OpinionJuly 2, 1999
SPEAKOUT
THIS IS a personal issue, one I believe should be brought to the attention of individuals who participate in counseling services. Recently I was referred for counseling to a local provider. Seeing the title Ph.D. with the provider's name was rather impressive to me, assuming this person had psychology training on a very high level. ...
Check out that Ph.D.
THIS IS a personal issue, one I believe should be brought to the attention of individuals who participate in counseling services. Recently I was referred for counseling to a local provider. Seeing the title Ph.D. with the provider's name was rather impressive to me, assuming this person had psychology training on a very high level. Beware. Just because you see Ph.D. associated with a counselor's name does not mean he is trained in a psychology. Imagine my alarm when I learned that this counseling Ph.D. person actually has a Ph.D. in physical education. Excuse me, I needed help with emotional problems, not with doing sit-ups or dance classes.
An inaccurate description
THE REV. David Dissen's tribute to police officers was discomforting. He referred to them as ministers of God. I respect and support the police. However, his description is as inaccurate in Cape Girardeau in 1999 as it would have been in Berlin in 1939.
Look before you shoot
THAT LADY who was shot to death down there on Spanish Street: Does this mean that if somebody comes to your door, you don't have to look to see who it is and you can shoot him? I think that is a ridiculous excuse for shooting somebody, "I was scared." Around the corner is Good Hope Street. You look out the window and see who's out there first. If you have a gun in your hand, you point at the window. If he tried to break in then, shoot. But you don't shoot through a door not knowing who you're shooting at.
City needs your support
I HAVE been following with great concern the recent incident on Good Hope Street. I have a comment. If you're walking down the sidewalk in ragged jeans or your best suit and a policeman orders you on your knees, hands behind your head, you follow the policeman's orders and you ask questions later. Wake up, Cape Girardeau. Stand firmly behind your city police department and your city leaders. You are about to lose your city. Either pack your suitcase or stand firm and show your support. Your city needs you now.
Thanks for lighthearted story
THANK YOU so much for the front-page story about Freddie II, the little squirrel. That was a welcome change from all the bad news that's been on the front page of the paper lately. I really, really enjoyed the story.
Not a right to kill
IMAGINE THIS: Your child has been in a car wreck. Someone is hurt. He or she runs to a house, beats on the door and begs for help and someone blows his or her head off. I live by the railroad tracks too. I live alone. That does not give me the right to kill.
Don't lump everyone together
THIS IS in response to Miss "I live on Lexington and pay my bills on time." You mention a crutch. Let me express this to you. I am not white, and it's a shame that there are still people like you who feel if I am harassed it's in some way my fault. I don't live on Lexington. I don't own my own house free and clear, and my bills are not always paid on time. I'm a general manager of a business here in town and am frequently on the streets at 1:30 a.m. making my way home. Does this give Cape Girardeau Police Department the right to associate me with crime and engage in violence with me? I think not. There were procedures not clearly followed with the police department on that Good Hope incident, whether they admit it not. I've had unruly guests and employees in my establishment, and not once have I engaged in violence with them. So be happy that the cops on Lexington are not pulling you over and beating you up. But if they ever do, don't complain because you will write Speak Out and say "You're using race as a crutch."
Common sense on bicyclists
TO THE person who's in charge of all the bicyclists. You've got to get some common sense. You don't have bicyclists out on Highway 177 during shift change at Procter & Gamble. Common sense will tell you you've got to think a little bit before you put bicyclists on a highway when there's Procter & Gamble is doing their shift change. You've got 300-400 people coming and going. Use your head. I'm sorry the bicyclist got hurt on the side of the road, but accidents happen. He had no business on that highway.
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Cut off drugs at the source
I'M REFERRING to the caller who said she lived on Lexington and how the police sit over there and catch speeders. Catching speeders on Lexington and standing out on Good Hope are two different things. I don't think people on Good Hope have any airplanes or boats to bring drugs over here, so I think they're focusing on the wrong people. If they stop the people who are bringing the drugs and dope over here from overseas with airplanes and boats, the people on Good Hope won't have to sell it.
