Speak Out A 09/18/02

Spirit of the memorial

I ALSO noticed the mispronounced names being read during the Sept. 11 memorial service in New York. I hoped nobody would be appalled and would take the event in the spirit in which it was meant. Those individuals reading the names also deserve compassion. Some of them were survivors of the World Trade Center. Perhaps the moment was a very personal and painful one for them. Those people weren't there as performers but as human beings who came to help remember those who died, including those they may have known personally.

Drowning in the pool

REMOVAL OF SEMO's swimming pool will do nothing but serve as a constant reminder that the once nearly miserly institution of higher learning drowned in a sea of debt.

Hyping the book

I DISAGREED with Gary Rust's choice of a word in a recent column. In speaking of Sean Hannity, a right-wing hack whose inability to write has been admitted by him, Rust mused that Hannity's book had risen to No. 2 on the New York Times best-seller list. Hannity's book, a conglomeration of recycled conservative cliches, likely entered at No. 2. This is a distinction with a difference because it says nothing about the worth of the book but everything about the power and money of the vast right-wing conspiracy who emptied their pocketbooks and hyped the book to a highly undeserved ranking.

Remembering Sept. 11

I AM not calling because someone's trash is in my yard. I am not calling because I have conflicts with city officials. Six days after Sept. 11, 2001, I wrote this poem, and I felt the need to share this with everyone else. I think we all pretty much felt this way.

Awaken

Life had changed on a day in September, a moment in time I'll forever remember.

Terror came with a plane in the sky. Buildings would crumble. People would die.

Husbands and wives kissed each other that morning. There were no goodbyes. There was no warning.

Sons and daughters went off to school, coming home to a world so suddenly cruel.

Countless searched with tears in their eyes jor friends and for family and for a reason why.

All the nation, both black and white, embraced one another amidst a flight.

The world was awakened on this tragic day. People united and began to pray.

Heroes emerged from unlikely places with the kindness of hearts and longest of faces.

The flag stayed flying, and all were aware that freedom could carry us through this despair.

Trivial things which seemed to matter disappeared with this disaster.

I now hold my children a little more tightly. I take each day a little less lightly.

There's no place I'd rather be than the U.S.A. I'm awake and I'm proud, and that's how I'll stay.

No band uniforms

THE FAIR parade was a great event with a wonderful turnout and a great job from everyone involved. But why did the Central High School band, the host band, wear shorts and T-shirts while other bands were decked in their best? I thought that was what a parade was all about: looking your best. The band performed great as usual, but I and those around me were very disappointed.

Lack of respect

I WAS watching a little too much TV Sept. 11 and getting very sad. So we turned off the TV and went to the SEMO District Fair parade where we really got upset. At the beginning of the parade, there was a color guard carrying all the flags in full glory. Just about half the people did not stand up. They didn't quit talking or try to keep their children quiet. It may as well have been a street sweeper passing. All they interested in was the candy. They were yelling, grabbing, running into the street and begging for more. This really didn't honor what this day should have meant. Wasn't this the reason that the parade was changed to Sept. 11?

Cut those weeds

I LIVE out on Highway U west of Jackson. The weeds are higher than the mailboxes. Here I read about the county buying a $250,000 home at a county park, and I just wonder why the county can't mow the grass if it can afford to buy a home for that kind of money.

Let's be honest

DAVID LIMBAUGH is wrong when he states that no one believes the United States has imperialistic designs and wants to get the oil in Iraq. Many people believe that. When the highest ranking members of the administration have amassed fortunes from dealing in Mideast oil, it is hard to ignore. The lack of a clear plan after regime change might reflect the intent to have U.S. troops in Iraq for years to come, thereby ensuring the free flow of oil. Taking out Saddam is probably about both self-defense and oil. It doesn't have to be one or the other. I have no problem with taking out Saddam, but I wish we could all be a little more honest.