Category: Media Watch

* That was a thoughtful op-ed piece that attorney Christian Waugh penned earlier this week for the Tampa Bay Times. Waugh, a member of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Nominating Commission and a former president of the University of Florida’s Economics Society, noted how Florida’s considerable role in international trade could be enhanced even more. All it would take is Congress re-upping Trade Promotion Authority legislation.

The TPA, which actually expired in 2007, improves chances of the U.S. striking new international trade agreements. Given that Florida is one of the top five exporting states in the country, it could only help.

Interesting but hardly surprising is that a piece devoted to looking for ways to better Florida’s economy via exports doesn’t even mention the role of the Cuban embargo. But it does mention in the bio note that Waugh’s law firm has offices in the Villages and Miami.

* Granted, President Barack Obama’s poll numbers have been tanking. The sloppy roll-out of the Affordable Care Act, of course, is a major reason. Thus, it’s no surprise that the president would look for a way to take back some of the initiative and try to make the healthcare.gov case to a key constituency: younger voters, sardonically labeled “invincibles” for their mortality-defying healthcare mentalities. We get such a strategic attempt before the signup period ends March 31.

What’s not as getable is the forum chosen: the irreverent, Zach Galifianakos-hosted online show, Between Two Ferns. Obama obviously saw it as the pragmatic price to be paid to possibly reach a key demographic. Others assuredly saw it as the further demeaning of the office of the presidency: maybe Hangover III.

Time was when you would see a Bill Clinton playing safe sax on the Arsenio Hall late-night show. John F. Kennedy even went on the old Tonight Show with Jack Paar back in the day. But both were presidential CANDIDATES.

Now it’s almost routine to see this sitting president–who is, admittedly, quick and funny in such contexts–joining Leno and Fallon, let alone Stewart and Colbert. There’s demographic, cultural and technological reach–and there’s Funnyordie.com ridicule. That shouldn’t be a viable trade-off for whoever occupies the office of the president of the United States, let alone one struggling to be taken seriously by a divisive, cheap-shotting electorate.

* CNN’s Candy Crawley played gotcha with Charlie Crist recently when she asked him whether he thought “the economy is better than it was when (Gov. Scott) took office.” She said she wanted a “yes” or “no” answer. She got her “yes” with context: Crist said the turnaround began at the end of his term when he accepted the federal stimulus money.

Here’s hoping Crawley saves some gotcha material for Rick Scott. To wit: “Had you been governor then instead of Crist, would you have accepted the stimulus money that arguably saved thousands of teacher, law enforcement and firefighter jobs?” And: “We see the improved economic numbers in Florida over the last few years. Did Florida have the option of participating in the national recovery? A simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ will suffice.”

* “All right, good night.”–Final words heard by air traffic controllers from the cockpit of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.

* “There has been surprisingly little outcry against the proposed defense cuts, which would reduce the size of the U.S. Army to its lowest levels since 1940. That’s because people are no longer sure military might gets you very much.”–David Brooks, New York Times.

* “For (Vladimir Putin) Kiev’s movement toward the West is an affront to Russia in a zero-sum game for the loyalty of former territories of the empire. … For Putin, the Cold War ended ‘tragically.’  He will turn the clock back as far as intimidation through military power, economic leverage and Western inaction will allow.”—Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

* “Was the CIA too busy spying on the Senate to spy on Russia?”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “The way we communicate today is so inauthentic. People break up over texting.”–Judy Smith, crisis management consultant and a former adviser to President George H.W. Bush.

* “Remember, the right thing to do is also the politically right thing to do.”–The late Florida Gov. Reubin Askew.

* “Slot revenues–which account for the overwhelming majority of money casinos take in–are one-third to one-half funded by individuals with gambling disorders.”–Earl L. Grinols, Distinguished Professor of Economics at Baylor University and author of Gambling In America: Costs And Benefits.

* “The only way Rick Scott wins is if he convinces people that Charlie Crist is actually worse than him. And that’s going to be a tough sell because people like Charlie Crist and they don’t like Rick Scott.”–Former Republican state legislator Paula Dockery.

* “We’re not going to approach her until she has time to kind of assess her options. But I believe that if Alex Sink decides to run, she will win in November and we will do everything, and I mean everything, to support her.”–Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairman Steve Israel.

