SPEAKOUT

Terrible weapon

DO YOU know that the Serbs, Muslims and Croatians all have by issue or capture a high-powered sniper rifle made by the former Soviet Union that does not have to see what it is shooting at? This terrible weapon senses movement from up to two miles away. You just line up the crosshairs on the red dot and pull the trigger. It is very accurate in any weather, day or night. It may be a dog, man, woman, child or an American soldier, but the bullet will hit its mark, fired from the side of a mountain miles away by someone who doesn't give a hoot about the peace talks. And it will happen again and again. There can be only so many that our government can claim died by suicide. God help us.

Relaxation advice

YOU RAN a very helpful article the other day. The gist of it was that, before we start Christmas shopping, it may be wise to have a good breakfast, relax for a while and read the newspaper. I think that practical advice will be of great benefit to usually harried, sometimes frenzied Christmas shoppers. However, I think you should have issued an addendum to the article int he form of a warning. Perhaps it should have read something like: WARNING: When attempting to relax and read the newspaper prior to going shopping, we do not recommend that you read the columns of Walter Williams, Cal Thomas, Peter Kinder or Jay Eastlick. Neither do we suggest that you ponder the oft-printed thoughts emanating from the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation or the mind of philosopher-king and president of Hillsdale College, George Roche. These and other columns (reprints from The Wall Street Journal, Forbes) are likely to be counterproductive to creating the relaxed mood hoped for before embarking on a day of Christmas shopping.

Congratulations

I WOULD just like to comment on the Jackson Indians football team and coaches. We all think you are the greatest. We are proud of each and everyone of you. Congratulations.

Where's Jon Rust?

I'M WONDERING what ever happened to Jon Rust who used to write such interesting columns from Washington, D.C. I'm a 75-year-old male and have never voted but for one Republican in my whole life, and that was Dwight Eisenhower. Now I know that Jon is a Republican, but he is a fair writer and a very interesting writer, and I miss his columns very much. I wish he would write some more, because he's far better than a lot of your writers that you have in your paper, particularly Eastlick and Bliss, and I'd like to hear more from Jon because he is very knowledgeable and has a good education. I love his columns.

REPLY: Jon Rust has been involved for the past few months in the startup of a sister weekly newspaper in Dyersburg, Tenn. As you can imagine, Jon's time has been precious, but there is hope he will be able to resume his columns sometime in the future. When he does, it certainly will become a part of the Southeast Missourian's opinion pages. Thanks for the nice comments.

Memorials are fine

THIS IS in response to the "Holiday memorials" comment. I would just like to say that I think it's a great thing that they have the memorials in the park. Whenever you drive through and you see these memorials to people that have died, it's great to see that families remember them on this holiday and remember all the good things about them and all the fun times they had. I think it's really rude for someone to say that it's not pleasing to look at.

More on candy-throwing

MY FAMILY and I always enjoy the Christmas parade and have attended the past three years. I would like to encourage the people who participate in the parade to continue doing so. I do have a suggestion and I hope that folks who are throwing out candy will heed this warning before someone gets hurt. We were watching the parade, and several people were throwing out suckers that had sticks attached. Please, when you toss out candy to the children keep in mind that they're looking up to the floats to catch the candy. A stick may puncture someone's eye, and a child may get hurt. Throw things that won't injure the child and won't impale themselves in the eye. Just a precaution.

Pass the tissues

I WAS watching the David Letterman show when he said the Republicans won't be satisfied until all the elderly are eating cat food. The Kleenex tissues degraded right after Clinton was elected. Looks like business has already picked up for the whining and crying Republicans, because they realize it's going to be four more for Clinton and Gore.

Leadership

I WISH Slick Willie would take the lead and take the charge and be the first man in Bosnia.

And Rush too

IT WAS said in Speak Out that Dan Rather and President Clinton need to lead the men into Bosnia. I would add to that list the name of Rush Limbaugh.

DWI equality

I READ the DWI series in the newspaper, and I agree that the law should be stiffer on drunk drivers. However, the same law should apply to everyone, no matter who you are, how much money you have or how good your lawyer is. Several similar cases have occurred in our area, and people have died in these same accidents, but nothing was done except for fines or community service. At least the young man in the article served time, and dragging his family name through mud will not change anything that has happened in the past.

Fantastic Jackson

I WAS just calling in to comment on the Jackson Indian football team. I totally agree with the Missourian's opinion. It's a fantastic group of kids and a fantastic community. The coaches did great. The kids represented us very well in Springfield. I'm very proud to be associated with the Jackson school system. The football team deserves a pat on their back from their coach.

