SPEAKOUT

Funny editorial

YOUR EDITORIAL about Bob Griffin in Tuesday's paper is pretty funny. First it's funny because you suggest that he should step down because you think there is a federal investigation. The federal government has never said that there is an investigation. Federal investigations are secret, and you do not know if there is one or not. Second, it's really funny to hear the panic in the voices of you Republicans. You are obviously panicked that Bob Griffin will step down and you will not have him to run against in 1996. Too bad, boys. I believe you'll have to find another issue.

Accountable coaches

I'M CALLING in regard to the article in Sports regarding parents being a problem in sports. If the coach is not held accountable to the school board or administrators, who are they accountable to? Someone has to have control over them. Some of the coaches I've seen should not coach if they can't control their anger. After all, these are just kids they're dealing with. And I always thought that parents had the responsibility to look after their kids' best interest.

Family writings

SINCE STAFF writer Mark Bliss doesn't care much for talk radio, maybe he should back go to playing with and writing about his young daughter. Several people have called Speak Out in the past to tell how they admire his family writings.

Emerson's positions

I HAVE several letters at home from Bill Emerson. I approached him about the national health care bill. He said we need one but didn't care to go along with Clintons. Fine. Then he changed his tune. Now they've got him convinced that the national health care bill is really not important. I also have a letter that he's against the law that would prevent scabs during a strike. He's strictly going to be against the bill that's going to be introduced by Congressman Clay. He's for that capital gains tax exemption. That shows he's for the wealthy. He's against the minimum wage law. I also have another: he's 100 percent for this Contract With America.

Safety after dark

IT LOOKS like to me that the convenience stores are going to have close up at dark and go home or have a shotgun rider in the back room. I would not work in these stores unless I had a backup. People on drugs and no money to buy them and they are going to get that money anyway they can. They're savage, all out of control. There must be a way.

Water from sump pump

TO THE caller who was referring to Cambridge and Lexington always being wet: It's coming from a hole in the curb where the house on the corner's sump pump runs into the street. There's bound to be a better way to take care of it. If you're scared of a little ice, there are other ways out of the neighborhood.

Sentence too short

I JUST read in the paper where the man that kicked the little child and caused it's death received a seven-year sentence in the penitentiary. I know that we have laws that the judges have to follow and from the way I understand, Judge Grimm followed this law to the letter but I think that it's time that someone looks into our justice system and makes the laws a little more stiffer and stringent. Seven years for a baby's death isn't very long. It did not say whether this man would be eligible for parole or not but I think that when someone takes a life, that they should have to pay the ultimate of life in imprisonment without parole or receive the death penalty.

Where's the judge?

IN THE Simpson case, I don't know what the judge is there for. He never makes a ruling, he just lets the lawyers argue it out. I think he's afraid of the defense team. I've heard cases in court, but I've never seen a judge like this one.

Foster cartoon

IN REGARDS to the editorial cartoon in the Southeast Missourian pertaining to Dr. Foster. I would assume this is in regards to performing abortion operations. What about the cartoons about the children who are here and dying and not receiving health care because we don't have a national health care plan. What about the people who are suffering and are going broke in their households because they cannot afford health care or who work for employers who don't furnish health care? Let's take of the living before we go to thinking about the unborn.

Talk show treatment

I JUST wanted to say that I agree with Mark Bliss in Tuesday's paper about talk is cheap, especially when it's on talk radio. I think it's a good article. Without naming the radio station or the radio talk show host, it's proven almost daily that talk is cheap. Just for the simple fact that you can call in to them say what you like and then they wait until you're off the phone and splatter you all over the radio and tell what you should be thinking, how you should be acting towards different things going on in the city. Thanks to Mark Bliss. Good article.

North's honors

THE BAD MOUTH who had so much criticism about Col. North should shut up, especially when he asks when North got a purple heart. He has two purple hearts, both in Vietnam. And he didn't get drafted. He volunteered and went on two different tours in Vietnam. He received a bronze star and silver star for gallantry. He almost lost his life. He's one of the most patriotic men of our day. He's probably the biggest hero we've got in our lifetime, and I'm a World War II veteran and veteran of Korea.

