Speak Out is a reader-generated column of opinions. If you there’s something you’d like to comment on, send an email to ksorensen@tribpub.com. Please include “speak out” in the subject line.
Not everyone’s scared away: Some may not be going to downtown Chicago (because of recent violence), but I assure you there are still plenty of people that are visiting. Recently, I took my lunch hour at Cloud Gate (The Bean) and there were hundreds of people there, many with accents from not only all over our country but all over the world.
Tommy guns vs. AR-15s: I don’t understand about the all these automatic weapons being sold now, the AR-15s, when the Tommy guns that were widely used in the ’20s and ’30s were outlawed. What’s the difference between a Tommy gun and the AR-15?
Can’t trust banks: Just read that another person was scammed out of $8,000 and $8,100 with a fraudulent check cashing scheme. I went through the same thing, a $10 check was cashed for $9,500. What the public does not understand is our banks cash checks without any identification. The bank will hold your money while they investigate you. It should investigate its own system. Their advice is use online checking, don’t use checks. My advice is put your money under your mattress, pay with cash, watch your accounts closely.
It’s all the Dems’ fault: To all you President Trump bashers and Biden backers, here’s what you’ve done to our country. You are responsible for weakening our military and destabilizing our law enforcement and police. You have weakened our borders. You have helped destroy our economy and quality of life in a year and half. You have also sided with a party that is for killing babies yet wants to strip legal Americans of their Second Amendment rights to own their arms. Do you ever look in the mirror?
Exposing a fraud? Seems to me that these Jan. 6 hearings are proving one thing. Congress is deathly afraid that Donald Trump will prove what a fraud Congress is.
Don’t expect thanks: Trump supporters contributing to his phony defense fund are reminiscent of evangelicals sending their hard-earned money to a TV preacher who’s sorely in need of a new car, but without the promise of any heavenly reward!
Hearings are a circus: The bogus Jan. 6 TV hearing sham should start with Ned Locke shouting out to the public, “Bozo’s Circus is on the air.” However, this would be a tremendous knock and disrespectful to the late, great Bob Bell and the Bozo the Clown franchise.
My prediction is… You heard it here first: Chicago White Sox manager Tony LaRussa will step down before the month is over. This has absolutely nothing to do with his long-lost managerial ability, but more to do with all the happy hours he’s missing because he has to be at day games.
Common sense gun rules: I find it hypocritical that firearms are banned at government facilities but not universally banned everywhere else. The right to bear arms does not give you the right to buy whatever firearm you like or the right to use as you please. Background checks coupled with a total ban on all assault style firearms as well as an ironclad mandatory 15-year prison sentence for use of any firearm during the commission of any crime will go a long way to reducing gun violence and perhaps reduction of other crimes as well.
Bad guys will find weapons: When the government takes the guns away, the criminals will replace them with machetes and hatchets.
Could be effective: Reinstating the assault weapons ban would have a profound impact, especially given the growth in sales since 2004 during which Americans have been allowed to purchase and stockpile such weapons. Many of the high-profile mass shooters in recent years purchased their weapons less than one year before committing their acts.
Lip service or action? Are the government officials that want everyone driving electric vehicles still riding around in their big SUVs? (Is it a situation of) do as I say, not as I do?
Believe the investigation: As the Congressional investigation reveals the Jan. 6 details, are Trump supporters willing to listen and evaluate what is being presented? So far, many Republicans continue to support the premise that the election was stolen even though there has never been any proof. Are these followers making this conclusion simply on Donald Trump’s words or was it the baseless accusation from others? Have some Republicans who took the oath to defend the Constitution become confused? I support the investigation to find the facts, so should you!
Crying over the Sox: In (the movie) “A League of Their Own,” Tom Hanks famously said, “there’s no crying in baseball!” But then again, he never saw the current White Sox team play our national pastime. Until there’s no Tony LaRussa on the South Side, crying will be as essential to watching Sox games as hot dogs and cold beer.
Greedy or gutsy? I’m willing to bet that if more elite golfers resign from the PGA Tour to seek the riches of the Saudi-backed LIV league, they’ll eventually be hailed in some circles as gutsy, even courageous, trailblazers rather than examples of greedy, self-centered athletes.
