Speak Out 12/19/01

Learned from GOP

JUST WHY can't we blame George W. Bush for everything that is bad? We learned that from the Republicans, who blamed President Clinton for everything. I say turnabout is fair play. No, I won't do that because I'm not that small.

Top 10 comments

I'VE BEEN working hard to try to alleviate the disillusionment of a soldier who wrote a letter to the editor a while back. In the letter, the soldier was complaining about the triviality of Speak Out commentary. I have compiled a ranking of the most discussed Speak Out comments in 2001. I will leave it to the reader to decide whether or not the following proves or disproves the soldier's point:

10. Tirades on the Taste Lounge.

9. Exhortations on East Rodney's bridge.

8. Fulminations on Randie Fidler.

7. Homilies on homosexuality.

6. Monologues on Mount Auburn Road.

5. Diatribes on detour signs.

4. Harangues on Harry Potter.

3. Ruminations on the River Campus.

2. Vignettes on the verities of various political parties.

1. Rants on the roundabout.

No. 1 public forum

A HIGHLY motivated defender of Dr. Michael Devaney seemed to say that Devaney is above criticism by Speak Out commentators. Part of the commentator's rationale was that Devaney is an academic who is widely sought out for his opinions by the St. Louis Post Dispatch and others. Ordinarily this would be a very valid point. However, Devaney's apologist is surely aware that opinions on any and all topics are subject to scrutiny by the world's No. 1 forum of public opinion, that being the one you are currently reading.

Start a nice trend

I CAN'T wait to come home for Christmas. Merry Christmas to all. Let us all remember this year and what we have been through and be nice to one another. Just one nice thing this time of year can start a trend for the next.

A free country

DEBBI NAETER'S recent letter shows the leftists still have it wrong. No country or state has ever solved its energy problems with conservation. Look at California, for example. Instead of developing more power plants, it tried to go the route of conservation. All it got that state was rolling blackouts and shortages. These people do not have a right to tell us how to live. If my neighbor wants to mow his lawn once a month or every hour on the hour, that's his right. Naeter -- or anyone else -- has no right to tell us what to do. This is still a free country.

Don't throw candy

I MUST say that I have to agree with the comment about candy being distributed during the Christmas parade. It is a nice gesture, but two years in a row I was struck in the eye by candy being thrown from a float. Someone told me that candy was only to be handed out by people walking. Some do this, but others continue to throw it. This is dangerous. I find that my grandchildren are so busy collecting candy that they miss things on the floats, not to mention the squabbling that goes on about it. I think that most parents would agree with me that kids have enough candy without having to dash for it during a parade. I am not a Scrooge, just a caring grandma.

A good server

A GOOD waiter or waitress is not one who waits until you're halfway through a meal to bring bread to the table or blames the dirty plates and silverware on a new dishwasher but shows up at the end of the meal with a big smile and the check. If you're a good server, convince your boss you're worth more money by proving it.

Freebies for veterans

I WOULD like to know why our veterans are forgotten. They kept our country safe. People on welfare, however, get all kinds of freebies that the working class gets to pay for. How many of our veterans get all those freebies after their sacrifices?