* “I love it down here. I love owning the team, and it seems like I’m buying more real estate than I’m selling, so I guess I’m committed.”–Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.

* “We want to keep the program because it works. Crashes are down, and so are citations. We are changing driving habits and ultimately making our roadways safer.”–Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor on Tampa retaining its red-light camera program.    

* “The ad valorem property tax rebound usually lags a year to two behind. Most of the projects that are coming out of the ground now have not (received certificates of occupancy), so we’re not collecting taxes yet.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on why the 2015 budget will probably include a shortfall between $10 million and $15 million.

* “The fact that we need bigger libraries and that we need expanded services shows that we’re still as relevant today as 100 years ago.”–Margaret Rials, a chief librarian with the Hillsborough County Library Cooperative.

* “No one entity has overriding authority. We need to be working more collaboratively.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe, on the county’s fragmented transportation agencies.

* “It’s our most expensive source. We’re running it right now for the dry season, and we’ll turn it off during the summer rains when we don’t need it. We rotate it in as needed for the dry season.”–Brandon Moore, spokesman for Tampa Bay Water, the region’s main water supplier, on the role of its desalination plant.

* “We have been talking about modernizing transit for 30 years, and we are still not getting it done. … We are losing pace to every other metro area.”–Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch. 

* “Putin’s main interest is to project an image of Russia as a great and essential global power. That’s what the Sochi Olympics were all about. He spent $50 billion on that PR spectacle–an investment thoroughly nullified by his maladroit move on Crimea: another sign that Putin is not as brilliant as the Cold Warriors think.”–Fred Kaplan, author and the Edward R. Murrow press fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations.

* “Kosovo is very much a legitimate (Crimea) precedent. Independence was accomplished despite strong opposition by a legitimate, democratic and basically Western-oriented government of Serbia.”–Dimitri K. Simes, president of the Washington-based Center for the National Interest.

* “Cuba is disposed to discussing, on a basis of equality, sovereignty and mutual respect, whatever matter including those of human rights, about which it has many concerns over what is happening in various European countries.”–Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, in formally accepting a European Union invitation to being talks on improving ties.

*We own about 90 percent of the problems facing the country in terms of issues arising. My concern, with a shrinking budget, is whether or not the services have what they need to provide trained and ready forces in a timely fashion.”–Army Gen. Lloyd Austin III, commander of U.S. Central Command at MacDill AFB, in a presentation to the House Armed Services Committee.

* “If you’re poor, stop being poor.”–Fox Business commentator and NYSE Euronext Managing Director Todd Wilemon.

* “If the Republicans win the Senate, they’ll get in and find out they can’t pass legislation either. Then they’ll look bad just in time to help make a Democratic presidential candidate look good.”–Maureen Dowd, New York Times.

* “I’m a guy with a healthy ego. But every time my ego gets a little out of control my wife reminds me that John McCain considered me and Sarah Palin for vice president and decided Sarah was more qualified.”–Charlie Crist, at last Saturday’s Gridiron Club and Foundation dinner in Washington.

* “Every Republican likes to think that he or she is the next Ronald Reagan.”–Ann Coulter.

* “Yet for all we have achieved together, this remains the great unfinished business of the 21st century.”–Hillary Clinton, at a U.N. forum on International Women’s Day, on the goal of equality for women and girls.

* “With all the bad weather we’ve had back home and all the potholes, we ought to have the revenue go to infrastructure: ‘pot for potholes.'”–Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee, on potential uses for revenue from legalized marijuana.

* “It’s been eight months since I last wrote about medical marijuana, apologizing for having not dug deeply into the beneficial effects of this plant and for writing articles dismissing its potential. I apologized for my own role in previously misleading people… .”–Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, CNN chief medical correspondent.

* “It’s our most expensive source. We’re running it right now for the dry season, and we’ll turn it off during the summer rains when we don’t need it. We rotate it in as needed for the dry season.”–Brandon Moore, spokesman for Tampa Bay Water, the region’s main water supplier, on the role of its desalination plant.

* “I love it down here. I love owning the team, and it seems like I’m buying more real estate than I’m selling, so I guess I’m committed.”–Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik

* “We have no plans to get rid of the red-light camera program. They are changing behavior and keeping our roads safer.”–Tampa city spokeswoman Ali Glisson.

