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♦ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2006 4A Muusknt P&tlg HjovinuU. OPINION Daniel F. Evans President Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Vice President Group Marketing Don Moncrief Managing Editor Someone is always watching in the stands Some - hopefully all - of you read the letter to the editor we ran Wednesday entitled: “Crying foul over fans.” In it, the letter writer - a Habersham County fan - criticizes some of Northside’s fans for their behavior during the game. The letter writer accuses some of the Eagle fans of sitting on their side of the sta dium and making, to quote the writer, “the most tacky and sometimes profanity-laced comments.” It, the writer’s story, sounds credible enough. It would certain ly seem odd for a Raider fan to submit a complaint to the Houston Daily Journal - an entity they’ve never had dealings with in the past - out of the clear blue. Still, there was no clear-cut evidence enclosed to support the letter, so there is still the issue of whether or not Eagle fans have been falsely accused. So, why run it you may ask. Why bring criticism to a program on the verge of its first state trophy? Ah, and that is the heart of this editorial. : The fact is any team, any school - yes, ;even Habersham County on its mighty ped iestal - could have been guilty of this sin. -If it happened to Northside, it was simply ;because they were in the wrong place at the ■wrong time or following the example set (down by others (more to follow on that). ; It is quite common. Our reporters have (witnessed it over and over again during •football and basketball and every other (sport. ; Try going to Evans for a baseball playoff. (You want heckling. There, you will find the True definition of the word. ( And now the kicker: Most often this con dition is/has been noted not by a student, although students are certainly capable (this is where the example part comes in) but by the parent. That’s right. As you probably already know, either by witnessing this firsthand or seeing/reading news reports where a sport ing event got out of hand, it is the parents who are nine times out of 10 the guilty party. Why run that particular letter to the edi tor? Only because it makes a great remind er: Anyone who ever has or ever will attend a sporting event may/probably will find themselves on both sides of that fence. They will be presented with these choic es: To heckle or not to heckle. Or, how to respond when heckled. Know this. There is always someone watching. There is always someone judg ing. It’s our hope all from Houston County, whether at home or on the road, will be on their best behavior. And, with any luck we’ll get a letter from another fan praising their restraint/sports manship. HOW TO SUBMIT LETTERS We encourage readers to submit letters to the editor. Letters should not exceed 350 words and must include the writer’s name, address and telephone number. All letters printed in The Daily Journal will appear with the writer’s name and hometown - we do not publish anonymous letters. The news paper reserves the right to edit or reject letters for reasons of grammar, punctuation, taste and brevity. Letter writers are asked to submit no more than one letter per person per week. We cannot guarantee that a letter will be printed on a specific date. The Daily Journal prefers that letters be typed. Letters to the editor are published in the order they are received as space permits. There are three ways to submit a letter to the editor: E-mail it to hhj@evansnewspapers.com, mail it to The Houston Daily Journal at P.O. Box 1910, Perry, GA 31069, or drop it off at 1210 Washington St. in Perry - between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Audrey Evans Vice President Marketing!Advertising Foy S. Evans Editor Emeritus And now the kicker: Most often this is/has been noted not by a student, although students are certainly capable (this is where the example part comes in) but by the parent. Grading our national institutions In those long-ago days of personal accountability, and about the time I was learning to write cursive at the Perry public schools, I learned an even more important school lesson which was: Grades matter! My father, Cohen Walker, was my chief accountability instructor - as he met with me every six weeks to review my report card. A’s were good. B’s were acceptable. C’s brought on lots of talk, and some times remedial action. With Cohen’s requirements firmly in mind, I have decided to grade our national institutions. I will grade them like school youngsters used to get grad ed in this country - without grade infla tion. What is working, and what’s not. Here goes. 1. Church. T.V evangelists have hurt the church. Scandals in major denominations have emboldened crit ics. Still, the church is our major bul wark against anarchy. I’d give the church a B. 2. Congress. D. Where is the leader ship? Too many prima donnas. What happened to the old seniority system - when Senator Richard Russell and Speaker Sam Rayburn and a few oth ers ran things? You say it was archaic. I say, “it worked”. 