Speak Out 12/24/08

Seeing the program

I ATTENDED the third-grade program at Alma Schrader Elementary School. It was a wonderful program. The parents and teachers spent so much time on the costumes and songs. I wonder why they never use the stage. Unless you were on the first two or three rows, you couldn't see any of the actions of the children. There is so much work that goes into the program. Being able to see the children would be appreciated by all.

Safe streets

I CAN'T believe I hear so many comments about the street crews in Cape Girardeau and how it is their job to keep the streets clear and safe during ice and snow storms. Why is it when the police arrest a criminal everyone falls all over themselves to praise and glorify them? This includes the mayor, city council and the city manager. Keeping the streets safe is just as much the street crew's job as it is for the police to do their job and arrest criminals and for firefighters to put out a fire or make a rescue from an accident. Think about the effect on the local economy if businesses had to shut down or shoppers couldn't get to the stores or if workers couldn't make it in to work due to untreated streets. When I see comments like "It's their job" as if they deserve no recognition whatsoever, I sometimes think that the people of Cape Girardeau don't deserve the services provided by the true unsung heroes of this city in the public works department.

Meghan's recovery

I AGREE with everyone who gives God thanks for Meghan Moshiri's recovery. He is to be praised along with the doctors and nurses for their skills and love and care, and for the mother's love. That was such a sad thing. I'm sure God cried. God did not choose for this to happen. It was the result of free will.

On the Internet

IF WE throw the book at the Iraqi reporter for throwing shoes at President Bush, what are we going to do about the millions of people worldwide who have thrown shoes at the president in a hastily developed but wildly popular Internet game, "Sock and Awe"?

Racist poem

SINCE THE poem "The Cold Within," published in the Southeast Missourian, devoted a whole stanza about alleged black rage against white injustice but said nothing about the crimes against humanity committed by whites against African-Americans, I consider the poem blatantly racist.

Saved from ruin

I CERTAINLY agree that the story of Tripod, the three-legged dog, is a heartwarming Christmas story, as you pointed out in your editorial. However, I think an even more touching Christmas story tells the tale of all of the two-legged animals walking around who have, through the largesse of the taxpayers, been saved from financial ruination.

Voting rights

ONCE AGAIN, columnist Michael Jensen was unjustly chastised by a Speak Out caller. Jensen wrote that many American voters are dumb and suggested as evidence all of the messed up ballots in the recent election. A Speak Out caller claimed voting is a God-given right and Jensen was wrong. The fact that we have had property requirements as well as literacy tests for voting, not to mention the fact that African-Americans and women were deprived of voting for a long time, seems at the very least to indicate that God sure changes his mind a lot when it comes to what constitutes God-given rights.

Dose of enlightenment

HAVE YOU been shopping lately or driven on our streets or kept up on the news? It doesn't appear to me that anyone experiences religion this time of year. Just the opposite. Shoppers and drivers are rude. People have been stomped to death in stores. Gift giving and Christmas lights do equal good religion.

Christmas policy

I SAW on TV where someone had put up a sign that says, "I miss you saying Merry Christmas. Jesus." I have made a policy that we don't spend our money at any store that does not say "Christmas" in its advertising during Christmas sales.

Life goes on

THE WORLD around us may seem to be crumbling, but the joy of a child's face in church on Christmas Eve or opening a present on Christmas morning never changes. It is a wonder to behold -- a blessed gift.