* “The ad valorem property tax rebound usually lags a year to two behind. Most of the projects that are coming out of the ground now have not (received certificates of occupancy), so we’re not collecting taxes yet.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on why the 2015 budget will probably include a shortfall between $10 million and $15 million.

* “The fact that we need bigger libraries and that we need expanded services shows that we’re still as relevant today as 100 years ago.”–Margaret Rials, a chief librarian with the Hillsborough County Library Cooperative.

* “No one entity has overriding authority. We need to be working more collaboratively.”–Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe, on the county’s fragmented transportation agencies.

* “The bottom line is that the aquarium is not going to be a losing proposition.”–Clearwater Mayor George Cretekos, on results of a study projecting the Clearwater Marine Aquarium drawing more than 1.2 million visitors annually.

* “I love the new (Bucs’) uniform. It’s fresh, it’s cool. It’s a lot sexier. The old one looked like a T-shirt.”–Michael Costello, the designer of Beyonce’s Grammy dress.

* Interesting how the two dailies are dealing with the Doonesbury comic strip. Creator Gary Trudeau is taking time off to concentrate on writing and producing Alpha House, an Amazon Instant Video comedy. That means Sunday-only strips. The weekday ones will be reruns.

The Tampa Bay Times will continue Sundays and run the weekday retrospective dating back to the 1970s. The Tampa Tribune will stay with Sundays but will not pick up the reruns. Instead, it is introducing a new strip, Rhymes With Orange, by Hilary B. Price.

Neither, however, will consider moving Doonesbury to the editorial page, where it really belongs.

* We’ve been lampooned as “Flori-duh” and the “Gunshine State.”  Hanging chads, outrageously long voter lines, fluoride rejections, 1.1 million conceal-and-carry licenses and high-profile, “Stand Your Ground”-associated trials will do it. Now add “Fake or Florida?”, a parody game show on Late Night with Seth Meyers. It would appear that the piling on will continue as long as the material keeps coming.

*Schadenfreude front page: The Trib’s lengthy, below-the-fold piece on the financial strains of the Tampa Bay Times organization.

* “This is not ‘Rocky IV.'”–Secretary of State John Kerry, saying Western concern for Ukraine’s sovereignty is not a return to the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union.

* “Today’s Russia, brutalized by Communism and then taken over by oligarchs and grifters, is not a traditional society in any meaningful sense of the term, and the only thing it has in common with many of its potential developing world allies is a contempt for democratic norms.”–Ross Douthat, New York Times.

* “Create a democratic noose around Putin’s Russia.”–Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.

* “Nobody wants to end up owning all the problems that Ukraine faces. The country is bankrupt, it has a terrible, broken system of government and insane levels of corruption.”–Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations.

* “To the American people, give them my best wishes and my gratitude. To the U.S. government, give them my anger, my extreme anger.”–Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

* “The United States is basically the Wild West of privacy.”–Barry Steinhardt, founder of Friends of Privacy USA.

* “The Kepler space telescope has discovered 715 new planets. Either that or somebody sneezed on the lens.”–Late-night, talk-show comedian Jimmy Kimmel.

* “Tune out the naysayers who say if the deck is stacked against you, you might as well just give up or settle into the stereotype.”–President Barack Obama, appearing with teenagers involved in the ‘Becoming a Man’ program for at-risk boys in Chicago.

* “The federal government requires us to educate all children, whether they are illegal or legally in the state. And yet, after they go through our public schools, we somehow pretend they are no longer Floridians.”–House Speaker Will Weatherford, addressing the issue of in-state tuition rates for the children of immigrants living in the country illegally.

* “This is ironic, to say the least. Now, Florida’s request for an extension and increase in Medicaid LIP (Low Income Pool) funds will undergo great scrutiny and skepticism due to the incongruity of Florida’s Medicaid policy.”–U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, D-Tampa.

* “When you ask consumers if they want consumer choice in energy, they say, ‘Yes.’ I believe the people will support a change in energy policy to support energy independence and consumer choice.”–State Rep. Dwight Dudley, St. Petersburg Democrat and solar power advocate.

* “We don’t know the long-term effect of inhaling that (e-cigarette) nicotine solution, all day, every day, for years. So we don’t know if they’re safer than tobacco. The research hasn’t been done.”–Thomas Brandon, director of the Tobacco Research and Intervention Program at Moffitt Cancer Center.

