SPEAKOUT

AS I WAS DRIVING by Cape County Park the other day I came across all the American flags and they were all blowing in the breeze with the sun shining down on them. It reminded me of what America stands for. We need to support our military in the Persian Gulf. So, how can we help? We as civilians can help by praying and giving the gift of life, which is blood. The age requirement for donating blood begins at the age of 17. So, please roll up your sleeve and help the men and women in the Persian Gulf. I'll meet you there because I'll be first in line. Thank you.

HAVE YOU EVER noticed that the people who are so wildly enthusiastic for this war are the very ones who will never be asked to go? You probably couldn't even force them there. How sad it is that young men die in old men's wars.

BULLY FOR Ted Koepel. Today when he was talking with the ABC Washington correspondent to inquire as to our congressmen's reaction to the air attack on Iraq, he was told that our congressmen were busy trying to draw up a worthless resolution of some stupid kind. Mr. Koepel very bluntly asked: Don't they have anything better to do? Oh, I'm so happy to see it go public. Thank you.

WELL, KINDER SAYS who would we want for president at this time, Dukakis or Bush? I'll take Dukakis. One thing, we would not be there in the first place, for Dukakis does not lie and he would not have told Hussein that we would not get involved in the Kuwait takeover like Bush did, and do just the opposite. And don't forget Reagan with his help to Iran against Iraq. That was Reagan and Bush and the sleeze factory.

I'D LIKE TO make a comment on this war and these protesters. No one wants war, but when there's a good reason and no other choice, it has to be. Some say we don't belong over there; others say we didn't give him enough time to give up. Have they really thought about what kind of person, what kind of mind we're dealing with? Give him enough time and he could use nuclear power. And, for those protesters against war, let them go to his country and protest, and see how far they'd get. I am not for war but I support our country, our president, and especially the soldiers who are fighting. If the protester can't support them, then what are they doing here? Go somewhere else if you think it's better. No one is perfect and we have a good person for president. He is doing his best for us and not for himself like others. Thank you.

I WANTED TO offer a prayer for our young men and women serving in Saudi Arabia. After leaving work I tried to find a church, and I found all the doors locked. At one place I was told you may not come in because we have to keep the bums out. I ask you, where may I go to offer a prayer for peace? Thank you.

I AM GREATLY disappointed in the news broadcasting today. They are not broadcasting news, they are creating news. Secondly, with no disrespect religion-wise, I resent the presentation of the war issue with children in the lower grades. Thank you.

YOU PEOPLE WHO don't like Dan Rather should tune in Peter Jennings on ABC. He is the best on any network. He is a well-spoken announcer, good looking, very calm, and never seems panicky. I can't stand Dan Rather. When he comes on the air he looks like he just came out of a funeral home. Sometimes he even looks like he just crawled out of a coffin; there's no expression on his face whatsoever. Thank you.

MY SON HAS been in the Persian Gulf since mid-August. He and most of the military in the Persian Gulf are behind President Bush 100 percent. He called me Sunday night and told me that the Americans do not understand the Iraqs or Saddam. My son has spent many hours reading books and material about the Iraqis and Saddam. He says that oil has very little to do with this war, contrary to what the Americans may believe. If we do not stop Saddam now our troops will be back within five years and Saddam will have the nuclear power to take over the Arab world. I urge all the protesters who are marching for peace, but using violence to promote peace, to support our troops in the Persian Gulf. They should use their energies that are wasted in protest marches to pray for peace at the church of their choice. Thank you.

EVER SINCE THE 1960s, protest has seemed to be the thing in America. But protests have gotten out of hand. Now that we are at war I believe Congress should pass a law immediately that all these so-called Americans, who are not Americans and are protesting they would not be out there if they were true Americans be rounded up, put in barbed wire compounds and kept there until the war in the gulf is over. Thank you.

THIS WAR HAS just got to be stopped. George Bush thought he'd go over there and whip them. Now everything is going to heck. We're going to have World War III. Sorry.

WELL, IRAQ ATTACKED Israel. I say we just nuke them all. Thank you.

I BEG ALL veterans, the VFW and American Legion to demand that TV networks stop televising those deplorable protest meetings at the federal buildings, the White House, wherever they are held. When I see them burning the American flag I just want to throw up. Let's get behind our fighting men, those who are serving us so valiantly over there, fighting for the very things they are able to do: to get out and protest and burn the flag in defiance. This is deplorable. There should be something done. If they're not televised on television I feel a lot of that would stop. Thank you.

I'D LIKE TO SAY something to all the people out protesting the war over in the gulf. As far as I'm concerned, unless you voted, you have no right to be protesting. You failed to do your job as a citizen by selecting the people for these offices. The people who did vote did select them and the ones who were selected are simply doing their duty. The troops are doing their duty. You failed to do yours. So, as far as I'm concerned, keep your mouth shut. Thank you.

