Sunday, July 5, 2026

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Radio host leads to deep thoughts on school-voucher possibilities

I have a confession to make: I listen to Rush Limbaugh. Yes, he is loud. Yes, he is obnoxious. Yes, he makes a factual or historical error almost every time a long, convoluted rant emanates from his mouth into the microphone. However, political discourse is interesting, and even if I have to yell or issue a retort to the inanimate boombox sitting on the shelf, I would rather argue with Rush than listen to inane disc jockeys break the limits of vulgarity in between the three songs their station manages to force alongside the commercials each hour. And now, each time I am involved in a discussion about school vouchers, the first person I think about is always Rush “talent-on-loan-from-God” Limbaugh. Please, help me. With it’s recent 5-4 decision upholding a Cleveland school voucher program, the U.S.

COMMENTARY

Scholarship loot valuable to state

Since State News Opinion Editor Drew Harmon, who first endorsed the Healthy Michigan Initiative in an editorial, “Missed Merit,” (SN 7/18), then later admitted that he was in fact, a smoker in his column, “Smokers know it’s bad, leave us in peace,” (SN /18), I will concede, in this spirit of candor, that I am the proud recipient of the sum of $2,500 on account of my passing the 1999 MEAP test.

COMMENTARY

Smoking different, affects everyone

I would like to respond to Drew Harmon column’s “Smokers know it’s bad, leave me in peace” (SN 7/18). While I definitely agree with the whole concept that consistency is needed in our social policies (unhealthy food, unsafe sex or drinking), if it affects other people in a public sense, it is our business. Living in a free society that is confined by laws and politics, we do have the right to take risks without asking other people’s permission, but only if it does not involve having others pay for your actions.

COMMENTARY

Pressure cooker

No one would leave a chocolate bar sitting in their car on a hot day, yet nearly every summer there are reports of children who die because they’re left alone in a vehicle. A Detroit mother is on trial for involuntary manslaughter after her children died in her car.

COMMENTARY

Shady deals

Every week it’s another company, another financial problem, another screw up from the folks up top.

COMMENTARY

Old man river

Kudos to researchers in the MSU-WATER program, or Watershed Action Through Education and Research. The four-year, $1.4 million program designed to develop a watershed management program for the Red Cedar River, is an important effort to undertake, and it is only fitting that it originated at MSU. With the Red Cedar River as one of the foremost landmarks of MSU’s campus, it is important for the university to lead the charge to clean up the historic body of water whose banks it calls home.

COMMENTARY

Missed merit

Student leaders from across Michigan are preparing to join a battle against a November ballot initiative.

COMMENTARY

Plenty of potty

Women often are flushed with indignation about public bathrooms. There just aren’t enough places to answer nature’s call. For years, men have enjoyed the in-and-out nature of their bathrooms and biology, but women, generally, need more time and space.

COMMENTARY

Lawful cussing

Few people today probably think the 1897 Michigan law against cursing in front of women and children was worth being enforced.

COMMENTARY

Right to privacy can extend to public photos, pictures should not be published

As I am not a woman, I cannot be totally sure of the impact an abortion can have on someone. Whether it is emotional, mental or physical, I’m sure there must be some level of effect on the woman having the procedure. And as if this and the procedure itself aren’t traumatizing enough, she also must go up against the pro-life activists. These activists block entrances, hound and shout at patrons - basically doing everything in their power short of physically assaulting women to get them to change their minds.

COMMENTARY

Dont be upset at corporate fat-cats, we all lie all the time anyway

I’m sure everyone is sick of reading columns on the Pledge of Allegiance by now, so today I’m going to talk about something else that has ties to religion - ethics. I know that sounds like a boring subject, but given recent headlines showcasing shady accounting practices, and now a lawsuit, against Vice President Dick Cheney and the oil company he ran for five years, I think it’s worth some discussion. President George W.

COMMENTARY

Research before voting necessary

Kristofer Karol, in his column “Being patriotic means more than buying a flag; public displays infuriating,” (SN 7/11), raises an excellent point about “false” patriots.

COMMENTARY

Minimum mess

Mandatory minimum sentences for drug crimes haven’t solved the drug problem we face. It’s time Michigan began to use a more balanced system to reform drug users. Many times, incarceration has been the only option for these drug-related crimes, and treatment is not given enough consideration, possibly sending people to prison when rehabilitation would be much better suited to their case.

COMMENTARY

Butterfly House will be a sad loss

It was with sadness that I read about the closing of the Butterfly House. These kinds of choices by MSU administration will come back to bite them in the rear end when future MSU alumni have fewer and fewer special extracurricular moments to look back on, as they hold pen and checkbook in hand, trying to justify their contribution to the annual fund-raising campaign.