Bosnia and balance

ALL THESE extra millions and millions of dollars that will be spent with the troops over in Europe: Would that help balance the budget? We don't need to balance the budget. We need to dilapidate our debt. They're making a big mistake.

DWI committees

THIS IS about the DWI series. I'm for the punishment for the drunk drivers, but these people in these drunk driving committees need to be in there for the right reason, and that's the welfare of other people, not trying to get back at the person who hurt them.

Memorials distract

I AGREE with the caller who indicates Cape County's Christmas displays are very nice but more and more memorials to loved ones are taking away from the original idea. A wreath on their grave or an article in the newspaper is a much better route to go. It's difficult for children to understand and distracts from the whole festive thing which is beautiful.

The draft dodger

THAT DRAFT-dodging Clinton wants to send our boys over to Bosnia now, and probably some of them will get killed. During this Vietnam War, what did he do? That cotton picker, he's nothing but a draft dodger, and I hate the very words he talked about the other night.

Ridiculous ad

THE FULL page ad by FAIR promoting the anti-Rush book is so ridiculous that it's funny. FAIR stands for Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, but in reality it's a flaming liberal organization whose main goal is to discredit any public figure who is conservative. If these people were really concerned about accuracy in reporting, they could give examples of liberal bias in the network media or they could write volumes about their beloved president who is noted for his lying. FAIR is simply a group of liberal Washington parasites who lost most of their power in 1994 election and are out to destroy the people who have reduced them to be irrelevant.

Cemetery punishment

I HOPE that if the Lorimier Cemetery vandals are caught, they will be more seriously punished than the ones who vandalized the Country Cemetery in New Madrid County. They should be sentenced to repairing and resetting the stones. The punishment should fit the crime. The ones in New Madrid County were charged with misdemeanors.

Say a silent prayer

ISN'T IT a shame that people don't have enough to worry about but the lights in the park? My husband and I drove through the park and thought the lights were beautiful. We said a silent prayer for the ones with memorials and know how much the family must be suffering this time of the year and wish them all the best.

Defending Rush

I'M SURE Rush Limbaugh doesn't need my defending him. However, I've listened to Rush somewhat over the years, and I have a comment on the ad for the book "On the Way Things Aren't" disputing Rush's untruths. Well, it was Rush Limbaugh who reported that the New York Times had reported that Vince Foster's body was found in an apartment owned by Hillary Clinton. He disputed that, and a caller called and told him so and he said we'll have to check that out. The next hour or so, he disputed that. He said it's in the New York Time and that's what it says. And as to holding up a picture of Hillary and referring to her as a dog, that's a lie. It was a Democrat at one of their meetings, and he was telling about what this Democrat had done. And I'm sure there's a lot of other lies in this book. For them to have to take out a full-page ad, which I hope they paid for and paid premium rates to the Southeast Missourian, I believe that most people of Cape Girardeau knows the truth. And I'm just appalled to see such things.

Wishing-well spending

DEAR CONGRESS, don't spend money that we don't have. Is spending from the wishing well spending or really stealing? That is what Congress does when they send troops overseas. There's no benefit as they lie to us by protecting the U.S.A. from the world. This makes the debt larger. There's nothing at all involved in balancing budget when you debt goes bigger and bigger.

Cemetery fencing

I WAS sorry to read that the vandals had hit the Lorimier Cemetery again. I believe I have a solution. Our prisons put razor wire inside their fences to keep the scum in. I wonder if a possibility would be to put razor wire inside the fences and walls of the Lorimier Cemetery. This might keep these bums out of the cemetery. I would be the first one to pay into a drive to buy whatever's needed to keep this from happening. This is a very historical cemetery of Cape Girardeau and area. Some of our finest pioneers are there, and it's a shame to see their graves desecrated in this manner.

Do you own research

CONCERNING THE ad in Wednesday's paper for the book bashing Rush Limbaugh, I have a suggestion. Before you run out to purchase this book, why not try calling the Limbaugh program and ask him personally about these accusations. If you listen to his program and he makes statements that seem out of line, do your own research. You don't need to buy this book to answer the questions they pose. You may ask yourself what is their motive in writing this book. Could it be they see an opportunity to make a fast book at the expense of Mr. Limbaugh? As I suggested earlier, listen to Rush and make up your own mind about him.