At a local high school sporting event recently, a few parents were offended that one school’s supporters sang along with the ending of the national anthem and changed the last word to support their team. The offended parents feel that is disrespectful to our troops and want an apology. The identifying details don’t really matter.

Kailani Serapion is a 9-year-old softball player, and a fourth-grader this year at Huddleston Elementary. Her softball experience is a good example of what the Peachtree City Girls Softball League strives for, and the dad she misses a lot is a key part of our league.

For those able to think past the human tragedy in Haiti, there are some reminders of life’s realities. One of those reminders is that when disaster strikes somewhere in the world, our elected representatives in Washington will sell us down the river ... again.

Our bloated federal government has been running amok for a long time, under Democrat and Republican administrations alike, creating mountains of debt and intruding into nooks and crannies of our personal lives where they should not tread. The fingers of state, county and city government reach too far into our pocket and our lives as well.

My friend Rod Albaugh asked a few days ago why I write columns now and then. Rod said he thought he knew but wanted me to tell him. So I explained.

Normally I’d rather not discuss religion publicly, since it leads to hot heads not given to reason and logic. But today I’ll break that rule to weigh in on global warming, with no more than sober reflection as my credentials.

At this writing I don’t know what President Obama will decide and announce this week on Afghanistan, but I do hope he considers the men and women in our armed forces at the top of his priority list. Presidents have not always done so.

Many years ago I earned an A in my college macro-economics course, thereby proving the hypothesis there is no relation whatever between a report card and mastery of a subject. I still remember how much my head hurt every time I took a seat in that classroom and when I studied hard for exams. An economist I am not.

Each year when Veterans Day comes again to honor those who served their country, my mind often drifts to those who served in the life-saving business, the medics, helicopter crews, doctors and nurses who make a memorable difference in the lives of so many.

“Morning, Vern!” is heard over and over at Mimi’s Restaurant on Ga. Highway 54 in Peachtree City, as regulars roll in one at a time with the day just starting and chat with Suzy, Stephanie, Mimi and Vern when he takes a moment to turn away from the grill. But something more important than eggs and burgers is being cooked up at Mimi’s in November.

Who do you call when life throws you a curve? We are fortunate if we have a couple, maybe a few, people in our life who are so solid we know we could count on them in a crisis or to watch our back. Just a few. Earning that trust takes some time, and it takes a lot of character.

If you think only boys step on a ball diamond with a steely glint in their eye prepared for fierce but friendly battle, while girls try to look pretty and smell nice, then you haven’t been to a middle school fast-pitch softball game lately.

I’m no expert on Afghanistan, but I’ll give you something to ponder as you watch the news unfold.

Last week’s big story was the confidential report from President Obama’s appointed commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, candidly warning of possible failure in Afghanistan if we don’t switch now from a counter-terrorism strategy to a counter-insurgency strategy, and that substantially more troops are needed immediately to carry out that new strategy.

U.S. Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard of New Portland, Maine, recently paid the ultimate price in Afghanistan.

Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson, embedded with Bernard’s unit, was with them when they were ambushed by Taliban forces and Bernard was mortally wounded by an enemy rocket-propelled grenade.

If you were at Woodstock 40 years ago, you might remember the music, peace and love from that monumental event as if it were yesterday.

“You are 10 times the writer I am!” John Adams declared to his friend from Virginia, Thomas Jefferson, on June 11, 1776. Adams was persuading Jefferson to draft the 2nd Continental Congress’ statement of independence, and Jefferson tried to pass the job back to Adams before he reluctantly agreed.

This 4th of July will be my 60th. With each passing year, it seems, I grow more troubled at how little the average American knows, or seems to care, about the birth of our country celebrated on that holiday.

How do you say thank you to someone for taking fine care of the thing most dear to you? Here is the only way I know.

Most of you parents learned earlier in life than I did that having a child changes you in ways you could not predict. Your priorities get turned on their head, your life becomes a bargaining chip you would trade in a heartbeat if required to protect your little one, and if they get really sick, you wish there was some way to take on their sickness to make them well again. My 7-year-old Kristen became sick last summer and still has seizures now and then.

Every semester I am a guest lecturer for two hours at Newnan High School on the myths and truths of the Vietnam War. It almost seems Samuel Clemmons was looking to the future Vietnam War when he said in the 1800s, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”

At dinner time on the last Friday in March, I parked next to an ambulance on the courthouse square in Newnan with my 7-year-old daughter, Kristen, in the back seat. This would be her first trip to Golden’s Cafeteria, soon to be a favorite since she loves pick-your-food restaurants that give a kid the power to choose.

As the hyperventilating over Barack Obama’s election subsides, along with disbelief this could happen in America, maybe a white conservative man like me can finally say a few things.

Maybe I’m a dinosaur. Not because I turned 60 in August, but because I believe in our system of capitalism and I have not forgotten the utter failure of socialism and communism wherever it has been tried.

The terrorists watching last week’s financial market turmoil might conclude that if they are sufficiently patient, we will destroy ourselves without their help.

Why is it that so many Obama supporters seem to reach their decision by feelings while so many McCain supporters seem to reach their decision by thinking?

Much has been said about the press’ adoring coverage of Obama while they nearly ignore McCain. My friend, Alex Nides, who lives in Tyrone with his wife Fran, told me recently about one way the media ignored McCain, a peek at the bias from an angle you probably won’t hear anywhere else.

In the crowd watching the Peachtree City Fourth of July Parade recently, a young soldier in Army dress greens and a sailor in Navy whites made me wonder how much they know about the war in Iraq.

My thoughts turned to fear and courage on Fathers Day as I held my 6-year-old daughter, Kristen, in her room in Children’s Hospital at Scottish Rites in Atlanta.

The California Supreme Court two weeks ago overturned California’s voter-chosen ban on same-sex marriage. What could that possibly have to do with the HBO series “John Adams” I wrote about recently?

I don’t have to tell you how the junk slouching out of Hollywood seems to counter your best efforts to teach your kids character and values.

I’ll admit for starters I did not attend the gathering last week in Silver Springs, Md., titled “Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan — Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations.”