Some names in the news; present and past.

I've been watching and listening to a lot of news recently about PEOPLE in the news and it made me think - no- it has made me scratch my head. Here are just a few examples:

Tiger Woods: A new poll says he is still the most popular athlete (along with Kobe Bryant) in America. Huh? Answer: Americans love winners.

Lindsay Lohan: She is now serving jail time, and yet she gets more ink and air time than anybody deserves. Answer: Americans are fascinated with losers.

Sarah Palin: She has become one of the most polarizing people in politics in recent years. Her detractors make her out to be an air head. But those who her love her say her politics are right on. There is also another reason she attracts so much attention: America loves beautiful people.

Angelina Jolie: She's a box office hit but she is not a great actress, so why is she "money in the bank" for Hollywood? Answer: Like Sarah, America loves beautiful people.

President Barak Obama, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid: What is it they don't get? Answer: They don't listen to the people.

John Boehner: Is he really helping Republicans in Congress? Answer: No. He needs to keep his mouth shut, or at least think before he speaks.

There are a lot more people I could talk about, but there is one more I'd like to throw out there:

Pete Rose: He did a bad thing. He bet on baseball, and even the Reds, when he was the manager. He was banished from baseball and it looks like he'll never make the Hall Of Fame. Is that fair? Answer: No. He has paid his time and it's now time for the Hall Of Fame voters to recognize his accomplishment as the best hitter in baseball.

Bill Ratliff

I'LL miss him. We'll all miss him.

This will be short.

I know George Steinbrenner was a tough task master if you had to work for him. I heard the stories. They weren't pretty. But the George I knew was a different man.

Years ago I was the Master Of Ceremony at an event in Tampa. George was the featured speaker. After he spoke (I was sitting next to him), I saw him pull a checkbook out of his suit jacket and watched him write a check for twenty-five thousand dollars to the group sponsoring the event. $25,000.00!! Can you imagine?

On a personal note, a few years later, my daughter won a public speaking contest for the hearing impaired at his hotel in Ocala, Florida. He was there that day and my daughter introduce herself to him. She told him I was her dad and he said your dad is "one of the good guys".

I don't know exactly what he meant, but it meant a lot to me that he said that.

I know Tampa is going to miss him more than he ever knew.

Bill Ratliff

It Was An Interesting And Encouraging Morning

This morning (July 8th, 2010) I was a guest on the morning "Big Show" on Tampa's 820AM WWBA. It was a lot fun and very interesting. I forgot how much I enjoyed working in radio at the beginning of my career nearly three decades ago.

The reason I was there is one of the show's host, Roger Schulman (who has been on Tampa radio for nearly 40 years), asked me to join them since lead host, Mike Reeves, was on vacation. Also there were co-hosts Shayna Lance and Jo Jo Walker. All three are really nice people and solid professionals.

The morning started out with a chat about the state of local TV news, but things really started getting interesting when Shayna asked me what current events had piqued my interest. I mentioned something I had just blogged about: Republican U-S Senators voting down an extension of unemployment benefits. I said I thought it was the wrong decision.

Roger and Jo Jo agreed with me, but Shayna disagreed strongly. Her point was the U-S government would have to borrow money to extend those benefits. She says enough is enough when it comes to this country reaching out to other countries (i.e China) for a helping hand, financially. What followed was interesting and encouraging.

Phone calls from listeners started pouring in. Some agreed with me, Roger and Jo Jo. Some agreed with Shayna. But the point is the callers were all engaged in the subject and I find that very encouraging. For too long many of us have kept our thoughts and opinions to ourselves for the fear of offending others. There is a problem with that. When we don't discuss our differences we can't move forward. We can't learn from one another.

The exchange of ideas is not only good. It's healthy.

Bill Ratliff

What's Wrong With Being A Political Moderate?

I've been thinking about this for a long time. It almost seems if you are not on the far left nor the far right of the political spectrum those holding those positions think you don't have a political backbone. You are almost a traitor to the political party with which you are registered.

Why does that have to be? I don't know about you, but I don't vote a straight party line all the time. I vote for the -PERSON- the person who I believe best represents my views and values. That person may not be in my party, but I will vote for him or her because I trust them to make honest and honorable decisions. But in today's political climate that doesn't seem good enough.

