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4A ♦ FRIDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2006 Mimsimt Datltj .jjnurttal OPINION Daniel F. Evans President Editor and Publisher Julie B. Evans Audrey Evans Vice President Vice President Group Marketing Marketing!Advertising Don Moncrief Foy S. Evans Managing Editor Editor Emeritus Eagles go for elusive state football championship Today is the day. Today is the day we find out if Northside will finally get its state championship in football. We hope they do and believe everyone - Demons and Bears and Panthers and Hornets alike - in the county should feel the same (and they probably do). Why? Because the Eagles have earned this, and not just because of their wins and the sweat and hard work they put into get ting to this point. Those count big but the Eagles also have tears and scars. Big tears. Big scars. They really cut the deepest begin ning with 1999. That year Northside played in the Georgia Dome. Not just played but led Lowndes 28-7 at the half. One of our reporters - formerly with The Daily Sun when it existed - remembers it like this: “Northside had been so dominat ing up to that point that we were (in the press box) doing ‘actual’ planning for cham pionship game coverage.” What happened next turns the Eagle lock er room into a cry-fest. The Vikings mount a jaw-dropping rally and win 31-28. The Eagles avenge that loss in 2000 beat ing the Vikings 28-3. That’s little consolation, however, as it comes in the first round. More tears, more scars come in round two as Northside is upset by East Coweta. Then comes 2001. The Georgia Dome doesn’t stand in their way this time. They beat Collins Hill 17-7. They secure a title date against Parkview, and even better, it’s at home. What follows is a crude rendition of the song “That’s the night that the lights went out in Georgia.” Only this one’s for real. Northside is trailing 12-7 but with just minutes left to play has driven nearly the length of the field. The only thing that stands between it and a championship is about 20 yards. Momentum is clearly in its corner. Then McConnell-Talbert’s lights go off. The first play from scrimmage once they’re restored: The Eagles fumble. More tears. More scars. And so it goes. In 2002 the Eagles finish 10-3 - one game away from the Dome. In 2003 they lose in the second round to Newnan. In 2004 it’s to Statesboro in round two. Then comes 2005. Northside makes it to the Dome, wins and plays Statesboro again, this time for the championship. The game is tied with just minutes left to play. The Eagles fumble. The other Eagles kick a field goal and win. Tears and scars and tears and scars, Northside has them. Warner Robins has its state title - more than one of them to be exact. We firmly believe Houston County and Perry and Westfield (which knows a bit about tears and scars itself) will one day get its. Today, however, we hope is the day the Eagles get theirs. Worth Repeating “Better by far you should forget and smile Than that you should remember and be sad.” Christina Rosetti, British poet (1830-1874) Send your Letters to the Editor to: The Houston Daily Journal P.O. Box 1910 • Perry, Ga 31069 or Email: hhj@evansnewspapers.com Those count big but the Eagles also have tears and scars. Big tears. Big scars. They really cut the deepest beginning with 1999. Ralph, Florence and Earl Herman I’ve said, many times, that my moth er and father, along with long-time Houston Superior Court Clerk, Tommie Hunt (he was clerk for 40 years), attended more funerals than anyone I ever knew. And, they did. And, I’ve said that Daddy’s funeral had the largest attendance of any to which I ever went. Now, I will have to add Ralph Dorsett’s funeral, What a crowd! Ralph died Nov. 30 and his funeral was at Perry’s First Baptist Church. The seats for the congregation were completely full as was the balcony sec tion and the choir loft. Add to that the people sitting in chairs and those standing in the back, and it was quite a crowd! So full that Gov. Sonny Perdue was seated in the balcony. Ralph was obviously very popular. We (and especially Larry Walker) can learn a great deal from Ralph’s life. He always had time to talk and visit, seem ingly never to get in a hurry. I never heard him speak ill of anyone. He was polite and kind (reminded me of his mother, Maggie Ruth). The best way to put it: he was a nice guy. I’d bet Ralph is in heaven, today, hitching up his pants on both sides, as he was want to do, and talking with a fellow-farmer about the ‘peanut pro gram’ and some Navy pilot about their shared experiences. And, he won’t be in a hurry. I guess in Heaven, you don’t have to be. Beware of Illegal aliens seeking hazmat What’s the harm in allowing illegal aliens to have driver’s licenses? After all, they’re just all here innocently doing the jobs Americans won’t do, right? And since they’re already here, we might as well let them drive legally, right? We’ll all be safer, right? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Driver’s licenses are tickets into the American mainstream. They allow residents to establish an identity and foothold into their communities. They help you open bank accounts, enter secure facilities, board planes - and drive tractor-trailers carrying hazard ous materials. But there aren’t any illegal aliens out there who would use fraudulently obtained driver’s licenses to threaten Americans, right? That’s just xenopho bic scare-mongering, right? Wrong again. Last week, law enforcement officials arrested an illegal alien enrolled at a Smithfield, R. 1., tractor-trailer train ing school who was trying to obtain a commercial driver’s license and permit to haul hazardous materials. Not many people paid attention. You should. Illegal alien Mohammed Yusef Mullawala, 28, of Jamaica, N.Y., had obtained driver’s licenses from New York, New Jersey and Rhode Island. He was reportedly in a hurry to get a commercial driver’s license and a per mit to haul hazardous cargo. Because he’s just so passionate about the job, right? Yeah. A joint investigation was initiated by investigators from the Rhode Island State Fusion Center, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Joint Terrorism Task Force in Rhode Island, New York & New Jersey, and the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement after driv er’s school officials became concerned OPINION I heard last weekend from my high school English teacher, Florence C. Harrison, about my Dec. 8 article wherein I “graded” our national insti tutions. She had kind things to say, and I was deeply appreciative. Her call served to remind me, once again, of what outstanding teachers I had during my time in the Perry public schools. As far as I can remember, I have seven still living: Herb St. John, Molly Moss, Jim Worrall, Henry Casey, Jeanne Bledsoe, E. H. Cheek, and Florence Harrison. I hope I haven’t missed any one. I’m deeply appreciative to all of them and want to thank them for all they did for me. I wish I had appreci ated them more while I was their stu dent. Thanks to all and may God bless each one of you. ■ ■■ 1 hope he doesn’t mind my telling you, but I want you to know that Mr. Cheek, Earl Herman Cheek, will turn about his suspicious behavior. “His behavior was consistent with terrorist type activity,” Maj. Steve O’Donnell of the Rhode Island state police told the press. “He showed no interest in learn ing the fine art of driving a tractor trailer. He had no interest in learning how to back up.” Sort of like learning how to steer a plane, but not take off or land. As in several other cases since 9/11, it was alert private citizens who notified the Department of Homeland Security of Mullawala’s suspicious behav ior. (They will no doubt be labeled Islamophobes and bigots by the usual grievance-mongering mob.) And once again, it was enforcement of immigration laws that played a criti cal role in detaining him. Like some of the 9/11 hijackers and several al Qaeda operatives identified in the United States over the past decade, Mullawala was here on a temporary student visa that he had overstayed. Must I remind you that the 9/11 hijackers obtained some 364 separate pieces of identification, including driv er’s licenses, in order to conduct their murderous business? Hijackers Hani Hanjour and Khalid Almihdhar con spired with illegal alien day laborers at a Falls Church, Va., 7-Eleven to obtain government-issued photo IDs. Three other hijackers obtained IDs at an Arlington, Va., DMV Terrorist truck bombs have killed || Larry Walker Columnist lwalker@whgb-law.com ■ jgijjMjgk p jH Michelle Malkin Columnist malkin@comcast.net HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL 90 years old Dec. 28. It’s hard for me to believe. He came here in the 19505, and I thought he was an old man then! That is, until he put “John Henry” on my rear-end (all of his students will understand this!). Mr. Cheek has touched many lives in positive ways, but, to my mind, his greatest contribution was with “little country boys” that no one else showed much interest in and his helping them to accomplish something positive and making them proud and confident. Many of these students went on to make great citizens. This was in no small part due to Mr. Cheek’s encour agement and caring and involvement. Thanks to Mr. Cheek. I even forgive you for introducing me to John Henry. ■ ■■ Mrs. Harrison, I wish I could take your senior English class, again. As good as it was then, it would be bet ter now. You fueled my love of read ing. For what writing ability I have, you are largely responsible. You were great. I was average. I would be better, today. And you would be the wonderful teacher you were. But, we can’t go back, can we? If we could, Ralph would probably be show ing steers for Mr. Cheek, and I would be reciting a Robert Frost poem for you. But, the moving finger writes and having writ, moves on. And that’s the way life is. hundreds of Americans in Beirut, at the Khobar Towers, and Iraq. For the operatives behind the wheel, a license to drive is a license to kill. Over the past two years, the FBI has put law enforcement officials on high alert for U.S.-based operatives connected to al Qaeda who may be in possession of commercial driver’s licenses and may be planning to use truck bombs. In Boston, suspected al Qaeda agent and illegal alien Nabil al-Marabh obtained a license permitting him to drive semi-trucks containing hazard ous materials, including explosives and caustic materials. In Minneapolis, suspected al Qaeda operative Mohamad Elzahabi, who obtained a green card through a fake marriage, was able to obtain a commer cial driver’s license to drive a school bus and to haul hazardous materials - despite FBI knowledge that Elzahabi had been tied to terrorism. Earlier this year, more than 200 Somalian and Bosnian immigrants illegally obtained Missouri commercial driver’s licenses or certifications to handle hazardous materials through a West Plains truck-driving school that had a contract with the state, accord ing to federal prosecutors. In just a few short weeks, Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi - a staunch opponent of strengthened ID laws and strict immi gration enforcement - will reassume power in Washington. An open borders friendly White House has expressed willingness to deal with them. So we know who supports illegal alien work ers and potential terrorist drivers wait ing for amnesty. But who will stand up for us? Michelle Malkin is author of “Unhinged: Exposing Liberals Gone Wild.” Her e-mail address iswritemalkin@gmail.com