3. Corporate America We’ve always had controversy - remember the ‘Robber Barons’? Goods and prod ucts are being produced. But, corpo rate greed at the highest levels is out of hand. I say a C. 4. Entertainment. Some is great, r m mm&m&m }) cometotrinkofit,wAtSEiMfe m \ | VIE <aET THE m PSORET&VoTE ON WHETHER f VMT TO LNE UNDER ELECTED LEADER*! « HOT: J | W ' I RECALL,WE GOT INTOTWEMKE 1 [ 1 WONDER HOW \ BECAUSE SOMEFQLK<*THOU(aHT J (THAT WOULD BE? / ALLAH WANTED THEM TO FLY AIRFUNES 1 Don't confuse why our troops are in Iraq With the nomination of Mr. (Robert) Gates to replace Secretary Rumsfeld, comes the temptation of blurring the reason why our troops are Fighting in Iraq. I as a veteran of the USNR and USAF have never believed that we could make Iraq a mini-USA by sacrificing our young men and women in a land that has never had even a taste of democracy. We now call the fighting and ram pant killing sectarian violence. I believe it is driven by deep seeded religious convictions that no number of U.S. troops could bring to a happy solution. Before Desert Storm, strategists were asking who would replace a deposed Sadam. Well, we now have the answer Chaos. We all remember the purple fingers that the Iraqi people displayed on elec tion day in what was a mere formal ity prior to the formal entry of King Chaos. Now we are saying try diplo macy and if it fails leave. I can see us looking for the back door as the reality of the regional Islamic politics reveals itself to our puzzled diplomats. The more we study those whose religion is titled “submission,” the less we understand. Our troops have and always have been used as an instru- OPINION some is good. Much is trash. Is a D+ about right? 5. Healthcare. Miracles are per formed every day. People are living longer. Costs are skyrocketing. Access is not what it should be. The system is tremendously complicated. Too many fall through the cracks. Is a C too generous? 6. Judiciary. I want to be fair and not biased because 1 am an attorney. Still, I feel that the courts are doing a pretty good job. Like the church, the courts help to keep order in our society. I’d say a B-. 7. Military. Give 'em the objective and the tools to get the job done and our military will perform. How about an A? 8. Political Parties. F. I’m sick of both parties - at the state and national level. Don’t party leaders understand that some things (most things) are more important than winning - like saving the Republic? Partisanship fueled by political party rhetoric is totally out of hand. A pox on both your houses! 9. Presidency. How about a “B” for Bush and a “C” for Clinton (these two Larry Walker Columnist lwalker@whgb-law.com H.M. Edwards Columnist ment of national policy. Mr. Gates rightfully stated that “the use of military force should be the last resort.” Once again, our troops have won every engagement. However, winning every engagement is not at issue here. The utter failure of the Iraqi people to grasp the golden ring of freedom that has been offered through the blood sacrifice of our best and finest attests to our failure to understand the nature of a relatively backward land that has but on asset oil. The other chief export of the region is terrorism. Hello, did you hear me it’s the terrorism folks, Iraq is surrounded by nations that export oil and terrorism. We can deal with the oil but the terror ism must be isolated like the cancer it ILj %■ ij HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL have had it for the past 14 years)? Or, should it be a B for Clinton and a C for Bush? Either way, it’s a C+. Where is Sam Nunn when we need him? 10. Public Schools. A few are excel lent. Some are good. Many are terrible. Most are mediocre. C. 11. Sports. Out of hand. College ath letics is not about students, it’s about money. Increasingly, I am ‘turned off by pro sports. So much of it reminds me of Rome and its obsession with gladiators, etc. How about a C-? 12. Transportation System. The best in the world, despite massive prob lems in urban areas. Need a part for your Kubota tractor out of California? It can be trucked to Georgia in three days. Our interstate highway system is amazing. Delta, despite its troubles, has transformed Georgia and made Atlanta the capital of the southeast. My prediction: Delta will come back. My grade, a B+. Let’s see. One A. One B. One B-. One B+. One C+. 3 C’s. One C-. One D+. One D. And one big F. Cohen wouldn’t be very happy with this. In fact, if this was my card, there would probably be some corporal pun ishment involved. But, then again, get ting me straightened out was much simpler than getting our country on the right track. This was my article for the November 2006 edition of James Magazine and is reprinted with the permission of the editor. This article was written by me prior to the November 7 General Election. is and be removed at the source. That is the real reason why we must engage the terrorists where they thrive. Our troops are fighting there so we can drive to the mall and not get mauled. They are fighting there so our children can go to school and learn regardless of race, gender or national origin. They are fighting there so that in January we can have an orderly change of power in our legislature sans car bombs and political assassinations. They are fighting there so that we can have a Merry Christmas. They are fighting there so that we can go to the bowl games and argue over the methods used to arrive at a National Champion. They are fighting for each other and they mourn the loss of any buddy killed by enemy fire, lED’s or a tragic non-combat related death. Many have not returned the way they arrived but still they fight. They have given those who’ve never tasted freedom a shot at the chance and they’ve maintained our freedom as they’ve done since the birth of our nation. We owe our liberty to those who swear to protect us against all enemies foreign and domestic so help me God.