I read in the newspaper that Chicago shooting victim Laquan McDonald was a ward of the state. So why didn’t the state get the money from the lawsuit against the city of Chicago instead of his family? The family abandoned him, and the state took care of him. Did the state do a good job? Hey, it has a lot of children as wards to take care of, which is a major part of the problem.
Jimbo, Chicago Heights
I heard President Obama’s speech about immigration. I believe that this is a country of immigrants, but not one of illegal immigrants. There’s a big difference. When my grandparents came here from Poland, they had to have a sponsor. Otherwise, they couldn’t come here. If they didn’t have a job, they had to have a sponsor to take care of them. They didn’t get any free rides, and that’s the big difference.
John, Hegewisch
All the Chicago Bears players do is make excuses. They are not good players, but most of them have fat salaries that they don’t deserve. This team was disgusting to watch. I can’t believe it has gotten this bad.
It was gratifying to see that the mother of the rich kid who killed four in an alcohol-fueled car accident is in jail. She got locked up for obstructing the apprehension of her supposedly “affluenza-addled” son, who was on the run for a probation violation. Her kid previously avoided imprisonment because a judge bought the preposterous argument from his lawyer that the teen was raised too affluently to comprehend right from wrong. Huh? Well, luckily that stupid argument won’t cut it this time, and Mommy gets to have a dose of properly applied criminal justice along with her son.
Evergreen Park
With the sudden explosion in families seeking financial justice from the Chicago Police Department and the city of Chicago for wrongful deaths, I want to know how many millions more of my tax dollars will be handed over to families, deserving or not. I feel all police officers should be required to buy some sort of insurance that would cover them in these cases of alleged excessive force, just like malpractice insurance for a doctor. That way, the hard-working taxpayers would have to pay much less, if anything, for something they had absolutely nothing to do with.
Chicago
This latest attempt, a speech and photo-op of the president to show he is serious about gun control, will do nothing to stop the killings going on daily. Throwing a thimble of water on a raging forest fire was what he did. The thing fueling the fires (killings) in Chicago is not the small-time guy selling a few guns every year. It’s fine to try to limit this, but that’s being blind to the bigger problem — the vicious and deadly street gang warfare on the South and West sides of the city. The gangbangers couldn’t care less about a background check and will always be able to get a gun illegally.
Orland Park
How could 2016 be any more productive in Springfield than the previous year? We may not have a state budget, but we do have more than 200 new laws, including one making pumpkin pie our official state pie. Now there’s a big decision. Don’t ever ask, “what are they doing down there that’s so important and that they’re getting paid for it?”
Tinley Park
To the person who wrote to Speak Out, saying that Donald Trump is the only presidential candidate who’s big enough and man enough to fix this country: You apparently haven’t looked at all the candidates. What about Bernie Sanders? He’s offering a lot more ideas on how to improve this country than Trump is offering. Besides, do we need another Republican to wreck this country even more? Haven’t they done enough damage?
New Lenox
I see new businesses setting up in Crestwood and Oak Forest. Also, a large medical outpatient clinic is slated for Orland Park. Our town of Midlothian sits with so many vacant lots. Why, Mayor Rybak? Is there a reason we cannot have a prominent medical facility in Midlothian? All we get is another gas station. Mayor Rybak, are you even attempting to attract businesses to our village?
Pat from Midlothian
What’s Speak Out?
Speak Out allows readers to comment on the issues of the day. Email Speak Out at speakout@southtownstar.com or call 312-222-2427. Please limit comments to 30 seconds or about 120 words and give your first name and your hometown.
