From the Leftovers, Readers Find Some Bones to Pick

Let’s talk turkey.

Or put another way, let’s give thanks to readers for their opinions about recent columns.

Remember the 16-year-old Dana Hills High School boy who cupped his hand over the mouth of a band teammate to silence her from talking during the national anthem? Far from considering that patriotic, Salena Wakim of Fullerton wrote:

“What he did was not heroic in the slightest and should not be treated as such. What he did was violate that young girl’s personal space and body. . . . There she is sitting in the bleachers. Yes, she is talking through the anthem, which to some may be considered rude, but it is still her right to do so. . . . What he did was not heroic, it was harassment.”

That puts her in league with Robert Porter of Anaheim, who wrote: “Telling the young lady to be quiet, even yelling at her, may be acceptable under the circumstances, but the instant he placed his hand over her mouth, he went over the line. Had the girl been a boy Andrew’s size, I am sure the outcome would have been different.”

From the “It Keeps You Humble Department,” this phone message from an unidentified gentleman is among my recent favorites. He took exception to me chiding Republicans for whining about media coverage of Bob Dole:

“I have a darn good question. Who is Dana Parsons? Your column appears constantly in the L.A. Times, but who the hell are you and why do you even exist in my newspaper? You don’t report any news, you don’t do anything except give your own personal opinions, which are obviously way off the mark in Republican Orange County. I think the only whiner here is Dana Parsons, because you obviously can’t get anything else done.”

I’m glad the political season is over, at least for a while. Who among us wants to be dressed down like this, from a woman who identified herself as “ye time-honored old folks”:

“You absolutely have TOO MUCH power in your column. We are all wrong and you are right and you can state it so every day. . . . Here’s a middle finger to you, dear. (Signed) Your ever-loving relative who sees you in every man between 40 and 50--you sure go down ugly.”

Many readers sounded off on me for wondering, as in the case of fired UCLA basketball Coach Jim Harrick, why society always seems to put more emphasis on the cover-up than the original “crime.” Although John Watkins of San Juan Capistrano suggested I “find a way to get back to reality,” reader Bonnie O’Neil was more benign in her disagreement:

“The explanation is that people do expect others to make mistakes. . . . However, when we catch someone in a lie, it causes a much more serious problem if they try to cover it up. How can we be certain that anything that person says is the truth . . . ? The trust just can no longer be there, and there is a fear there could be even more serious offenses that just haven’t been discovered yet.”

OK, maybe I blew that one.

The Robert Citron sentencing was on many readers’ minds. The former treasurer got a year in County Jail, which I referred to as a slap on the wrist. Yet, I had to confess that I wouldn’t have had the stomach to give him any tougher sentence.

Marybelle Swift of Laguna Hills used the Bible for her inspiration. Quoting from the Book of Micah, she wrote, “And what did the Lord require of thee but to do justly and to love mercy, and to work humbly with thy God?”

Mrs. Swift added her own postscript: “I expect our hearts came to this conclusion about Mr. Citron as we attempt to balance justice and mercy. I feel the courts serve us best when they forsake revenge and truly work to serve justice tempered with mercy.”

Last Sunday’s column on the shooting of an unarmed man by Huntington Beach police prompted one caller, a former police officer, to say I was too impatient. Wait for the results of the investigation, he counseled.

Letter-writer Richard Gunton of Huntington Beach had a different take on things: “I am basically a law-and-order type of person, and I have generally supported the police in trying to get the bad guys off the street, but what do you do when the bad guy is one of the police?”

Finally, on a lighter note, I sheepishly draw attention to a recent column on my lifelong dislike of getting haircuts. While many readers no doubt wondered why I bothered to write it, please take note of this phone message from a man who said he was 60 years old: “I’ve never related before to an article as completely as I did to that one.”

So there.

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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Readers may reach Parsons by writing to him at the Times Orange County Edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or calling (714) 966-7821.