SPEAKOUT

Pony Express State

MY OPINION of what should be on the Missouri license plate is the Pony Express. We were the original state of the Pony Express, and I think this would be a wonderful thing to have on there.

Cut the junkets

CONCERNING the article in the Southeast Missourian Jan. 4, "Two Illinois lawmakers scrap taxpayer financed travel plans": At least 25 trips were planned by senators and representatives according to a list published in the Washington Post. Speaker Gingrich and Dick Gephardt advised members to postpone foreign travel until after the budget was settled. Lawmakers typically schedule these trips during the slow part of January. Are these trips really necessary, or is it really a free vacation on the taxpayers for our congressmen? Especially at a time like this -- the government has shut down, our country is in debt, they want to cut back on the elderly and Medicare and the poor -- do we really need this? We need to write our congressmen.

Always negative

THIS IS to Jamie Hall regarding his column, "Time for a switch." Do you ever have anything positive to say? Maybe it's time to switch you on out of here.

Patriotic Democrats

IN REGARD to the caller who calls us liberal Democrats whiners: That's quite ludicrous. Apparently he's doing the same thing. He calls in to bash us patriotic, liberal Democrats, which I'm proud to be. As far as Limbaugh, I don't listen to the man, and if I really gave him the time, I probably would despise him. All Rush Limbaugh can do is just talk. He can't really hurt us one way or the other on his vote in Congress. I focus more of my attention on the Congress, the president and people who affect us, not some big mouth who has nothing to do but agitate. I turn the dial the other way. That's what a few more of my liberal friends ought to do. His ratings will go down and he'll go off the air if you do that.

Federal payroll

I'M AMAZED at how many people do not see a linkage between federal employees being paid and the battle over the budget. We've been spending money we don't have for so long that we just assume money comes out of nowhere to pay these people. This is actually what we pay for when we pass the budget. There is a definite link. It doesn't take too much thought to find it.

No envy for youth

TO THE caller who said old people claim how good the younger generation have it: I don't envy the younger generation. They may have more modern conveniences, which I'm glad they do, because I enjoy a lot of those modern conveniences myself. I think they've got a hard row to hoe. They don't have the jobs we've had, they don't have the opportunity that we had. There wasn't such a demand on education like they have it. And our world wasn't as competitive as they have it now. At one time if you lost your job in the morning, you could go out in the afternoon and walk down the street and go to work that very next day. Certainly the country was in a better fix. My hat's off to them. So that's one advantage that we had and they didn't have. We had more natural resources than they have.

Jimmy won once

SOMEBODY CALLED in talking about all the liberals who have lost the election by landslide. They named everybody from Adlai Stevenson to Dukakis, and they even had Jimmy Carter in there. Any fifth grade student knows that Jimmy Carter was president of the United States.

Screech owl

I'D LIKE to make a comment about the very good owl picture you had in the paper yesterday. You misidentified the owl as a barn owl. It is in fact a screech owl. You should find a better source for identifying your birds and other wildlife. A good bird book would help.

REPLY: Thanks to all the readers who called in to comment on the kind of owl in the photo, although not everyone could agree what kind it was. The consensus of experts, though, is that is was a screech owl.

Left-wing rag

I WANT to comment about these people calling in and saying the Missourian is a Republican paper. If you ask me, the Missourian is becoming a regular old Democratic left-wing rag. I mean, here we are on Jan. 5 and this has all broke about Hillary and Travelgate, and the Missourian doesn't put it on the front page. It was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, but the Missourian didn't even put it on there. What gives here? This is probably the most important scandal that's broke that's ever been. This is the most crime-ridden administration we've ever had in America. You're favoring the liberal Democrats, and I just hope the Missourian doesn't become a left-wing rag the way some of these other newspapers are.

Gridlock flu

IT LOOKS like the gridlock in Washington, D.C., has spread to Jefferson City. I wonder if it is contagious.

Reading, writing

I'M MAYBE hopelessly old-fashioned, but I've been reading about the meetings to decide what Missouri children should know when they graduate from high school. I would like them to know how to speak clearly and to read and write in properly spelled, properly constructed sentences. I don't think they can really learn to do anything else until they have learned to read, to write and to speak properly.

Vietnam apology

I WOULD like to say that I think our government owes a big apology to the generation of the 1960s for the Vietnam War. So many lives were lost or were ruined needlessly. Those who were lucky enough to return home waited a very long and in some cases are still waiting to be shown appreciation for their efforts and sacrifices. Those who were in opposition back in the 1960s were not well-tolerated by our government. Some of the more vocal protesters were arrested. Some went to Canada. Others were lucky enough to be in college at just the right time to be draft exempt. President Clinton was one of these people. Due to the accurate vision of 20-20 hindsight, history now teaches that the Vietnam conflict was one of our costliest mistakes. How can anyone seriously suggest that Bill Clinton should have gone to Vietnam? It causes one to wonder just how foggy their vision is of the present or the future.

Medicare cut

HAS ANYONE noticed the report we got from Social Security administration about what our Social Security would be this year? Did you notice that the premium for Medicare has been reduced from $46.10 per person per month to $42.50 per person per month? President Clinton said he would reduce the cost, and he has. Republicans want the amount increased and then to cut the coverage. My combined Social Security checks went up $49 per month.

Corn and sunflowers

IN AN IDEAL world private charities could provide for those in need. However, this is not an ideal world. We need big government to pick up the slack. The birds and the squirrels are driving me to bankruptcy. I live on a fixed income and can only finance so much private charity. Does a good Democrat out there in the world of Speak Out know of a food stamp program that provides shelled corn and black oil sunflower seeds?

Snowman attackers

EVEN THOUGH they were made of snow, it's nice to know some juveniles were fined for destroying snowmen on their neighbor's property.

Blind drivers

I WOULD like to know how so many blind drivers managed to pass the vision part of the drivers' test. I know they must be blind because I see them continually running stop signs and red lights. Is it possible that the seeing-eye dog is taking the vision test for them?

Area code

573 IS not for me. 314 forever more.

Balance needed

WOW. SUNDAY morning and almost two full pages of far-right columnists. You must think that all of us listen to Rush Limbaugh. Wouldn't it be beautiful if we could have a balance here?

REPLY: Former U.S. Sen. Tom Eagleton would be surprised to know some readers of his column think he represents the far right. Other readers will recall that Eagleton served the Democratic party with distinction.

Nouns into verbs

In your Friday paper, there was an excellent column by Paul Greenberg on language offenses of the year. In it he observes the obnoxious fad of turning nouns into verbs, such as the now impact. Writers make this mistake all the time. But among the most serious offenders are coaches. Coach Shumate is an embarrassment every time he opens his mouth. In Thursday's paper he was quoted as saying "We got out-talented by Mizzou."