WHY DO WE give these protesters any coverage at all? They have the same bovine incomprehension of what's going on in the world that Saddam Hussein has, and I am damn well tired of them.

THIS IS TO the individual who turned in a set of keys to Aldi's grocery store from a grocery cart this past Friday afternoon. Words cannot express my thanks to you. May God bless you for this kind deed. Thank you so much.

I JUST WANT to make a comment on our recent news from the Mideast. I'm speaking for myself and a lot of my friends. I've had to watch so many demonstrations against our servicemen in what they're doing on the TV news that I cannot even turn a TV on anymore. I don't watch anything. My local newspaper gives me good, straightforward news, and in between that I'm a radio man. I'll stay that way until somebody tells me they have quit following these demonstrators around. I suppose they want us to think they just happen to casually be by there with the cameras to parade all of this stuff. A lot of us people just don't go for that. Thank you.

MY BET IS that the people who want this war also believe that hunting is a sport. They like the idea of killing. It doesn't matter if it's deer, geese, or Iraqis. Somehow their manhood is affirmed by taking life. You are pathetic.

I'M WONDERING IF there will be bracelets available for the POWs who are being held in Iraq or similar type bracelets like from the Vietnam War days. I'd like to know if they will be available locally. Thank you.

I AM 61 YEARS old. When I see our apprehensive children being sent to Saudi to fight a war, tears well up in my eyes. Even though they are considered brave adults, at my age, to me, they are just well-trained kids. And even though not one of them belongs to me, they make my heart swell with pride, and at the same time it cries out for their safety. I ask God to bless those youngsters who are doing their duty by fulfilling their obligations. I am in truth just like everybody else; I don't really know who is right and who is wrong. I only know what I am told, and I am told only one side of the story. But until things here in America become totally intolerable, this is my country and my home, right or wrong, and I'm thankful for those who are protecting it from possibly more deceit than we've ever known from our congressmen. Thank you, Speak Out.

I THINK I'D rather have a little war with my next door neighbor than a big war with somebody I don't even know. But that's what we get when we allow ourselves to be governed from afar, from a distance. Nobody has any inside information except those in power. We have people whom we know nothing about represent us and speak for us. Our huge news media tells us what they want us to hear and our government, our big government, tells them what they may and may not tell us. We place our trust in total strangers. Our very lives are in the hands of strangers, and that, my friends, is called big government. Had we remained separate states united we would all know what's going on today. Had we never become one giant government we would still be running our own lives, and good always eventually evolves from that. There are too many different cultures that we should all respect, too many miles between us all, too many cooks in the kitchen, and too many fingers in the pot for us ever to become one. Somebody has to give and others have to give up. What are we striving for: one race, one tongue, one level of everything? That will never happen because of our different makeups, different intellects, drives, different talents, and different environments. Thank you.

IF GOD IS ON OUR side and if we are on God's side, I pray that our men in the air will take care of Saddam Hussein and Iraq. If they cannot, then I insist that we drop the atomic bomb on Iraq. Neither our lives here nor the lives of anybody else in the world are worth one cent more than those on the battleground. Thank you.

I AM ALREADY sick and tired of the whole thing with Iraq. I know that one single life is worth no more and no less than another, so don't tell me we allow inexperienced men to die in the desert rather than drop a nuclear bomb on Iraq for fear of killing civilians when Hussein is already killing civilians with his unreliable Scud missiles. I've had enough of it and I don't even have a child over there. But I am a mamma and a wife and I will cause pure hell if our big powers that be don't stop it now. I am sick of it. Yes, I fear for my life, but I don't fear for my life anymore than those kids in Saudi Arabia fear for their lives. I want it over with for these other mothers' sakes. Thank you.

SOME BIG WHEEL on "60 Minutes" talks about an ambassador being assassinated. What about the nine United States pilots who have been killed so far in this Iraq war and the innocent civilians? I complained about our career military people, the National Guard and reserves, not wanting to go to war. But now the majority of them have gone. All I ask is that they show that they're going to try to take care of their responsibility and fulfill their obligations. Now I say bring them back home, and let the rich con-artist ambassadors and senators fight. Thank you.

A GOOD NUMBER of the American businessmen today are people with a foreign accent, and they've turned against the people who have been in this country the longest in order to make a buck. Just the thing I said would happen years ago. Now how does America like its generosity, its melting pot, its outspread arms? Thank you.

