OpinionNovember 30, 1998
SPEAKOUT
TO EDUCATE the caller who wanted fewer postal holidays: There aren't any postal holidays. Those are national holidays and are not set by the Postal Service, which only recognizes them, as do other businesses. If all postal workers were off on holidays and weekends, then you wouldn't have any mail at all the day after a holiday or on Mondays. And it gets old quick, working every holiday and weekend...
Federal holidays, not postal ones
TO EDUCATE the caller who wanted fewer postal holidays: There aren't any postal holidays. Those are national holidays and are not set by the Postal Service, which only recognizes them, as do other businesses. If all postal workers were off on holidays and weekends, then you wouldn't have any mail at all the day after a holiday or on Mondays. And it gets old quick, working every holiday and weekend.
Change attendance policy
I JUST read about the attendance policy. Mr. Fiddler said it is not true that sick kids go to school. That is not the case. Sick kids do go to school. My son is a senior. He went to school several times during his senior year when we would have normally kept him at home. But he didn't want to miss out on attendance because of having to take his final exams. I think it's a terrible policy. It needs to be adjusted. It's time for the school board or somebody to look at something other than a real easy problem rather than the tough ones.
Both out of the country
I WOULD like for someone to answer a question. Bill Clinton was in Japan. Al Gore was in Malaysia. If I've got my geography right, these two countries are not part of the United States. My question is, are both of these people supposed to be out of the country at one time? When I went to school, we were taught that the president and the vice president could not be out of the country at the same time. Who's running the show in D.C.?
Dyed-in-the-wool Democrat
HOW MANY of you readers remember Sam Dash in the Nixon-Watergate period? If you do, you will also remember that he was a mean and tough dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. Why was he in there with Mr. Starr? Everyone should have known that Dash wouldn't do anything against Bill Clinton, with his dyed-in-the-wool Democratic nature.
Stay at home when ill
I WAS appalled to read Mr. Fiddler's statement about the school's perfect attendance and final exam policy. Mr. Fiddler said, "Students have to learn they cannot stay home for every minor illness. They have to learn life goes on." Mr. Fiddler is taking the advice of the school nurse versus qualified physicians. What's wrong with this picture? If people would stay home in the work place, schools and churches, Cape Girardeau, during the winter months, would be a much healthier place to live.
Another view of freed slaves
CHARLES STIVER apparently has some Speak Out-calling comrades. They have called Speak Out and reinforced Stiver's assertion that white families took care of ex-slaves and that the ex-slaves were much happier than they otherwise might have been. In the post-reconstruction South, ex-slave owners generally did all they could to undermine the constitutional rights gained by freed slaves. Thus, the rise of Jim Crow, the Knights of the White Camellia, the Ku Klux Klan and so forth.
Tree cut down at school
THE OLD oak tree was cut down at Franklin School. I've lived in the neighborhood for years and walked by the school almost daily. Maybe a couple of limbs needed to be cut back, but upon looking at the remaining stump, it was quite obvious that a very healthy tree had been cut down. As a matter of fact, it was well over 100 years old. What a shame.
Conservation police?
MY SON and his girlfriend were stopped at a roadblock on Highway 72 in Cape County. Although there were police officers there, my son's girlfriend was asked to show her driver's license and proof of insurance by a conservation agent. There were several of them there too. I didn't think that was in their job description. If they want a real law-enforcement job, maybe they should apply for a policeman's job.
Respect the office
TO THE person who says "earn respect," I think our president has earned respect. He is a good leader. He's a very good military man, I don't care what others say. Our economy is great. He's doing a wonderful job. We don't say respect Clinton. We say respect his office. You respect the office, not the man.
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More on postal holidays
I SAW in the paper today where some reader thought the postal employees ought to go to work on Veterans Day and Columbus day instead of getting off. I think Veterans Day is out of the question. That's when men gave their lives for this country, so I don't think there should be any question of them getting off on that day. And as for Columbus Day, I think postal employees all across the nation ought to vote which day they want off, Columbus Day or Martin Luther King's birthday.
It's the parents' responsibility
I AM amazed that the doctors appealed to the school board on behalf of sick students. So it's the school's fault if kids come to school with hepatitis and probably spread it to others? Because the school excuses final exams for perfect attendance doesn't absolve parents of their responsibility to use common sense and keep their kids home if they're sick. It looks like the high school has come up with a good motivation for attendance. The poor schools, being public institutions, have to lower their standards because a minority of sick students demand it? Give me a break. It reminds me of the people who demanded that peanuts not be served on airlines. When will courageous individuals stand up and admit that their own limitations may prevent them from attaining what others may have? Real life is like that.
Bekki for governor
KUDOS TO state Sen. Peter Kinder for pointing out that women are on the march politically. In particular, I would like to congratulate Democrat Claire McCaskill for winning the state auditor's race. In addition, when it comes to the Missouri gubernatorial race in 2000, I would like to encourage Cape Girardeau County's own Secretary of State Bekki Cook to seek that exalted office. Run, Bekki, run.
Thankful for the help
THIS IS for the lady who called in and was complaining about child support. I too was in the same situation at one point. I was not receiving any child support and had contacted who I thought was the proper authorities and still did not get any help. I finally saw Bill Emerson, and within 30 days I had a child support check, a letter of apology from the child support enforcement agency and a thank you letter from Bill Emerson's office for feeling comfortable enough to seek their help. And all of that was dearly appreciated on my end, considering that I'm not even a Republican.
Going around Congress
DO YOU want to talk impeachment? Clinton's weakness for sex is an embarrassment and disgusting. He should not have lied to the grand jury. But Ken Starr set him up by getting him before a grand jury with one issue and then surprising him with illegal tapes. What our beloved Reagan and Bush did was worse. They threatened the form of government provided by our forefathers. They could not get what they wanted through a Democratic Congress, so they decided they were running the country with a dictatorial attitude. Remember, Bush had been head of the CIA. They went around Congress and pulled off the Iran-Contra deal. I may have agreed with them on Iran-Contras, but their methods were contrary to the safety valves provided by our forefathers to keep us from power-hungry leadership or dictators. Reagan and Bush lied about Iran-Contra. Why didn't the Republicans yell for impeachment then?
It's lying under oath
I WOULD like to respond to whoever gave the remark in Speak Out about Clinton's lying was not perjury. I think they'd better get their facts straight. When you lie under oath, that is perjury. It's better to keep your mouth shut and let people think you're ignorant than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.
The scales of justice
I BELONG to no political party, but if you lie in a court, under oath, it's perjury. It doesn't say you can lie about some things and some you can't. Truth balances the scales of justice. This action of the president is disgraceful. But the most disgusting crime is letting his advisers and supporters condemn people when he knew the truth. It shows his character.
Articles are appreciated
CONGRATULATIONS TO Jeffrey Jackson. I have really enjoyed his articles on the Community Sweat Equity Housing. I just wonder why it took so long for us to know about it. It should have been revealed long ago.
Better property maintenance
I'VE BEEN I've been reading with quite some interest about the Community Sweat Equity Housing that the Sterlings are heading up. They need to be more selective in who they rent those houses to, in my opinion. We have two of those houses right here in my neighborhood. It's vacant now, but when the first people lived there, the police were there three or four times a week because of fighting. The second tenants just moved out six weeks ago, and they had so much trash like refrigerators, car tires, washing machines, old lawn mowers in the yard that it looked like the city dump. It took them three days to haul the stuff off. They need to be more selective, and they need to come around and make sure the people are maintaining their property.
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