* “Tampa is becoming as popular as South Florida with foreign investors, and many of the same retailers and companies in both markets.”–David Sobelman, managing partner of commercial real estate brokerage Calkain Cos.

* “Everyone gives Silicon Valley the credit for high-tech jobs. We’re bringing Silicon Valley here to Florida.”–Arnie Bellini, CEO of the Tampa-based IT company ConnectWise, which recently announced plans to add 112 jobs by 2016.

* “There’s a curse and a blessing to having your own hospital. On the whole, I think partnering with a hospital in this day and age is preferable to owning one.”–Dr. Charles Lockwood, newly named dean of USF’s Morsani School of Medicine.

* “We are vital and valuable institutions. The bigger picture here … is the lack of government support of cultural institutions in Florida.”–Wit Ostrenko, president of the Museum of Science and Industry.

* “I don’t think they could have found a better person. Clearly, she is a top-notch manager. She proved it as mayor.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on the hiring of Pam Iorio as CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.

* “It is our most expensive source. We’re running it right now for the dry season, and we’ll turn it off during the summer rains when we don’t need it. We rotate it in as needed for the dry season.”–Brandon Moore, spokesman for Tampa Bay Water, the region’s main water supplier, on the role of its desalination plant.

* “I love it down here. I love owning the team, and it seems like I’m buying more real estate than I’m selling, so I guess I’m committed.–Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.

* “When I discuss intelligent life in the universe, I take this to include the human race, even though much of its behavior throughout history appears not to have been calculated to aid the survival of the species.”–British mathematician Stephen Hawking, author of A Brief History of Time.

* “They are wrongs that shock the conscience of humanity.”–Australian Judge Michael Kirby, chairman of a U.N. commission of inquiry, in comparing North Korea’s crimes against civilians with Nazi atrocities.

* “The situation is so bad (in Venezuela) that three airlines now refuse to fly there: The government owes them too much money.”–William J. Dobson, Slate.

* “There’s a new Ukraine, and it should find its niche.”–Former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

* “Every moment we don’t separate from the Palestinians is a clear threat to the existence of Israel as a Jewish state.”–Israeli Finance Minister Yair Lapid.

* “It’s not just win-win, it’s a win-win-win.”–President Barack Obama pointing out that new fuel-efficiency rules on trucks and buses will reduce pollution, save consumers money and help reduce oil imports.

* “(President Obama) would much rather spend the money on food stamps than he would on a strong military or support for our troops.”–Former Vice President Dick Cheney.

* “It’s not enough to praise America’s founders; it is necessary to listen to them. The Federalist founders did not view government as a necessary evil. They referred to the ‘imbecility’ of a weak federal government (in the form of the Articles of Confederation) compared to a relatively strong central government, which is what the Constitution actually created.”–Michael Gerson, Washington Post.

* “…You’re so narrow-minded, and then you want to compete against the world (in other sports) when you waste a lot of time, good talent on a sport (football) that stinks.”–Netherlands long-track speed skating coach Jillert Anema.

* “The myth of Republican governors as reformers is dead.”–Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, who leads the Democratic Governors Association.

* “The Recovery Act was not a failed program. Our position is that it created higher output and employment than would have occurred without it.”–Douglas Elmendorf, director of the independent Congressional Budget Office.

* “For a free society to work, the police have to have a monopoly on legal violence. That requirement is now doubtful in Florida.”–Dennis Kenney, law professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

* “We want to be a kinder, gentler Citizens with the consumer.”–Chris Gardner, Citizens Property Insurance board chairman.

* “My view is the validity of  those assessments go down when you have too many tests to take.”–John Legg, chairman of the Florida Senate’s Education Committee, who contends Florida’s students are over-tested.

* “There’s a curse and a blessing to having your own hospital. On the whole, I think partnering with a hospital in this day and age is preferable to owning one.”–Dr. Charles Lockwood, newly named dean of USF’s Morsani School of Medicine.

* “I love it down here. I love owning the team, and it seems like I’m buying more real estate than I’m selling, so I guess I’m committed.”–Tampa Bay Lightning owner Jeff Vinik.

* “All in all, it was a nightmare.”–John Hagensicker of Lutz, describing what it was like being the next-door neighbor of the Bucs’ Mike Williams.

