SPEAKOUT

Gun logic is flawed

SAMUEL Francis' column on concealed weapons is extremely flawed in its logic. It says that in states with these laws, in effect, have lowered their violent crime rates. However, he doesn't mention that violent crime rates have dropped dramatically in states without these laws. Francis completely overlooked so many factors and failed to show any valid cause-and-effect relationships. He also failed to mention other crime deterrents affecting crime rates such as more policing, better lighting in areas with a high potential for crime and better crime-fighting technology. He also implies that there are fewer accidental deaths from handguns because of these laws. He justifies this statement by pointing out that there were 317 fewer accidental handgun deaths in states with the laws. However, the great majority of U.S. citizens live in states without these laws. If his logic were correct, the number would be far greater than 317. With this kind of logic, one could presumably show that virtually anything lowers or increases crime, whichever way one wants.

No respect for scoundrels

I'M DOING a slow burn over this recent comment in Speak Out about getting a lecture from the die-hard liberal that we should respect the president just because of his position in the White House and respect the office. I think President Teddy Roosevelt covered that very well. He said everyone should respect the office of the president, but no one is obligated to have respect for any dirty, rotten scoundrel who's holding the office. That doesn't give him any privilege any power in his mind and still be respected. Thank you very much.

Carter wasn't invited

FORMER President Jimmy Carter wasn't even invited to the Democratic convention in Chicago. Doesn't it seem a bit strange that a former Democratic president wouldn't be at his own convention? His only shortcoming was that he wasn't a lawyer. He was a good man of high moral standards and integrity when he was president. Perhaps he's a misfit in the current list of candidates. Might be a bit embarrassing for Mr. Clinton and company, huh? Thank you.

Parents raised us

A VILLAGE did not raise me or anyone that I know about. Our parents raised us, or perhaps our grandparents. The same with us. We raised our kids ourselves, and woe be it to anyone to interfere with our family. Those were the good old days, when schools taught discipline and instilled knowledge but were never allowed to teach partisan politics or moral values. We got that from our family, and that was instilled in our homes and our churches. Do we even really want the village raising our kids? Isn't that what's happened to our country? Kids running loose in the ghettos, parents depending on someone else -- everyone else, anyone else-- to care for them? And then, no one really does. No one, then, is really responsible. The family is the fundamental building block of our nation. The family, not the village.

Doth protest too much

HOW MANY of you good Cape Christian citizens would get out and protest if Jesus Christ came to town? After all, he is opposed to homosexuality, fornication, adultery and many other things you are probably guilty of.

We don't need them

WHO DO Hillary and Bill Clinton think they are to tell us that we need them to take care of us and raise our children? We certainly do not need Bill Clinton to raise our children. We teach our children moral values, that if they work hard they can live the American dream. Mrs. Clinton is the most arrogant, self-possessed person I've ever seen.

IT WAS reported that Bill Clinton's political train trip to Chicago cost nearly a million dollars, with the taxpayers having to pick up half the cost. I object to my tax dollars being spent on this man's continuing four-year campaign at taxpayers' expense. Where do we taxpayers go for the tea party, Boston Harbor? I'm ready.

Educational opportunity

HURRAY for Millie Limbaugh. She ought to be superintendent of schools. She understands that a visit by the president of the United Sates is an educational opportunity and a once-in-a-lifetime situation to see a president.

World has changed

MY, HOW this world has changed. This is a message to all Christian people and preachers and priests. The Christian Coalition has favored the Republican party. The news media and Bill Clinton and Democrats have put them down for doing that. But the news media and Bill Clinton can go and have a dinner for Hollywood's leftists and collect $10 million for his campaign. I don't think that it's really right that we put down the Christian Coalition for the people that are far out and way out in Hollywood.

Correcting partisan charges

I WANT to commend the Missourian for responsible journalism in correcting the record recently when some caller made obviously partisan and erroneous charges against Secretary of State Bekki Cook. I only wish you would do the same thing and correct the record when Sen. Kinder levels obviously partisan and false charges against Gov. Carnahan. Goodness knows the senator has provided you with plenty of opportunities for such correction.

