEMO University graduate. Mr. Peukert should get his facts straight.

Candidates from Oz

THOSE BUSHES really have a problem with picking vice presidents. They remind me of the Wizard of Oz. Pappa Bush picked the candidate who didn't have a brain, and his son, Dubya Bush, picked a candidate who didn't have a heart in most every sense of the word. After three heart attacks and a quadruple bypass, his blood pump is in a precarious state. His votes as a congressman were, as a whole, cruel and uncaring. So he also lacks an emotional heart. I would suggest that you read the Aug. 7 issue of Time magazine if you doubt what I say.

It's a bigger issue

I'VE BEEN reading a lot about prayer in school. Needless to say, many people are unhappy. One thing I've noticed is that people say this country was founded on Christianity. It was not. It was founded on freedom of choice of religion, not Christianity only. I happen to be a Christian, but I believe we should not allow for prayer in school if it infringes on the rights of other religious beliefs. What if your child went to school with Muslims or Jews, or others who are not Christians? Should the schools allow time for all religions to have a moment of prayer? Which would bring out the folks like the Satan-worshipers. If people want their children to be exposed to Christian beliefs, it starts at home and at church during the week and on Sundays. More people spend time with their children in athletics than at church. Christianity has helped me become a better person and I practice my Christian beliefs seven days a week. I don't attend church on Sunday because it's good for business or because it's a good place to be seen. I go because I owe it to God. Religion is more than prayer in school.

A SADD thank you

I'M A student at Cape Central High School. I'm in a club called SADD (Students Against Driving Drunk). There was show at the Victorian Inn. I just want to thank T&T Karaoke Sound Systems for coming out. They did a real great job, and I hope they'll come back next year. Thanks, guys, you did a great job. Keep it up.

No new Bush

IN TYPICAL Newt Gingrich style, Dick Cheney made a snide remark about the Clintons' moving to New York. This is the same man who left his home in Texas to fly to Wyoming to register there as a voter to get by the Constitutional ban on having the president and the vice president from the same state. I hope you American voters and workers saw Cheney get in his Lexus the other day. If a politician doesn't stand for the American workers when he's running for office, what do you think he'll do when he's elected? You people in the area who owe your jobs to the American auto industry know what he'll do for you and to you. It looks like Pappa Bush is orchestrating the show, and he's the same old goat who was thrown out of office after one term. Read my lips: No new Bush.

Mean-spirited call

I HAVE quietly followed the calls concerning the new Mississippi bridge. So when a caller specifically mentioned my hometown of Thebes, I had to respond. First, the caller is right: Many of us do have jobs in Missouri, for which we are grateful. But by working out of state, we pay taxes in both states. In my particular case, I pay income tax to Missouri and property tax to Illinois. Second, I'd like to point out that the bridge is two ways. Judging by my drive to Cape every morning, many Missouri residents use the bridge as well. Many teachers in our schools are Missouri residents, and Missouri residents commute each day to classes at Shawnee College and SIU. So I really don't understand the mean-spiritedness of this caller's comments.

Not the real issue

THIS IS in response to the comment that said several socialist Democrats are in error in claiming that the repeal of the marriage penalty will benefit the rich. Actually, it's a true statement. The Democrats have already offered to let married couples file at either the married or individual rates, whichever works to their benefit. This is a matter of record that can be confirmed with the Congressional Record. The reason that it is accurate to say the bill that President Clinton is going to veto is merely to give tax cuts to the rich is because this bill does much more than merely eliminate the marriage penalty, which the Democrats have already offered to do. The point is, the Democrats have already offered what the Republican callers are concentrating on. The Republican callers are being duped into believing that this issue about something that it's not.

GOP translation

IF YOU'D like an easy and sure-fire method to know how a conservative has lost an argument at the intellectual level, all you need to do is wait for the name-calling to begin. An example is in Saturday's Speak Out, where the caller begins his comment with "Several socialist Democrats." For Republicans, when they start using the word "socialist," what they're really saying is "Uncle! Uncle!"

He was in that?

I THINK Al Gore fits the description of a new movie that's out. The movie is called "The Hollow Man."

It's his baseball

I DON'T think the criticism of Dr. Dale Nitzschke has anything to do with his fund-raising efforts. Everyone knows he has been very successful. However, the fact that he resides in Cincinnati makes many of us very suspicious that he is engaging in intolerable behavior, namely rooting for the Cincinnati Reds.