Word flap

THREE difficult words for our current president to say: I was wrong. Three difficult words he cannot say: I am sorry. He has apologized to the Muslim world for America, but he doesn't seem to be able to tell a police officer he was wrong. Are there others enraged over the White House being used to invite two men to "have a beer" to end what the president started? How uncouth. Is this part of the "change" that Americans wanted? The only change I want now is for someone other than the current administration in charge of the government -- individuals I can respect because they have character and not being a character.

Save old courthouse

PLEASE don't abandon the old Common Pleas Courthouse in Cape Girardeau. I wish officials would discuss what they're going to do with it. You can't just have a flea market or antique store there until the roof caves in. The old courthouse is the centerpiece of Cape Girardeau and has to be maintained. No private citizen or businessman is going to be able to maintain it.

Address city needs

WHY is Cape Girardeau so thrilled about investing taxpayers' money in a water park when the streets in Cape Girardeau need to be fixed so desperately? Why can't we spray for mosquitoes now before they start hatching and become so bad that we can't knock them out? The city says in the winter time it runs low on money for salt to use on the streets when it snows. If we're short of money and we can't salt our streets, spray for mosquitoes or repair the streets, then we have no business building a water park. Let's take care of the basics first. Surely the mayor and the rest of the city council can understand that.

Chill, Republicans

I'D like to encourage my Republican friends to take a deep breath, step back and look at how negative we've become. Yes, we lost the election, but we'll win the next one. The almost paranoid, hate-filled comments that I hear concern me. Aren't we the good guys? Aren't we supposed to be the ones who love our country? You're making us all look bad. Please just turn off Fox for a while and chill.

Brookside Park

MY wife and I went to visit the Brookside Park Veterans' Memorial in Jackson, and we were horrified at what had been done to the beautiful park. Last year when the baseball league wanted to build a new field, the area above the memorial was suggested. Jack Litzelfelner Sr., who is a veteran, as is all of his family, said that was no place to put the field. He said he was too proud of the beautiful memorial to tear up the ground and have it wash away. So he got with Mr. Clark, who is building a subdivision north of the park, and they picked out a good place for the field on Deerwood Street. This will be a great place for the Whitey Herzog Field. Mr. Herzog, who is a good friend of Mr. Litzelfelner, is helping to pay for the field. We thought the Brookside Park was saved, but someone in the city didn't know what he was doing, and now our park has been destroyed.

Good start

TO whoever is responsible for the prayer in the paper each day, I would like to say thank you. I enjoy reading it each morning. It gets my day off to a very good start.

Among the haves

THE whole health-care debate is about the haves versus have-nots. I'm a have. I have to pay hundreds a month for insurance, have to pay co-pays, have to pay deductibles and have to pay 20 percent of the total bill. Now Democrats say I'll have to pay more. I think not. I say Congress and the president should have to be on whatever public option plan they enact.

Free speech

TALK show host Michael Savage has been banned from entering Great Britain. Where is our media on this? Where is our government on this? Where are our politicians on this? Where's the ACLU on this? Where is the outrage for this abridgment of our right to speak, our freedom of speech? I understand it's a foreign country, but Great Britain is supposed to recognize freedom of speech just like this country. I think we should come to the aid of Savage and defend his right to speak and defend his right to be heard in England.

Destroying values

PRESIDENT Reagan, one of our greatest presidents, once said, "Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and rule of law under God is acknowledged." There are many who are trying to destroy these traditional values by removing God from the public arena and ridiculing and suppressing Christianity on which this country was founded by our forefathers and which has contributed to our former greatness.