Dear Editor,
In my history class, we were recently discussing the loss of civil rights that citizens must endure during a time of war.
It seems that every time America goes to war, a race or population in our country loses some of its civil rights.
Look at WWI, when the government made it illegal to speak ill of the government.
During WWII, Japanese people were arrested and placed in interment camps, although many of these people were native-born Americans.
And now, as we continue the war on terrorism, we see the rights of everyone intruded upon by such laws as the Patriot Act, which gives the government the right to monitor our daily activities.
Shauna Morris
Dear Editor,
As a retired soldier who gave 23 years of my life to preserve the right of freedom of speech, I understand that Ms. Lynch has the right to that freedom, but it does not mean she is right.
Lynch has no ideal what softball is about.
My first question is, “Has Lindsey ever played softball?”
If she had, she would know that chanting is as much a part of the game as football player slapping each other’s back end, basketball players bumping chests and volleyball players giving high fives.
Lack of chanting can be taken as admitting defeat, but the presence of chanting shows the never-quit attitude.
When Lynch picked up the pen, she had no idea what she was writing about.
Players look for every edge to be competitive and motivate their teammates.
Lynch had an idea and ran with it, but she ran into the wall of unknown.
And now, players and parents like myself are laughing at her.
If chanting is all Ms. Lynch sees and hears when she goes to the game, she misses the best part of the game, and that is watching the ladies of the ETSU softball team play for their school and themselves.
Some coaches get intense when the dugout gets quiet. They want to hear the chanting.
It’s like saying, “Never surrender, never retreat.”
So, feel free to allow the unknowing to write about things they do not know.
My advice to Lynch is to write about things she knows about, and it is not softball.
And by the way, the article she wrote for the April 8 issue shows a picture of Belinda Barrera, not an “ETSU pitcher” getting ready to release a pitch.
I guess Lynch had to locate some aspirin and did not have time to find out who was in the picture.
John M. Barrera

Author