MY SON CALLED from an Air Force base in an allied country with the words I have dreaded to hear, Mom, I am going to the Middle East. The fear for my son's life was overwhelming and I said, Oh, my God, what has Bush done to this country? My son said: Mom, don't blame this on Bush; he had to take a stand against this crazy man, and if he would have backed down this man would not have stopped at one country. I chose to join the military; no one forced me. I have learned to stand proud and salute the flag and feel goose bumps every time I see Old Glory fly or hear the National Anthem. I thank God for our freedom every day. If I die, don't blame Bush, Mom, please. I hope you will be proud I died for a good cause, the United States of America, the greatest country in the world. My son has pride in his country with all of its drug problems; crime; child abuse; racists; the cheating bureaucrats of the government, from the local on up to Washington; the welfare moochers; the people who exploit children for Medicaid checks and people who exploit the elderly for Medicare checks; and the media, which exploited our country for a story for their own gain. Surely I can be proud of Old Glory and the U.S.A. and stand on the Persian Gulf. My son has spent 12 years in the military and six in intelligence, so I'm sure he knows more than I do about this crazy man in Iraq. I do hope everyone who reads this will thank God for the right to read a newspaper with Speak Out in it.

TO OUR PRESIDENT, our congress, and our military officials: The American people have a right to know the truth regardless of the consequences or the circumstances. We pay taxes for that right. If we are so stupid or too ignorant to deal with the truth wisely, then let us suffer for it, but let us know all of the truth. Don't think you are smarter than we are; that is an insult. I do not appreciate paying our presidents, our congressmen, and our military salaries only to have them think that I am too ignorant or too stupid to be told what is going on within my own business, a business that I set them up in. If I am smart enough to give those people their jobs, I am smart enough to understand what they are doing and why, or else I am powerful enough to fire them. Thank you.

THE PROTESTERS AND demonstrators have gotten me steamed. They have the right to their own beliefs, but when they get out there and start fires in the street and burn the American flag and throw ketchup bottles at the government buildings, that's infringing on the taxpayers' rights. Who's going to pay for extra police and security guards to clean up all of this mess? I have two sons: one who is in the Navy, a career man, and another in the Navy reserves. No one wants to go to the Persian Gulf, but if you have love and respect for your country you should stand behind your president and leaders; if you don't have respect, then you should not be out there demonstrating but be willing to buy a one-way ticket to Iraq. Thank you.

I WATCHED the news Friday night and I watched them show the Christmas thing of the first guy who was killed over there. I just think that was pretty cold.

I WAS IN a doctor's office the other day, and while I was sitting there I overheard two elderly men talking about the war. They said that Bush had sent our boys over there to fight for oil. That's not true, I told them. I told them my husband is a World War II veteran, and if Saddam gets away with this it's like Hitler: he would take one little country and then another and that's why we had to go in with our bombing. That's why all the Jews were massacred and murdered; that mad man got away with it by taking one little country and then another. It's not the oil, that's not why we're over there. We're over there to fight for freedom and peace, to bring peace into the country. I know people hear this all the time, but as I was reading Speak Out this morning I just thought about that. My husband is 73 years old, and he's very disabled from war injuries. But he said if he could, he would be over there today fighting for the boys. Thank you.

I'M CALLING about our boys in Saudi Arabia. We have a lot of young men over there and women also. I think they ought to put the draft back on and take some of these young 18-to-25-year-old men who are running around on welfare too lazy to work, and put them out there and bring some of those mothers back home to take care of their children. There's too much welfare, too much giveaway, and they're all too lazy to work. They're making too much on welfare. You can't expect them to work when they're making more than the minimum wage on welfare and food stamps. Thank you.

SATURDAY, THE 19TH, on NBC I heard something that just made me scream out loud. The PLO representative was in London and they were questioning him on what Russia and the PLO had in mind for peace. The first thing the PLO representative said was how America was destroying Iraq and bombing and killing innocent people. Well, why don't we ask him how his people, the PLO, can bomb commercial airlines with innocent women and children on board and do terrorist acts of violence without being in a war. Why don't we fight back when someone like Saddam Hussein gases and terrorizes and threatens the world? It's not just America over there; other countries are over there who believe what is happening. Whether or not you think we should be there is irrelevant now. Now is the time to stand behind all our brave men and women and show our support for whatever they do. Remember, you protesters, if it wasn't for the people who fight for freedom, you would not be allowed to do your protests. Think, America, think.

I WAS just watching the news. Where does the PLO get off telling us, the United States, we're bombing and bombarding women and children over in Iraq and we're devastating their world, when the PLO takes their planes, blows them up, not even in a day of war, just for fun?

AS FAR AS the majority of the people backing Bush on this war, I think we should back our servicemen and women all the way. but we may never know how it really was. I don't believe Iraq wanted war with us; and to think, we go in there to protect a small country like Kuwait, saying, well, Hussein won't stop here. Well, we don't know that. I still think the whole object is oil. You see, we did not know what went on with the Iran-Contra affair of the liberals and Reagan. I don't think anyone protests what our men and women are doing; they do what they are told to do.

