Letters: ON POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS & ACCOUNTABILITY

IWAS VERY disappointed in Mayor Nutter's endorsement of Hillary Clinton. He has the demonstrated political persona of a real reformer, a person not tied to old-style politics, and I expected him to occupy a more independent position, perhaps not aligning himself, for the moment, with either front-runner - although I would have been pleased if Mr. Nutter had supported Sen. Obama.

Stephen Gring, Ocean City, N.J.

A functioning democracy works best when voters hold politicians accountable for voting mistakes and poor judgment. Should Sen. Clinton be installed as the Democratic nominee and then win the presidency, or should Sen. McCain win, it would send a clear message to other politicians that in the future the electorate will likely not punish anyone for extraordinarily poor decision-making, as in this case when it came to their support for the Iraq war.

Paul West, Philadelphia

From Iraq, on the anthem

I'm active-duty Army in Iraq fighting the war on terror.

I was searching through the few Armed Forces Network TV channels and found the Phillies playing the Cubs in Philly. Miss America was singing the national anthem during the seventh-inning stretch. The camera was scanning the stadium and players were talking with each other and the crowd was moving around in the stands. I only saw two older gentlemen with their hands over their hearts.

I was really upset. I'm in Iraq with thousands of service members fighting for your freedom. And our own American citizens can't stand for less than two minutes while the national anthem is playing.

Sfc. Terry S. Corder

Camp Taji, Iraq

School-district shenanigans

If the school district is closing two charter schools based on the fact that they are in bad academic shape, the School Reform Commission should close half the district - and I'm being polite.

The whole district is in bad shape.

Jan Sklaroff, Berwyn

Dismay from an 'ant'

Re Byko's column on ants vs. grasshoppers:

I, too, am an ant. I paid off a mortgage after 25 years of working two jobs and am proud of that. My house in a working-class neighborhood is not the Taj Mahal, but it is home sweet home. It riles me no end that we taxpayers will pay for the fiscal irresponsibility of our fellow citizens.

Michael P. Evans, Pennsauken, N.J.

If parents won't do it . . .

While I agree with letter-writer Bonita Anderson's assertion that parents raise children without the intention to kill, and that kids eventually develop their individual life paths, parents are still legally and morally responsible for their children's behavior.

This is not a matter of passing judgment, as Ms. Anderson would believe, but reintroducing accountability and placing it where it truly belongs.

Saying you were raised by a single parent with multiple siblings without problems is no answer. I am tired of excuses given for bad behavior and the people who want to justify it.

We are at a point in society now that, if the parents will not control their kids, be assured that the police, court system and prisons will.

Maybe this will be the persuasion for parents who believe that what their kids do is not their fault.

N. Catina Blango

Philadelphia