Congress is responsible

THIS IS for some of the people who might not remember, but I'm quite old enough to remember. This is about Ronald Reagan. Ronald Reagan ended the Cold War. He also probably spent a lot of money on building up our armed forces that really needed to be done. But we must all remember that Congress is the one that spends the money, and there were a lot of social programs during those years, and he could not veto them like Bill Clinton, because he did not have the power to. We all have to remember that the president proposes and the Congress disposes. For the Democrats who don't know that the Congress is the one that spends the money, they better learn a little bit about how our country runs.

President vs. entertainer

BEING a Republican or a Democrat should not be the deciding factor in the desire to be present at an historical moment. Seeing a living president is an exciting and memorable experience. Also, how can anyone equate Bill Clinton, the president, with Rush Limbaugh, an entertainer? A president will live in U.S. history forever. An entertainer will not.

A different approach

AT THE Republican convention, J.C. Watts told young blacks to study and work hard and they could be anything they wanted to be. At the Democratic convention, Jesse Jackson told young blacks to do nothing and they could be anything the government wanted them to be.

Trying awfully hard

ABRAHAM Lincoln said that you can't fool all of the people all of the time, but a lot of politicians running for office sure are trying.

From the heart

I WOULD like to put a thank you in Speak Out to Anna McMillan. She had an article in the paper for her husband who had passed away. I'm using that for my husband. I just want to thank her because it is sincere and I'd like to use it. It comes from the heart.

Paying for the visit

I WAS just wondering if the citizens and taxpayers of Cape Girardeau are footing the bill for the president to come and have a campaign stop here. I sure hope that he's going to give us some money to clean up and fix up the park after everyone tears it up.

REPLY: Most of the expenses were paid for by the Clinton-Gore campaign. There were some expenses, such as overtime for some city employees, that were incurred in providing necessary services during the visit of a president and vice president. And the park was left in pretty good shape, considering the thousands of people who were there for hours.

Middle of the stream

I'M WONDERING just how deep the loyalty of the Republican party is, when Mr. Kline had won the primary and was the Republican candidate for Bill Emerson's job. I assumed that the party would have endorsed him. But they went for Jo Ann Emerson. I hope their trust is not misplaced, because it certainly doesn't look very good for the Republican party to switch horses in the middle of the stream.

They don't inhale

WHY IS President Clinton so uptight over teens smoking? I'm sure they follow his example and never inhale.

Food for the communists

I CANNOT believe what I read in the Missourian the other morning. A Democratic senator wants to send more food to North Korea. Is this not a communist country? Is this not the country that refuses to negotiate with the United States and South Korea on nuclear arms control? And this senator wants to send food to a communist country and take food away from the American people that are poor? Think before you vote Nov. 5.

Honest columnists

I WAS brought up on a farm. My family represented both parties. We didn't have much reading material, but I was informed enough that in the 1940s, when I was asked who was my favorite columnist, I said, David Lawrence. I am surprised at the opinions of some of the Speak Out callers. The Southeast Missourian has some of the best-informed and honest columnists in the country. And honesty is rare these days. To prove my point, read Cal Thomas and George Will Aug. 29. They are brave men, also. Maybe they have bodyguards.

Fund raising for schools

I THINK we have great schools in Jackson, and a lot of positive things going on. But it's that time of year again and they're sending out the catalogs and hitting the streets, and the little kids are having to get out and hustle, selling high-priced stuff that people really don't want, but they buy it out of obligation. Can I just suggest that the schools consider some other fund-raising type things that wouldn't put the kids out on the street peddling this stuff? What about some really nice collection boxes that you could use year after year, and put them in banks and stores around town? Each month, designate a different use for that money. People wouldn't mind giving money, but I get tired of buying all this expensive stuff that's so overpriced. The schools don't get that much money out of it. Let's come up with something new and innovative that's not going to be such an aggravation to the parents, a lot of work, plus it's a lot of burden to the community. Instead you could just give a little bit of money and be done with it rather than messing with all that junk.

Real reading problems

IF MY child were in the third grade and couldn't read, I'd be very upset with the second-grade teacher and the administrator who allowed her to pass the third grade without knowing how to read. Let's focus on the real problem.

