Speak Out A 11/13/02

Sandwich substitute

THIS IS directed to the person who was complaining about students not getting to eat if they forget their ID or go over on their account. I agree it is wrong to make a child go without lunch. My children go to school in Jackson. At the beginning of school my daughter brought home a note that stated she would be allowed to eat until her account exceeded a certain amount. Then she would be provided with a peanut butter sandwich until the account was settled. No student has to go completely without.

Let oil companies pay

NOW THAT the U.N. Security Council seems to have legitimized the Republican oil war, can we expect the Republicans to vote to ante up the millions of dollars in past dues that the United States owes the United Nations? Or maybe we should be asking the oil corporations to pay the freight on this one.

Just leave them alone

MAYBE THESE people are right when they say let's don't go to war with Iraq. Let's just leave Saddam and all of the terrorists alone and mind our own business. Of course, the next plane they hijack could possibly crash right in the middle of your pro-Iraq rally. Now wouldn't that be the pits?

Politically too young

HOW CAN schoolchildren possibly have knowledge enough to be Republican or Democrat? Saying young children are supporters of Jim Talent is ludicrous. These kids are either forced to attend or are attending based on their parents' political values. They aren't old enough to make educated decisions for themselves.

Focus on the good

WHAT'S WITH all the talk on terrorism, al-Qaida, the Taliban, Afghanistan and Iraq? Shouldn't we talk about more upbeat things? All the talk about what happened last year makes people angry and upset. What happened to keeping your mind off the bad and focusing on the good?

Staying the course

THE UNITED Nations resolution with strict requirements for Iraq or serious consequences will result is a huge vindication of President Bush's approach to the United Nations. The world has signed on to his leadership. For those who criticized him for not begging them to act earlier, before he had clarified the position of the American government and the American people, I hope you give him credit now. The world responds to those who speak clearly and come from a position of strength. Bush has made a compelling case to the world. Iraq is too dangerous for there not to be serious consequences for their continued flaunting of U.N. resolutions. God protect the soldiers of the United States and our allies if we will have to go to war. But this resolution means we're actually a step further from war than the world would have been without it. Thank God we have Bush as president.

Religious opposition

FOR THE record: The Episcopal, Presbyterian, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, United Church of Christ, United Methodist, Roman Catholic and many other denominations have taken a formal stand against war in Iraq. The administration's war plan is immoral and does not meet "just war" criteria.

Too much propaganda

I WAS very happy to see that local school children were able to see the vice president speak. What I am not happy about is children being stickered with pro-Republican propaganda and waving signs that say "We need Jim Talent." I was so outraged I wanted to walk up to those teachers and ask what they were doing. As a Republican, I am so furious that my party would allow this to happen.

Clearly against taxes

DEAR CITY of Cape Girardeau, new tax committee, new mayor and city council: Did you not learn anything from this election? A lot of it was decided on the economy and tax issues. I won't vote on new taxes for anything. Do we have to petition for a mid-term election to get rid of the tax-and-spend mayor or what? What do we have to do to let you know: No new taxes. Period.

Going to extremes

SOMEONE EXPLAIN this situation to me. The town closed down a teenage hangout called Kaboom located at Town Plaza because of all the complaints and opened up a lounge where there is alcohol. Isn't that going from one extreme to the other? We need things in this town for teenagers to do to keep them occupied when they are bored so they will stay off the streets.