Speak Out: SEMO men real champions — finally

The Speak Out column allows readers to voice their opinions on topics of local importance. 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 accomplishments and acts of grace. To submit a comment, go to: Submit Speak Out comment.

Real champions — finally

Now that the SEMO men's basketball team has actually won an OVC championship after more than 30 years of trying the Southeast Missourian can finally call them the OVC champions without lying to their readers. The newspaper recently spent an entire season identifying them as the OVC champions when they came in fifth place in the conference that year. The conference tournament winner is not the conference champion. In the '90s they were once conference co-champions. A co-champion is not a champion, that's why they call it something different.

Long-term economic solutions

It’s impossible for a new executive branch administration to fully enact a long-term economic plan in four short years. You can see President Trump getting desperate talking off-the-wall ideas such as charging foreigners million of dollars to become American citizens to pay off the national debt. This country will need to go through hard reckonings to humble itself to be open to long-term solid economic policies.

Recession on the horizon

By this time next year it will be clear that Trump’s dismantling of the federal government and 25% tariffs were an unmitigated disaster. The job cuts alone will increase unemployment by 200,000, and the fund cuts to agencies will add another 100,000 jobs cuts. Inflation will be off the charts. Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, SNAP and veterans benefits will be severely cut to fund tax breaks for the rich, hurting the most vulnerable people. But Republicans will just smile, nod their heads in agreement with Dear Leader as America sinks into recession. Is this what you really voted for?

Nobody can say who is really in charge

Trump has always had a habit of hiring bargain basement lawyers who were incompetent at best. This was proven again when one of the lawyers he hired to represent the government stood in front of a judge and face planted when asked a simple question — who’s in charge of the DOGE committee? He couldn’t answer the question because he and everyone else in Washington don’t know who’s in charge of what. That’s how disorganized DOGE really is. And yet they’re slashing and burning their way through government agencies with no idea of what they’re doing. That’s the Trump administration in a nutshell.

Savings piling up

And the Democratic meltdowns continue! Billions saved by Trump and Musk already that the Democrats squirreled away!

Classified information at risk

How soon will it be before classified information from the agencies being destroyed by Musk and his unvetted wrecking crew starts appearing on the dark web for a price? Allowing Musk unfettered access to private information was a huge mistake. Republicans think he’s doing a great job now, but who will they blame when it all hits the fan? Biden?

Federal employees deserve empathy

Here’s what Trump and Musk are missing when it comes to their mass firings — empathy! These are human beings with families, mortgages and a desire to serve their nation. Treating them like animals is not how it’s supposed to be done. Musk is not looking at what each person does, and he’s not considering the repercussions of eliminating essential workers who keep the government working. Stop being a jerk and treat them like human beings!

Five(?) things done last week

Hey, Elon. These are my five things I did last week: I worked for my paycheck, I answered to my boss, I ignored emails from people outside my chain of command, and I went to the range. Don’t tread on me.

Renaming may continue

Is Mexico, Missouri, going to be re-named America by Trump?

Unintended consequences

A plant in Fitzgerald, Georgia, has been making a special type of peanut butter fortified with milk and vitamins aimed at malnourished children in poor countries to combat hunger. Now they are being told that their main buyer, USAID is no longer being funded and the contract with them is being voided. Georgia is a deep red state that overwhelmingly supported Trump in the past election. This is how Trump treats his supporters — he gets them to vote for him and then abandons them when he doesn’t need them anymore. He may have thought that he was only cutting jobs at USAID, but he’s cutting jobs at the peanut butter plant. The same is happening with farmers in Missouri and other states. Trump doesn’t have the intellect to think through a problem. He just reacts without any understanding of the problem.

Deport student protesters

The “negotiations” between Barnard College and pro-Hamas protesters continue after students took over an administrative building. There should be no “negotiations". It’s unclear why many of these students are still here. By here, if they are on student visas, they should be deported immediately, just as President Trump promised.