The Way I See ItBy cj pollickClearwater City Politics - When times are tough in Clearwater, like they are at the present, citizens tend to vote for change. Perhaps this is one reason why there are candidates planning to challenge incumbents. Rita Garvey, for example, is planning to run against Mayor Frank Hibbard. Garvey has not stated why she is specifically challenging an incumbent. It is clear, however, that she expects a large voter turnout in the January election and that Clearwater voters might vote for change (from the current direction of the city.) Rita Garvey is one thick-skinned candidate. With old personal issues likely to be raised in the upcoming campaign by political opponents, she, nonetheless, has the tenacity and will-power to address those issues (if necessary) and predictably will run a campaign based on issues she stated she will soon disclose. It is Garvey vs. Hibbard for mayor. Regarding other city candidates running for office, none have explained why they seek to oust incumbents. Taxes, city fee increases, city payroll increases, private development issues, rapport with citizen groups, city unions dissatisfactions, city services, or any number of other reasons might be used to explain why candidates are running for office. Thus far, not many specific issues have been made public. Incumbents? They say all is well and the city is headed in the right direction. They say to "stay the course" and things will get better. Yes, the 2008 Clearwater election should be interesting to follow and the Gazette will soon be holding online polls to observe city voter feelings. Where? ClearwaterGazette.com. Pinellas County Officials Increase Motel/Hotel Density - Pinellas County commissioners supported increasing motel/hotel density (building) rights by over 50 percent. This new construction rule will help hotel property owners to build new properties due to the increase in room allowances. A good thing? Yes, this new rule should help many property owners to consider hotel development rather than condominium development. USF Reaches New High - Who would have thought at the beginning of the 2007 NCAA football season that USF might be ranked as one of the top two football teams in America? Ohio State number one and USF number two. Of course, and to the many tens of thousands of USF fans and alumni, this ranking is the result of continued growth of the young football program. After all, why would a good young football player want to play football in cold weather, like in Ohio or Michigan? No, they would rather play in the near-perfect Tampa Bay weather at one of Florida's best universities - - USF. What about FSU? Hmmm, Coach Bobby is having big problems and 2007 might be another bad year for the Noles. What about Florida? After the loss to LSU the Gators need to regroup in order to possibly win the SEC. UCF? Not good. Miami? No, you must give credit to the USF BULLS and their coaching staff. 2007 has been a year when the BULLS have gained alumni support and huge student body excitement. All of this is good for Tampa Bay. Big-time college football right here in Tampa Bay. Go BULLS - - beat Rutgers. Swayed More By Gossip Than Truth - Recent studies have proven that people are swayed more by gossip than truths. Yes, gossip based on mere rumor and no facts can sway people's opinions more than facts. Welcome to the world of the national media where attempts to sway public opinion is performed on a daily basis. News sources that are owned and operated by either liberal or conservative owners clearly tend to present news in a manner that promotes their opinions rather than unbiased truths. On the other hand, many American citizens are beginning to question what they read and hear on television because of distorted truths and constant attacks on certain political issues. For example, in England, the liberal news media can't seem to pass an opportunity to denigrate President Bush or America. In certain large US cities, such as New York, Los Angeles and Washington, the large newspapers regularly spin news reports to oppose conservative political views and politicians. George Bush was/is bashed as a "dummy" while John Kerry is/was elevated as "brilliant." Yet, the truth of the matter is that George Bush had better grades at Yale than John Kerry. Hillary Clinton is painted by the media as a smart lawyer, while Rudy Guiliani receives no such accolades - - yet, Hillary Clinton failed the Washington DC bar exam underperforming with the lowest percentage of people who took such exam (about 80% passed.) Al Gore won the Nobel Peace Prize even though many respected scientists have stated that his message on global warming was not based on facts . . . expert scientists proclaim that there may not be a human reason for global warming! Yet, you rarely notice any articles or media comments regarding the expert scientists that have questioned Al Gore's statements about global warming. Gossip not based on facts. Ad hominem personal attacks regarding a political candidate is one way some political campaigns and media sources try to help certain candidates win. Issues become of secondary importance to attacks on the person. In this manner, a candidate with good ideas might lose to a candidate with only a few good ideas. Of course, this process of attacking the person tends to get worse when more important political offices are considered. Imagine the attacks if a certain news source wanted to control who won judicial or top legislative offices where decisions might impact the news source itself? Swayed more by gossip than truth? The recent study also said that people tended to believe gossip more than if they had actually seen the truth. Amazing.
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