Clinton's viewpoint

I WISH to comment about President Clinton. I didn't vote for him, and I've never been favor of his viewpoint, but what he has done has enabled my viewpoint to win. For example, this huge deficit that he's projecting has pushed through the balanced budget amendment. The meddling with businesses and heavy business taxes have pushed through new deregulation laws and decentralization. Clinton's done more for the Republicans, and he gave them a Republican Senate and House. He's done more for them than Ronald Reagan could have.

Hysterical Marcia?

WHY IS Marcia Clark hysterical where Johnny Cochran is merely lively or spirited in discussion? I'm watching Larry King here on Tuesday night, and Alan Durschwitz just called Marcia Clark hysterical. This isn't the first time I've heard this about any woman in the position of power. Because they have a voice in a higher pitch and because they're just as spirited as their male counterparts, suddenly they're hysterical.

Truck traffic

I'M WONDERING if there's some way Cape Girardeau can't reroute the trucks on 177 (Main Street). Several times we've seen trucks that have really had trouble negotiating the turn up by the old shoe factory almost the point of tipping. I think it's a very dangerous situation.

Limbaugh's lemmings?

IT SEEMS that an appropriate name for Rush Limbaugh and his following would be Limbaugh's Lemmings. Lemmings, as you know, are those small creatures notable for making devastating migrations in enormous numbers.

More on the teams

THIS IS in response to the people who said I didn't know what I was talking about when I slammed Missouri basketball. It's a shame that people from Missouri are only interested in local teams. March Madness must really be boring for you, since your team always get beat out so early. Maybe some day soon, you'll learn to like the good teams and conferences. Even though the Big Ten is having an off year, I'll take any Big Ten team over any Big Eight team when the madness begins. They know how to get to the final four. Go back through the history books. How many time has a Big Ten team made the final four and how many times has a Big Eight team made it? Better yet, how many times has the mighty Missouri Tigers made it?

Pack a lunch

I WOULD like to make a comment on how the liberal press, especially like CNN, keeps showing these children who are going to go without lunch. Haven't these people heard of brown bagging it?

New docs in town

READING YOUR article about the new doctors coming to Cape Girardeau, that's well and fine and good. We need some more. But some of these new doctors who have just arrived don't have a good bedside manner, and they don't seem to want to have the old patients that were formerly with the doctors that they replaced. I guess there ain't enough money in it.

Congrats to gymnasts

CONGRATULATIONS to the Otahkians gymnasts and coaches for the great season this year. I was wondering why the paper doesn't carry the weekly NCAA ratings, especially now that our team is in the Top 20.

Emergency vehicles

I WAS traveling on Mt. Auburn Road when an ambulance came by, and no one stopped on either side. I stopped. I was going in the opposite direction. Cars behind me kept going, and the poor ambulance was stuck in the traffic behind the stop sign. I wonder people are going to remember that a flashing ambulance and siren or any emergency vehicle means to pull over, especially on a road like Mt. Auburn where highway traffic is not a concern. I do not understand, and I nearly got hit when I went to go again because cars kept on moving by and hadn't paid any attention to the sign.

Mr. English remembered

I JUST wanted to say a simple thank you to Joe Sullivan for his columns about his hometown weekly newspaper. Only the few who knew Joe English can appreciate his dedication to the youth of his community. Parents were experiencing rough financial times, and Joe English convinced them and their children that the saxophone a former student wanted to sell for $50 would be just the ticket for the youngster with those type of lips. I want to say thanks to both Joes for the memories, one who made them, the other who recalled them. Keep reminding us where we came from, Joe, please.

Publish or perish

AS A retired university faculty member, I watched "60 Minutes" Sunday night. I hope someone taped it and will force the current administration and Board of Regents to watch the segment on the quality of education students are receiving under current policies of publish or perish at all cost. Graduate assistants do a large portion of teaching. There was only one error on the program. That is that the problem only exists on large campuses. It exists at SEMO, and it's a very unhealthy policy. I applaud students who complain. They are justified, and I hope the taxpayers will join them.