* Alex Sink is on the proper side of the issues. Would that she were governor. Would that she becomes C.W. Bill Young’s successor. Would that she had David Jolly’s smooth, on-camera presence.

* We know how the endorsement game goes, so it’s no surprise that Marco Rubio has endorsed David Jolly, who keeps tacking to the right of the late Congressman Young. But Jolly’s response to Rubio’s support was beyond enthusiastic gratitude. “It’s the highest honor of my life to have your endorsement,” gushed Jolly. Actually, it may be beyond helpful in that classic swing district.

* Many of us wax concerned over younger generations not “reading the minutes of previous meetings”–not knowing enough history. We’re also aware that current events can’t be outsourced to Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. You have to know what satirists are satirizing.

That’s the context for the insights of Zach Messitte, the president of Ripon (Wisconsin) College, who still teaches a course he calls “American Foreign Policy and the Movies.” He notes the increasing value within the hype, excess and mass appeal of movies such as “12 Years a Slave,” “American Hustle,” “The Wolf of Wall Street,” “Captain Phillips,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Zero Dark Thirty” and even “Apocalypse Now.” And he puts a big onus on the movie industry to do more than just make money.

“As long-form journalism retreats and the attention span for international news shrinks, the movies are a critical rough draft of history that affects higher education,” he underscores. “It is imperative that Hollywood’s best pictures continue to get these stories right, because they lay the groundwork for the next generation’s understanding of the world… .”

Oliver Stone would agree.

* The most recent (Nov. 18-20, 2013) CNN/ORC poll showed John F. Kennedy topping the approval list for the last nine former presidents. Finishing closest to Kennedy (90 percent) were Ronald Reagan (78) and Bill Clinton (74). Then came Gerald Ford (67), George H.W. Bush (62), Jimmy Carter (60), Lyndon B. Johnson (55), George W. Bush (42) and Richard Nixon (31).

No surprise that JFK was first. For all of his risky behaviors and modest domestic record, his Cuban Missile stand-down of his own hardliners, who outnumbered him and included LBJ, transcends all. The world, not just the U.S., still owes him.

Reagan was more than the “amiable dunce” of Clark Clifford’s assessment, but not that much more. He was the fortuitous beneficiary of a key global partner: Mikhail Gorbachev.

Monica Lewinsky, impeachment procedures and the definition of “is” cost Clinton points and offsets the black-ink economy of the late 1990s. The unelected, undistinguished Ford is a surprising fourth. Imagine if he hadn’t pardoned Nixon.

Bush Sr., who actually presided over the end of the Cold War, arguably deserves better than a “read my lips” legacy. Jimmy Carter will never escape the onerous trifecta of micromanager, stagflation and Tehran hostages. Vietnam–the deaths, wounds and foreign-policy precedent–more than cancels out Johnson’s political acumen that resulted in Great Society programs.

I’d swap the places of “W” and Nixon. I’ll take the geopolitically-savvy conniver over the clueless guy answering to Dick Cheney.

* Speaking of polls, by now we’ve all seen the Atlantic Council’s well-publicized survey showing that a majority of Americans and more than 60 percent of Floridians now favor normalizing relations with Cuba. Other majorities for normalizing: Hispanics and residents of Miami-Dade County. And the chairman of the nonpartisan Atlantic Council board of directors: Jon Huntsman, the moderate Republican who was a 2012 GOP presidential candidate.

* Look who’s back in the news: George Zimmerman. No, not for brandishing a weapon or cuffing a girlfriend. But sitting for a self-serving interview with the Spanish-language television network Univision. The major takeaways: He struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder; he never realized Trayvon Martin was unarmed; he owes his lawyers $2.5 million; he blames the media for making him notorious; he wears a bullet-proof vest; he lives off his parents; and he would like to go back to school to study, uh, law.

And one other thing: He expresses no regrets about the shooting. None. That’s unconscionably insensitive–and Stand Your Ground outrage-inducing all over again. It’s also really dumb–in any language.

* “It could rob us of the diplomatic high ground we worked so hard to reach.”–Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in warning Congress against new sanctions targeting Iran.

* “What the law will do, five centuries later, is make amends for a terrible historic mistake, one of the worst that Spaniards ever made.”–Spanish Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, on Spain’s plans to offer citizenship to descendents of Sephardic Jews forced to flee in 1492.