Praise for local officers

SOMEONE has to speak out for the officers on the Jackson Police Department and the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. Both Jackson PD and the sheriff's department have worked hard trying to do more and better for their men on so little. We ask our boys to go out on the street and protect us, to throw their bodies in front of a bullet to protect us and our citizens with bulletproof vests that are 10 years old and equipment that isn't up to standards. Thank God for our boys in blue and brown. They do so much and ask so little. I'm a caring citizen.

Costly train trip

I SURE am glad to see the Clintons getting off that train. I hope the bus runs a lot better than the train did. Every time that train would stop it would cost the taxpayers $3 billion or $4 billion. If the bus runs the same way, I hate to imagine how we're going to pay for all these things. But until someone asks him how we're going to pay for all these things, we aren't going to know the answer to that, are we? Where is the press on this? They ask Mr. Dole. He had to explain it. Why doesn't Mr. Clinton have to explain where the money is going to come from to pay for all these social programs?

Personal decision

I HAVE hesitated to get involved in this abortion debate, but I have counseled many teen-agers. Sometimes the father absolutely refuses to have anything to do with the child. Other times the young woman was so young that she was not capable of caring for the child, and it would delay her education. Other times the fetus is deformed. I don't believe in late-term abortions. But when the fetus is small enough to be drawn out in a half-inch tube, I don't feel that this is murder. This is a personal decision.

Watch the lips

SO YOU listened to Clinton and think you understand him. Well, what you heard was not what he said. And what he said was not what he meant. After all, his lips moved.

Garden is a good idea

THE PERSON who suggested that the old St. Vincent's would be great as a botanical garden, what a good idea that is. I don't know what it would take to bring something like that about, but it is a wonderful idea.

Old Normal School

IN THE Aug. 30 paper you showed a picture of the old Fairgrounds Park, now Capaha park. Through that gate you can see a building with what looks like onion domes. What is that old building? Could that be the old college building that burned?.

REPLY: What good eyes you have. The building in the background was the Third District Normal School, which burned in 1902. The Normal School later came to be known as Southeast Missouri State University.

Agnew and Dole were here

I'M CURIOUS to know when you listed past presidential visits to Cape Girardeau why you didn't list Spiro Agnew who came and talked at the Town Plaza, and Robert Dole when he was running for vice president when he spoke at Academic Auditorium.

REPLY: Thanks for the information. They should have been included.

Friendly help at courthouse

WE WANT to say thanks to the ladies in the courthouse. We had a project where we needed information, and we had to go to the recorder, the collector and the mapping departments, and we couldn't have been treated nicer, even though it was a difficult item to search out. You're great ladies. Thank you very much.

Illegal acts

I RECEIVED some unsolicited material under my windshield wiper on my car this morning. It was from an anti-choice group here in Cape Girardeau. I just wanted to say that last time I checked, abortion is a legal option in this country. However, putting unsolicited material under the windshield wiper of a vehicle is an illegal activity under the city code of Cape Girardeau. So now who's doing the illegal acts?

Clinton takes credit

I LISTENED to Bill Clinton's acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination to run for president. I guess if he takes credit for passing several bills from the Republicans' Contract With America, it would be his ideas and his bills. I felt he tried to bring up racial issues by saying he was against swastikas being painted on black special forces members' doors, but he failed to say it had been done by a black soldier. He was against black churches being burned, as we all were, but did not mention that they were being burned by criminals of both black and white races. He has done more in the past four years to divide the citizens of this country than any other president. If he is re-elected, I feel the violence of 1960s and 1970s will erupt again. He is causing more and more people to turn away from the government.

No name calling

PRESIDENT Clinton says that he is going to stick to the issues and not run around calling anybody names. If that's the truth, what does he call everything our vice president said about Bob Dole? Flattery?

Campaign visit

I JUST wanted to comment that the activities in Capaha Park were blown way out of proportion. This was not a presidential visit. It was nothing more than a Democratic campaign stop. And the president is not interested in Cape Girardeau in any way at all except for the votes he can muster. To call it a presidential visit is misrepresenting the truth, because he was not coming as a president. He was coming as a Democratic candidate for the office of president. He just happens to reside in the White House at this time.

On his watch

PRESIDENT Clinton said that children in the third grade can't read. If they're in the third grade now, that means that they've been in school while he's been president. They were in the first grade during his first year. Evidently, he's the one to blame.