The president delivered his State of the Union address on Wednesday. Some folks cheered, some folks bitched — as it should be. What has my hackles up is the fact that a large number of Obama´s detractors insulted him. Feel free to disagree, hate him, raise all kinds of hell, ceate opposition. This is all necessary. Whether I agree or not is irrelevant. I am not judging your political opinion. I respect anyone who speaks his or her mind. But when all you do is fling mud, you are being counterproductive. Calling Obama a liar is disrespectful. Expressing your opinion why you believe he is a liar is not. There is a very large distinction between the two. Expressing your dissent can be a positive thing.

Empty promises? No plan to move forward? Hmm … why do you think this? What can, or should, be done to rectify this? Do you actually have an opinion or is it that you are simply ignorant enough to believe your mudslinging makes you appear wise? The man is our elected leader. Elected fairly and honestly, by your peers. The same as any other office holder. All elected officials should be treated with respect. Whether it be the lowest political office or the highest. To insult them is to insult your peers who elected them. And how is this even remotely productive? No wonder we, as Americans, are becoming jokes to the rest of the world when this is how we choose to express our dissent. As if we need more help to look like fools in an international light.

I very, very seldom name folks when I write. I have some close friends whose politics I do not always agree with. Why? Because when they express their opinions, they do so intelligently. I respect them both a great deal for this. While we may disagree on some fundamental points, we do so with as much intelligence and respect for opposing viewpoints as we are able to muster. Which in my case, quite often, isn´t much. I look up to them because they both honestly work for positive change and positive change will certainly benefit all of us. While expressing their own beliefs they are always open to the opposition in hopes of finding something to learn, a perspective that may never have occurred to them or even some thing as simple as understanding the why of the debate.

What angers, and frustrates, me the most is that much of this negativity is coming from intelligent people who, most likely, have legitimate points. Rather than sharing their views and promoting understanding, they merely take cheap potshots and hurl insults.

— Matt Letts Lansing

Not a fan of Broad museum design

What an eyesore! Speaking of which, I am going to photograph this monstrosity and submit it to James Howard Kunstler´s "Eyesore of the Month" column. How anyone with even a primitive sense of taste could have approved this giant garbage can is beyond me. A nice brick building that fit the Michigan State University campus and East Lansing was not good enough, apparently, to the pretentious poseurs who think that this building is awesome.

— Torrance From www.LansingCityPulse.com