* “We love Americans, although we don’t always say so. And you love the French, but you are sometimes too shy to say so.”–French President Francois Hollande in his state dinner toast at the White House.

* “It’s not an exaggeration to say that the entire way of life here is at risk.”–Secretary of State John Kerry in Indonesia urging climate change action.

* “When a senator says it’s bad to smoke pot, and young people ask him whether he’s ever done it, and he says he won’t answer the question because it might set a bad example, he’s already setting a bad example. He’s teaching them that politicians are cagey and self-serving.”–William Saletan, Slate.

* “(Philip Seymour Hoffman) did not die from an overdose of heroin–he died from heroin. We should stop implying that if he had just taken the proper amount, everything would have been fine.”–Screenwriter Aaron Sorkin.

* “Day trading is the biggest sucker game in the world.”–Jim Cramer, stock-picker host of CNBC’s “Mad Money.”

* “People often find it difficult to identify people of different races, whether it’s whites identifying blacks, blacks identifying whites or what have you. Indeed, it happens enough that psychology has a name for it: other race effect. … A bigot is no more likely than anyone else to misidentify people of other races.”–Leonard Pitts, Miami Herald.

* “Through it all, I’ve never stopped chasing the next one (defining moment). I want to finally stop the chase and take in the world.”–Derek Jeter, in announcing that he will retire after the 2014 season.

* “Congress created the problem and Congress must fix it. But the fix cannot occur overnight.”–U.S. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-Lakeland, on the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Act.

* “I want more. I want it faster.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on his vision for downtown Tampa.

* “The West Coast has been a hole in our route map, and now we’ve closed that. For us to attract the kind of high-tech companies we want to attract, we have to be competitive. We have to have the air service to bring them here.”–TIA CEO Joe Lopano, in announcing daily, non-stop service to Seattle via Alaska Airlines beginning in June.

* “We expect to have a presence in India well after the event.”–Visit Tampa Bay CEO Santiago Corrada, on the impact of April’s Tampa-hosted Bollywood Oscars.

* “Most urban areas clustered around water use their water to move people.”–Former Hillsborough County Commissioner Ed Turanchik, who represents HMS Ferries Inc.

* I have no plans to retire.”–MaryEllen Elia, 65, Hillsborough County Schools superintendent.

* “In a special election, I’d be much more suspect of polling… .”–Darryl Paulson, retired USF political scientist, on the Congressional District 13, Alex Sink-David Jolly race.

* “I don’t want to let this thing sit out there and fester much longer. That’s not a good idea. We’re at a point where I’m ready to look at getting together with the Rays and talking about where we go from here.”–St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.

* “Confidence is part of the sport, but being cocky isn’t.”–Brandon High School wrestling coach Russ Cozart.

* “…It’s not just hyperbole. It’s not just talk. It’s not just rhetoric. It’s not any of that stuff. It’s believable. And if you believe it, you can do it. If you don’t believe it, you can never do it.”–Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon, on the Rays’ prospects for reaching the World Series this season.

“Tobacco products have no place in a setting where healthcare is delivered, ” explained CVS CEO Larry Merlo after his company recently announced that it would soon stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products. Bravo, Larry.

Not to be skeptical, but it’s amazing how long CVS has been selling cigarettes given how long that incongruous reality has been self-evident. But somebody had to go first. I’d call it enlightened self-interest for now.

In the short term, CVS, a Fortune 500 business, will lose about .015 per cent of total sales, but get credit–from President Obama to the health care industry–for doing the right thing. That has a bottom line too. And the onus will be on the competition to look like something other than blatant hypocrites. So, yes, bravo, Larry.

But the big retail impact will be when gas stations get religion.

The other big impact? When those warning labels on cigarette packs cut to the chase and make the case to vulnerably young smokers, sometimes called “invincibles” in the health-care insurance debate.

Last month in my one-man, day-after-Gasparilla clean-up around my neighborhood, I picked up a half-full pack of Camel cigarettes. I hadn’t held a pack of cigarettes, seriously, since high school (King Sano, for the record), and I scrutinized it like some anthropological artifact. Then I read the surgeon general’s warning: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.”

