A Change of Heart - I can remember the contentiousness created in Belleair Beach when some folks suggested the city police services be provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Department.
The 1990's issue divided the city. The Belleair Beach police wanted to remain a city department while (then) Sheriff Everett Rice made a presentation to the city reflecting financial savings.
Times have changed in Belleair Beach.
Even though police services in Belleair Beach typically comprise writing tickets and covering minor offenses, costs related to the police department, as expected in 1998, have continued to increase. Is it time for the police department to be serviced by the Sheriff's Department or maybe the Clearwater or Largo Police Department?
This could become a major issue for the new city council to resolve.
De ja Vu - I can remember when ex-firefighter Ed Hooper opted to run for office in Clearwater. Hooper, then a registered Democrat, changed political parties and then decided to make a run for state legislature against Kim Berfield. Berfield won and Hooper remained active with local politics trying to run again for state office.
In fact, before Everett Rice decided to run for a district legislative seat, Hooper was planning to move into voting district #54 to run for the open seat. Rice decided to run for the legislative seat. Hooper dropped out of the race, and began looking for the next open seat.
When Kim Berfield made the decision to run for a state senate seat, Hooper opted to run for Berfield's open seat in voting district #50.
Hooper is a candidate who is willing to relocate into a new voting district as may be necessary.
Hooper is opposed by Nancy Riley. She is a successful realtor who is the incoming president of the Florida Association of Realtors.
So You Want to Cut and Run from Terrorists - There are some liberal folks in America who would like for U.S. troops to leave Iraq. Those same folks would also leave Israel to fight Hezbollah (Iran and Syria) alone, and allow free and open U.S. borders to illegal immigration. To send 13 million illegal people back home to their country is a hopeless cause, they say.
Well, I wonder how those same people feel about the 10 airplanes that were to be targeted by terrorists bombers but were caught by Scotland Yard. 9/11 would pale in comparison to the destruction of the failed terrorist attempt at harming America and its people.
Tough security in fighting terrorism?
Are there any Americans who question a strong stand against terrorists?
Where should we Americans fight these terrorists? In New York? Chicago? Atlanta? Where?
No, we must stay the course in taking the fight to them, wherever they hide. Iraq? Iran? Syria? North Korea? The cowards must realize there is no place to hide from retribution.
Our security is at stake due to the unique manner in which this war on terrorism is being fought. The terrorists do not wear uniforms, the terrorists behead innocent captured people (there is no trial, no lawyers, no appeals), the terrorist hide in several Middle-East Islamic countries that are anti-American and they use children as shields and pawns.
A strong U.S. President?
You tell me. How would you handle the terrorists? How would you handle another 9/11? Cut and run in Iraq?
Should we trust the United Nations to protect America, as some liberal politicians have inferred?
With so many illegal people in America, how many of this total group are indeed terrorists planning to cause us harm from within our borders? It's a scary thought!
Senator Joe Lieberman Beaten by Ned Lamond - Joe Lieberman is an elder statesman from Connecticut. Joe Lieberman is a Democrat who has independent opinions about the war in Iraq and the war on terrorism. However, Lieberman leans more in support of President Bush on national security issues than far-left Democrats that are trying to run the National Democrat Party. When Joe Lieberman ran for re-election in Connecticut, a millionaire businessman named Ned Lamond challenged Lieberman due to Lieberman supporting Bush's national security plan and the war in Iraq. Ned Lamond ran a one-issue campaign - Lamond was against the war in Iraq and Lieberman was not. Lamond beat Lieberman in the Democrat primary last week in a close race.
However, Joe Lieberman has stated he would run in the November election as an independent (in difference to the Democrat Party's wishes.)
With many voters in Connecticut voting as "independents," Lieberman has a good chance of winning re-election as an independent candidate. Imagine, losing the Democrat primary race and winning the general election as an independent!
Lieberman, on the other hand, considers himself a loyal Democrat who has been wronged by the local party in Connecticut.
What is the message from Connecticut to other Democrats who had supported the war in Iraq?
We will not support you.
This can't be good news for Hillary Clinton who has supported the war in Iraq. Hillary must be wrestling with the defeat of Lieberman since Bill Clinton visited Lieberman to help his re-election campaign (and Lieberman still lost!)
Joe Lieberman is not a true independent; he is a Democrat. In his defense, he is honest, moral, intelligent and not swayed by special interest groups with ideas outside of mainstream America. We probably could use more Joe Lieberman's in Washington, regardless of political persuasion.
Can Lieberman buck the system and win re-election as an independent in Connecticut?
Time will tell, but not one leading Democrat has come-out in support of Joe.
War - A deceitful peace is worse than open war. - Unknown Author