Left-leaning groups

CHRISTIANS ARE not popular in America these days. Jesus was not a very popular figure either, particularly towards the last few years he spent on earth. His message threatened too many people, just as it does today. He was a truth they feared. His presence gave the light to the self-serving illusions around which they had built their lives. He was the light that illuminated the dark corners and recesses, exposing the black sins that they sought to hide. He was a pure mirror that reflected back to them the image of the evil they had become. He very existence was a threat to their lifestyles and their rationalizations. They could not change or corrupt him so they killed him. I think such left-leaning anti-American organizations like ACLU and the People for the American Way, which are attacking everything Christian and traditional in America, should stop and analyze their own relationships and motivations in reference to the foregoing information.

Shoot the looters

YOU KNOW the recent terrible earthquake they had in Japan? They said there was absolutely no looting. You know what I think about the United States? That anytime anything like that happens there's a lot of looting, and I think the looters should be shot.

Try cutting pensions

THE REPUBLICANS go on about cutting the budget and everything. What about Bob Dole? When he ran for senator the last time, his pension was $146,000. Why don't they cut their pension to $3,000 a month? They could live on $3,000 a month. They should be able to live on $3,000 a month instead of cutting Social Security where some people don't get but $300 or $400 a month.

Bug-kissing liberal

WHO AND what is this tree-hugging, bug-kissing liberal who wrote this absurd letter to the editor? The topic was, I believe, environment at risk on your Feb. 27 Opinion page. This Journet weinie has got to be one of those tenured toads at SEMO university who knows nothing about the real world or at least, or at best, a brain-dead freshman student who still may still be salvageable. Anyway, here's some real-world advice for you and your radical cronies, Mr. Journet. When I mow my lawn, I'm sure I murder, according to you, all kinds of poor little creatures, maybe even a snake or two. Nevertheless, don't you come prancing onto my land hollering your nonsense and trying to usurp anymore of my personal and property rights. If you do, you may well be dealing with the business end of a 12-gauge shotgun. Then you can write a letter about the real world reality of cold steel pellets in your elitist butt.

Speak Out is best part

PLEASE KEEP Speak Out in the paper. It is the best part of the newspaper. Myself and many others agree that we all enjoy Speak Out. Please do not get rid of it. Thank you, Mr. Sullivan.

Cigarette out window

I WAS on my way home yesterday and in front of me was a Cape policemen who extinguished his cigarette out his car window. I believe that Cape police are able to give tickets for littering. I think that they should also abide by this law.

Support for teams

CONGRATULATIONS TO Ed and Ron. I hear people criticizing these coaches because of the performance of their teams the past few years. How soon we forget that in 1986 and 1989 Ron took his club to the Division II championship and Ed did the same with his 1991 team. Give them a chance, and I guarantee they'll bring championship basketball back to Cape. One more thing, I take off my hat to Barry and the Southeast Show Band, Melanie and all the cheerleaders and all the Sundancers. I've heard every band in the OVC, and Southeast stands above them all. This goes for the cheerleaders and Sundancers too. Thank you for a job well done, and good luck to the Otahkians in the tournament.

Citizenship question

I'M READING Monday's letters to the editor, and I see a letter from Alan Journet. I believe he is an instructor at the university. I understand he is not a U.S. citizen. If it is correct that he is not a U.S. citizen, I wonder where he gets off telling people to contact their representative about not destroying our future. He should keep his opinions to himself or go back to where he grew up and express his opinion there.

A vocal minority

I AGREE with the many recent comments in Speak Out that indicate that Melvin Gateley doesn't speak for the majority of citizens in Cape Girardeau. His stand on Regina's House of Dolls will satisfy a very vocal, moral minority in this community. I believe that by far the majority of people who live here have no opinion one way or the other, but they believe that anybody should be able to operate a business if it's economically feasible and if it's not economically feasible, then they'll go out of business.