Speakout 2/12

To the letter Mike wrote that says to the White House in Washington, D.C., I say amen, amen and praise the Lord. Thank you!

It was interesting that everyone is harping about separation of church and state and low and behold when I went to vote at Missouri's primary, it was at a church. How interesting - politics and church.

The votes weren't in on tearing down dilapidated buildings until 7 p.m. Feb. 3 when the election about the tax hike was in. Then what do I read on the front page, six hours before the polls closed? Fire Station No. 1 and the old Baptist Church are scheduled to be torn down. Where do you get your information? How can Sikeston grow with a bunch of vacant lots and businesses closing for lack of buildings?

I was for the 1-cent sales tax proposal until I read about the high salaries that our top city officials give themselves. I voted against the tax increase, however, since it has passed, I hope it is used as stated. However, if the city is in such dire needs, the city manager and other top officials who see these large pay increases should give that salary back. If they don't then the City Council should step in and reduce their salaries to be comparable to what city officials for other cities the size of Sikeston are being paid. The salaries they are drawing when the city is in such financial straits is ridiculous.

There was a piece in the paper today about the Rescue Mission. The caller had complained about the prices being so high on clothing. We have a mission here at the House of Prayer Independent Baptist Church in Grant City and if you come up here, we'll fix you up with clothes. We have clothes to give to the needy and that's what they're for. We don't charge a fortune for them. It's five miles north of Sikeston.

With all the high salaries city employees are making, I think they should put up lights by the basketball court. They could use some of the money from the new tax to help pay for it.

In the deliberations of the National Security Council on Jan. 10, 2001, a little over a week after Bush was inaugurated and eight months before Sept. 11, Bush presided over the first meeting with the NSC. The topics were how to disengage from the Israeli-Palestinian impasse and how to confront Iraq. He stated getting Hussein was now the administration's top focus and that much is already clear. As for Bush, he seems to act on instinct, running through massive tax cuts, running up the deficit and foraging into Iraq. The UN inspector Dr. David Haig, who was looking for weapons of mass destruction, said they had found nothing and resigned from his job. Now look at Bush weasel out and blame everyone else for bad information. He decided this on Jan. 10, 2001, before any information was available. He hit Iraq to make up for what his daddy messed up on in the Gulf War. I think this is what Bush's intentions were.

I think the parents of the young kidnap victim and/or the parents of the friend she was visiting in Florida should both be charged with neglect because anybody with half a brain knows you don't let an 11-year-old child walk after dark in a city unaccompanied by a responsible adult. As far as I'm concerned, the tears of the adults around her are crocodile.