Whoa. That should be one hell of a deterrent. Personally, I wouldn’t touch another Snickers if an admonition said anything remotely like that.

But you know even bluntly ominous caveats don’t necessary register to those who still harbor a shot at immortality. There are still too many young, but impressionable smokers.

So, why not double down on the print-ad, peer-pressure- and vanity approach in the mandated, cig-pack messaging? Why not say: “Think you look cool? Actually, you look stupid for buying this insultingly overpriced product, one that flat-out harms your quality of life and can kill even, yes, you. You’re smarter than this, aren’t you? Well, aren’t you?”

* “What is coming out of the presidential palace today, or what President Karzai says today, I don’t know. It changes constantly.”–Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel.

* “No (Al) Qaeda threat has ever remained exclusively local. They have always eventually crossed borders and become regional in operations and attacks and certainly in fund-raising and recruiting.”–Bruce Hoffman, director of security studies at Georgetown University.

* “In this day and age, brands are more powerful than truth and, inexplicably, blindly, Israel is letting itself be branded an apartheid state–and even encouraging it.”–Hirsh Goodman, former editor of The Jerusalem Report and the author of The Anatomy of Israel’s Survival.

* “Indifference is not an option for Germany.”–Ursula von der Leyen, Germany’s new defense minister.

* “I think the way we have to think about this year is we have a divided government. The Republican Congress is not going to rubber-stamp the president’s agenda. The president is not going to sign the Republican Congress’ agenda.”–White House senior adviser Dan Pfeiffer.

* “Most people think income inequality is fine–in fact, it’s proper–when one person works harder than another. (President) Obama’s argument isn’t just that the economy has left incomes unequal. It’s that the economy is failing to honor work.”–William Saletan, Slate.

* “(I) found her smart, idealistic, pragmatic, tough-minded, indefatigable, funny, a very valuable colleague, and a superb representative of the United States all over the world.”–Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, on Hillary Clinton in his book Duty.

* “Cities are taking measurable action to reduce emissions, emerging as leaders in the battle against climate change.”–Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, recent appointee as United Nations special envoy for cities and climate change.

* “They’re a combination of competition, travelogue, politics, cultural panorama and personal drama.”–Sportscaster Bob Costas on what makes the Olympics special.

* “If we’re to maintain our hold as the gateway to the Americas and the financial center for Latin America, we can’t just rest on our laurels.”–Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam.

* “Make no mistake: This is not about compassionate medical marijuana. This is about the Coloradofication of Florida, where the end game is a pot shop on every street corner.”–Florida House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel.

* “If we didn’t bring out the cattle prod, they would still be dithering. You have to look at the whole Rick Scott, the governor who has had the worst impact on protecting Florida’s waters of any governor in Florida history.”–Environmental attorney David Guest.

* “Marijuana isn’t some exotic mystery drug whose effects are unknown; it’s been around so long that it’s embedded in our culture–music, movies, television and literature. Smoking is totally a bipartisan groove.”–Carl Hiassen, Miami Herald.

* “Transportation is a vital element to the free enterprise system being successful in this community.”–Bob Rohrlack, CEO of the Greater Tampa Chamber of Commerce.

* “We call the flights from Miami the Vatican flights, because God only knows when you’ll arrive.”–Tampa-visiting José  Ramon Cabañas, the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C., on Miami’s reputation–as opposed to TIA’s–for air service to Cuba.

* “The (Hillsborough) county Democratic Party is restructuring and has not focused on recruiting as much as it needs to, especially young candidates.”–Susan MacManus, USF political science professor.

* “I have no plans to retire.”–MaryEllen Elia, 65, Hillsborough County Schools superintendent.

* “This is big. This is bodacious. This is exciting. This will be a game-changer.”–Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on the proposed West River Master Plan.

* “I want more. I want it faster.”–Mayor Bob Buckhorn, on his vision for downtown.

* “We expect to have a presence in India well after the event.”–Visit Tampa Bay CEO Santiago Corrada, on the impact of April’s Tampa-hosted Bollywood Oscars.

* “Most urban area’s clustered around water use their water to move people.”–Former Hillsborough County Commissioner Ed Turanchik, who represents HMS Ferries Inc.

* “It’s a sad reality that in too many of our classrooms, teachers spend just as much time trying to keep control as they do teaching.”–Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, on the classroom-fight video at Gibbs High School.