LOW LEVEL OF PUBLIC DISCOURSE BRINGS FIRM, STERN RESPONSE

In any important argument, there are usually strong points to be made for both sides. In the real world, of course, supporters of any plan tend to focus on the good aspects, while opponents concentrate on the bad. Sometimes overzealous groups and individuals cross an invisible boundary and enter a zone that is unsavory and menacing.

This has been the case regarding the proposed lake project that would be located near Millersville on the boundary between Cape Girardeau and Bollinger counties. This plan has been discussed for years. It has been the topic of special state legislation. It has, as could be expected, strong supporters and strong opponents.

Recently there have been some threats made, either real or implied, to individuals who have been involved in efforts to move the lake issue closer to a public vote. To the credit of one group that opposes the lake project, the president of the Cape Girardeau-Bollinger Counties Land Owners Group has made it crystal clear that this sort of bullying will not be tolerated.

"We want nothing to do with this kind of behavior. It is cowardly and despicable," Jim Roche is quoted as saying during a recent meeting of the opposition group. In fact, the group says it will sue anyone who makes threats using the name of the organization.

It is too bad that any discussion would deteriorate so far. But the fact of the matter is that too many discussions are sinking to their lowest levels ever: Congressional partisans spit fighting words at each other in spite of a pledge of cooperation; cable-TV subscribers show their venom toward TCI rather than seeking answers or solutions (many calls on this subject to Speak Out aren't published, because they are so mean-spirited); a few opponents to the Cape Girardeau school bond issue distort information to advance their position; the gambling lobby exaggerates the impact of loss limits and other regulations to win popular support. And on and on.

In the end, civil discourse has become a topic of widespread discussion rather than a process for the exchange of information that could lead to reasonable conclusions made by reasonable people.

Hats off to the landowners group for their condemnation of low tactics in the lake discussion.