I AM SO sick of seeing these anti-war demonstrators on TV. Why don't they get a job; get a life, man? I tell you what, if you don't love America you can leave it. Why don't you go to Baghdad and demonstrate over there? We're fighting to keep America free because we love it; if you don't, you leave it. Get out of town.

I'VE BEEN FOLLOWING the war in the gulf for weeks and months. I am absolutely outraged that President Bush is at Camp David. I understand this has been tough on him, but people here are going through a living hell and this man is at Camp David. I'm outraged.

I WOULD LIKE to see all the people who are in favor of this war get into uniform, get on a plane, and head for the gulf. You need to be where you think the action is, and rightfully so.

I JUST WANTED to say they've ruined the weather channel with their begging for advertising across the bottom of the screen where they used to tell us about Cape Girardeau weather. I watched the weather channel for 30 minutes and got to learn all about skiing, all about Saudi Arabia, and nothing about Cape. Thanks a lot, Weather Channel, you used to be decent. No longer.

I SEE BY an article in Sunday's paper that our local Cape Girardeau anti-abortion group has canceled its trip to Washington, D.C. The purpose of the canceled trip was to protest the Supreme Court decision, which, in effect, legalized abortion. By canceling the protest trip, the right-to-life group wants to show its support for our troops at war in the Middle East. I have a question for the Cape Girardeau right-to-life group: How can you oppose the killing of fetuses, but then announce your support of some other fetuses, which have grown and developed for some 220 months to both kill and be killed?

I READ WITH interest this morning of the party who is tired of the Jehovah Witnesses pedaling and leaving literature on the doorstep. I too have been bothered by this, and never knew quite how to handle it. I think to show God's love, each of us should show it and be an example. We don't have to solicit or knock on somebody's doorstep; just be a good neighbor and love each other. That's the best example, I think.

IT REALLY BOTHERS me to hear the way people are criticizing the president because of the decision he had to make. I'm sure that it wasn't an easy one and he's doing what he feels is right and what he has to. I stand behind him all the way, but what's more, I stand behind our soldiers. I would do anything that I could to see their safe return and to support them. The decision has already been made, and all we can do now is pray that they make it home safe, which we know in any war that they're all not going to make it home.

I SUPPORT THE troops in the Mideast. I do not support the Bush Administration or a political war. I support, most important, the Congress of the United States. If a person supports a political war, then let him have the freedom to demonstrate peacefully; if he doesn't, then let him demonstrate peacefully that he isn't for a political war. Very important thing here: Don't be one-sided if another person doesn't think like you do. I am sick of having so-called American patriots and believers of freedom making fools of themselves because they are mad at other people and their right of opinion and that same freedom. Thank you.

I STILL DON'T understand what we are doing in the Persian Gulf. What about Russia attacking Lithuania? Of course, there isn't any oil in that part of the world. Maybe Bush is more afraid of Hussein's nuclear weapons than Russia's. I am personally going to hold President Bush responsible for everybody coming home. Thank you.

TO THE SOUTHEAST Missourian and staff writer Mark Bliss: I want to thank you first for the excellent photo and writeup on Teresa Cobb and her soldier husband. From the response I have heard from others who read the story and saw the photo, I would say this young soldier's wife took on a whole mob and beat them good. As for the other two characters in the photo, all this old veteran can say is: Hang your head in shame boys; this little lady beat you good. May God bless Teresa and her husband in Saudi Arabia and all the other servicemen and women doing their duty for their country. Thank you.

I WOULD LIKE to see if you will put this in Speak Out. I want you to write in there 100 times God Bless The United States of America. Thank you.

I'D LIKE TO address this to all the American people. Now that we are at war with Iraq, the price tag is $2 billion a day. We get approximately 20 percent of our oil from the Persian Gulf. Japan gets approximately 75 percent of its oil from over there and contributed only $2 billion totally and hasn't even paid half of that. Basically, they have paid for less than one day's fighting. Please do not buy their products, if possible. Thank you.

I'M REALLY DISGUSTED with KFVS for showing the home video from the pilot that was shot down.

I DON'T LIKE war and I'm sure no one does. Yet I can't see why all these people are protesting. They say they don't want another Vietnam. Well, so far the only similarities between this war and the Vietnam War is the protesting. I support our president completely in his decision in this situation. He exhausted every avenue and war was his only feasible option. Ironically, the road to peace often is through war. I only hope it is a short-lived war and that our men come home safely.

IT'S NICE OF the city to help senior citizens pay for their taxi fare, but it's bad that they don't have anything to ride in. You have to be an acrobat to get in and out of those vehicles. I know because I've tried it. Thank you.