Racism is everywhere
IN RESPONSE to the person that made the statement about black people using their color as a crutch. Black people do not use their color as a crutch. We black people have suffered so many years and so much pain and sorrow from different people that we have no other choice but to say when things are going bad and things are not going our way. Color is not a crutch. It is the truth. You know it, I know it, and all black people know it. Let the truth be spoken. Racism is everywhere, and that's the way it is.
Blame it on the Democrats
I WOULD like to respond to the comment on "Licensing is too much government." Who do you think has passed all these licensing laws? Missouri has had a one-party system for the last 90 years. Your fellow liberal Democrats are the ones who have passed all this government. Extreme licensing fees and revenue -- that is all the tax-and-spend Democrats. When in the world have Republicans ever had a chance to govern Missouri? I'll tell you when. Never. So put the blame where it goes: on your liberal tax-and-spend Democrats.
Dead of night is time to sleep
IT'S HARD for us working-class people to believe that there are enough people awake to have a riot in the middle of the night. But then last night I got a phone call at 1:45 a.m. That's about 15 minutes after closing time at the bars. I'm totally asleep. The phone rings, and I wake up and say hello. The person on the other end says "Who is this?" Well, I'm thinking, you called me in the middle of the night, woke me up, I'm half asleep, so I say "Who are you?" What I should have said is "I'm a taxpayer. I'm asleep. Why don't you go to sleep?"
Rebuilding is good insurance
A SPEAK Out caller recently asked why America should help rebuild the infrastructure of Yugoslavia. The answer to this can be found by looking at past historic events. After the Civil War, much of the South lay in ruin. I think almost everyone agrees that Abraham Lincoln was an intelligent man. His idea was to rebuild the South. This was a way of ensuring that freedom and peace could once again prosper there. Many in his own party strongly disagreed with this policy. When Andrew Jackson became president after Lincoln's assassination, he carried on Lincoln's policy of reconstruction. Although not in a technical sense, but in reality, this is why he was impeached. Many thought the South should be punished, not rebuilt. History has proven Lincoln and Johnson were right. After World War I, Woodrow Wilson had the same idea about Germany. Great Britain and France wanted to punish Germany, but Wilson wanted to rebuild it and establish a stable democracy. With America's participation in the League of Nations, this could have been accomplished. However, shortsighted isolationist forces in Congress blocked our involvement resulting in Germany's exploitation and ruin by the European allies. This led over the years to the ultra-nationalist fascists' gaining political power in Germany. Their leader, of course, was Adolph Hitler. He appealed to many Germans because he promised to restore Germany's pride and dignity. He promised revenge against those who sustained poverty and despair in Germany. If Woodrow Wilson had been successful in his plans to help rebuild Germany, it is very unlikely that someone like Hitler would have ever come to power and World War II might never have been fought. Thankfully, Harry S. Truman, another intelligent man, helped form the United Nations, helped rebuild Germany and Japan and assured that these countries became democratic countries and close allies of ours. Helping Milosovic rebuild Yugoslavia would be the best insurance to prevent a war in that part of the world.
Smoke gets in your eyes
I WOULD like to speak out about smoking in public places. There are so many places now that are banning smoking, which I agree with. But I think if the malls and different places are going to ban smoking that the city offices should too. I went to the city clerk's office in Cape to pay a fine, and the lady was smoking, blowing smoke in my face. That was the most disgusting thing I have ever encountered in my life. If you're going to smoke in a public place, I think you should go outside. It should not be blown in the customer's face, I don't care what they're doing. That is plumb gross.
Expensive public service
IT'S A known fact that people who are in public service do not serve the public. They serve themselves at the expense of the public.
Let's adopt Lake Girardeau
I'M CALLING about the editorial about Lake Girardeau. I think that if enough people complain about the area around Lake Girardeau, there are enough clubs in the area that could adopt the lake. There are other ways using volunteer service that we can clean up that lake and make it a great fishing lake instead of depending on the Conservation Department. Why not have an adopt-a-lake situation?
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