Speak Out: A reminder that kindness still matters

The Speak Out column allows readers to voice their opinions on topics important to them. Comments are meant to be short in nature. There is no guarantee that a comment will appear in print or online. We encourage positive comments, especially those that mark local accomplishments and acts of grace. To submit a comment, go to: Submit Speak Out comment.

Kind man

I met a young man at the grocery store today who offered to carry my groceries to my car. It is comforting to know there are still nice youngsters in our world. His name was Matt Kiesling and he deserves a pat on the back.

Merry Christmas

Congratulates to Old Town Cape on several excellent events this weekend. It was a festive weekend in Cape Girardeau. Looking forward to more Christmas festivities in the area, including Jackson's parade and the many Christmas concerts. May you take time to remember the reason for the season. Merry Christmas, Southeast Missourian readers.

Dark times

This year had more elections across the world than any year in human history. Sadly from India to the United States, more people came out in support of fascism this year than any time since the mid-20th century. Fascism is the most powerful political force in the world today, more powerful than it was before World War II. Be prepared, we are heading into dark times, and there is no light at the end of the tunnel.

No morals

It is obvious that Donald Trump is our next president. But it is also obvious that we are no longer a country of ethics and morals. We need to accept that just like Trump, that's who we are.

Congressional checks

Congress will neutralize the Trump Administration's extreme economic proposals such as tariffs and deportations. Ironic, since Republicans hold the power.

Blame Harris

Kamala Harris, the Sacred Cow! Vice President Kamala Harris lost because of herself. She got handed the nomination on a silver platter, plus $1 billion. Democrats should be really, really angry.

Security classification

There is no current federal law that states that cabinet nominees must be vetted by the FBI. An independent vetting will be done so on Day One. President Trump can give a security classification to those who do not already have one. Sorry Democrats, the cabinet will hit the ground running on the afternoon of Jan. 20, 2025!

Illegal immigrants and education

I read that educators are bracing for student mass deportation. Number one, it’s a huge exaggeration. But secondly, if students are here illegally, isn’t that diluting funds that are paid for by American taxpayers for Americans to attend schools? We hear constantly that there isn’t funding for teacher salaries and programs they need in school. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to conclude that if we have millions of illegal students, then our tax money is funding them to go to school. How many countries in the world would allow something like this to happen? Let me answer for you … zero!

Trump choices

In the end, Trump will fail and fail miserably. It won’t be from outside efforts but from within. Trump’s economic policies, his cabinet choices, his cruelty and malignant narcissism will be the reasons his administration will fail.

Rudy's hubris

After watching Rudy Giuliani’s clown show, I’ve decided that he’s the perfect example of someone who reaps what he sows. Everything that’s happened to him was brought on by his own actions and his own hubris. Sorry Rudy, those two Georgia poll workers deserve every penny they can squeeze from your grubby little pockets!

Fox News

In 2023, FOX News paid Dominion Voting Systems $787 Million for lying to their devoted audience about the 2020 election. Now, much of the new cabinet of President-elect Trump is made up of Fox personalities. It works.

Stay neutral

Best advice is to conserve your energy by claiming neutrality to anyone trying to pull you into a political argument. Current problems are trivial compared to what’s heading toward America. You will need all your energy at that time.

EV stations

Cross between comical and outright foolishness of the Biden administration allocating $7.5 billion for EV charging stations nationwide. Extremely uneconomical. Constantly out of service. The Roaring 2020s will be a repeat of the Roaring 1920s.

Solving Social Security insolvency

The incoming administration pledges not to cut Social Security — but at the same time, promises to cut the annual federal deficits. There are more than 67 million Americans collecting stipends now and countless more millions are planning to have Social Security as part of their retirement plans. Disability benefits are also part of this program. Today, Social Security is serving more customers than ever. Yet the staff serving this program has been cut to a 50-year low, while customers have exploded in those 50 years. Trump promises to deport an estimated 11 million undocumented workers. Most of these undocumented workers pay into the Social Security System, but will never be allowed to get benefits. This is a huge windfall for the system. To solve the pending collapse of the system will require some combination of raising the taxes and cutting the benefits. That is unlikely to happen. Any politician who wants to fix the Social Security problem with credible solutions would be voted out in the next election. The system will hit the wall in just a few years, and benefits will need to be cut then — unless taxes are raised and benefits cut now. The broom to sweep it under the rug is worn out.

US-Mexico

President-elect Trump might well have met his Rubicon. And she is a woman. And she is from Mexico. She addressed Trump’s outright lies up front. Border encounters on the Mexican border decreased by 75% in the past year. She then confronts Trump with reality — “Seventy percent of the illegal weapons seized from criminals in Mexico come from your country.” Followed by, “Tragically, it is in our country the lives are lost to the violence resulting from meeting the drug demand in yours.” Finally, what needed to be said required a woman to stand up to bullies. She said, "Mexican forces seized 10,340 firearms and detained 15,640 individuals related to drug trafficking. She closed — “For every tariff, there will be a response in kind.” Claudia Sheinbaum will not be intimidated by Trump.

City lawsuit

Re: Lawsuit regarding alleyway use for restaurant drive-through filed against City of Cape Girardeau: Interesting dilemma here, given the City's longstanding established precedent of endorsing other businesses to run roughshod all over area property owners. Those affected owners who have long experienced similar values lost and ongoing costs incurred without any relief, such as exemplified by that certain pool of landlords and their nothing-but-profits rental business operations willfully depreciating the values of residentially-zoned areas.

Mencken quote

H.L. Mencken accurately predicted the year 2025: "When a candidate for public office faces the voters he does not face men of sense; he faces a mob of men whose chief distinguishing mark is the fact that they are quite incapable of weighing ideas, or even of comprehending any save the most elemental — men whose whole thinking is done in terms of emotion, and whose dominant emotion is dread of what they cannot understand. So confronted, the candidate must either bark with the pack or be lost ... All the odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre — the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron."

Above the law

Trump’s transition team finally signed the ethics pledge but excluded the president-elect’s name. Once again, Trump thinks he’s above the law!

American cars

If the American car makers would make their cars in the USA, then there would be no worries about tariffs on cars/parts made in Mexico and Canada! Plus there would be more good-paying manufacturing jobs in America!

Southern border

WOW, 250,000 arrests were made on the Southern border in December 2023? What happened to the thousands/millions that weren't arrested and released into the USA? How many more crimes will be committed by these Biden/Harris Illegals?

Deficit spending

The federal deficit will reach $3 trillion under Trump administration. MAGA.

Public health

Bird flu, Mpox, COVID — those are just some of the possible pandemics that could happen in the future. Unless we have leadership that responds quickly and effectively, we could be in trouble for a long time. Having Trump back in office and with HHS being run by JFK Jr., it’s not likely anything will be done in a timely and scientific manner. We’ll get denial and a lack of urgency from Trump, conspiracy theories and quack cures from Republicans like Marjorie Taylor Greene, and a refusal to fund vaccines from RFK Jr. It seems we could all be doomed by incompetence.

Hunter Biden

Biden pardoned the Turkey, whose name was Hunter!

Victory margin

The lowest margin of victory for president in recent years. Trump 2016: -2.1%; Bush 2000: -.05%; Kennedy 1960: +0.02%; Trump 2024: +1.7%; Carter 1976: +2.1%; Bush 2004: +2.5%; Obama 2012: +3.9%; Truman 1948: +4.5%; Biden 2020: +4.5%.