The political debate has become so heated that moderate thinking and values are almost despised. It is either black or white - grey is not accepted. I think the extremes on both sides are making a mistake. They refuse to listen to those in the middle. When you stop listening you stop learning - you stop thinking.

The fact is there are always at least two sides to an argument, and it doesn't mean that one side is wrong and the other is right. It just means they disagree. But when the extremists criticize those in the middle for not agreeing with them, the extremists are the ones making the mistake - the mistake of not listening to the voices of reason and moderation.

The voices of reason and moderation. Are they going away?

Bill Ratliff

Something Doesn't Seem Right..

After the U-S House approved an extension to unemployment benefits to more than one-million American workers, Senate Republicans blocked it. Their reason: They want to know how we will pay for it. On the surface that sounds reasonable, but hold on.

Where were these Republicans when the Stimulus Bill was passed, along with the bailouts of the auto industry and Wall Street? Why was it okay to send the country into massive debt, but it's not okay to help out American workers who can't find work. It doesn't seem right.

I've heard a couple of conservative talk show hosts rail against extending benefits to the unemployed, but isn't it ironic that while they make tens of millions of dollars a year- each - they don't want the unemployed to receive several hundreds of dollars a month for a short amount of time.

I know, I know, some might say I just don't get it - we have to stop spending money we don't have. But don't we continue to send billions of dollars overseas to help the underprivileged? Then why can't we help our own until our economy recovers? It only seems right.

Bill Ratliff

When Will It End?

It happened again in Tampa today, in the dark of the early morning hours.

Not one, but two, Tampa Police officers were shot and killed. It began as a routine traffic stop, but for some reason the male passenger in the car pulled out a gun and took two young lives. Both a young 31 years old. One with four young sons. The other expecting his first child in a week. Now, those children have lost their dads forever.

Why? Why does this continue to happen? In Tampa alone, we have seen three of our officers die in the line of duty in the last year. It's senseless.

There will be those who will argue that it's our love of guns in this country that leads to this violence. (In fact, the U-S Supreme Court ruled yesterday that it is the right of everyone to have a gun in their home.) But it is not guns that kill people. It's people who kill people. That's the fundamental truth. The question is what leads so many to take the lives of others? Some will say it's fatherless upbringing - others will say it's the economy that deprives people of making a living - leading to anger and depravity. I say there has to be more to it than that.

It has to do with a basic respect for, and of, life. Where are we going wrong when we have people in our daily lives who care so little for the lives of others? What are we doing wrong? I wish I had the answer.

But I know this: When police officers are murdered, it is not just a crime against them - it is a crime against each and every one of us. It is a crime against society. When a police officer is killed, it is like a gun (or weapon) has been turned on each and every one of us.

When will it end? I wish I knew.

Bill Ratliff

It Has Been Quite A Year For Me

Today is June 25th, 2010. One year ago today I retired and ended my forty-one year broadcasting career. The last 37-years were in TV news and the last 27 of those were at WFLA-TV, in Tampa.

When I first retired, I was a little nervous about what I would do with my time. But to my surprise I realized I was totally burned out from getting to work before three a-m for years. So, for the first three months I did nothing but read novels - maybe about 20.

I did suffer a health issue soon after I retired, but the good news is I'm getting better. The better news is the last twelve months have been filled with family joy. My daughter, Shannon, and her husband, Josh, gave us our first grandchild in October. Then in January our son, Chet, married a wonderful young lady, Angie. Our family has expanded and it's great. Now, if I could just get all five of them to live next door to us.

Having this last full year off has given me a lot of time to think about my life and the one word that keeps cropping up is "grateful." Grateful for my wife, Linda, who has been my rock for more than 35-years. Grateful for my two wonderful children and how their lives have turned out. Grateful for a long and successful career, and grateful for all the friends who we have in our lives.

To all of you who are nearing retirement, I think you will enjoy it. It gives you a chance to exhale and relax. One friend (who retired early) told me a few weeks before I retired: "don't be afraid ". He was right.

Bill Ratliff