I try not to get overly excited about what people say or do to win political elections or influence other people’s decisions. I accept that people, whose only concern is to see that their viewpoints prevail, often distort the truth.

Heck, the “Founding Fathers” espoused (and later signed) the Declaration of Independence even though they obviously did not believe in it. Those people owned slaves, for crying out loud! Yet, they declared that they believed it self-evidently true that all men were created equal, and had been equally endowed by God with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?

A special prosecutor could have indicted every one of the Founding Fathers for perjury and Thomas Jefferson could have faced impeachment in the wake of a “Declaration-gate”.

That said, two things did upset me last month.

The first was when a lawyer by the name of John Merrett, representmg a group that is critical of the Church of Scientology, started a brouhaha when the Citizens For a Better Clearwater began selling bricks to be used to beautify the Gas Light Alley on Cleveland Street. Individuals purchased bricks with their names and/or sayings on them to be laid in the alley.

The problem around when the group Mr. Merritt represents insisted on being able to purchase bricks with names and/or sayings on them that would be used to inflame emotions and further their own political agenda.

Mr. Merrett, on behalf of the group, threatened to sue the city and the Citizens For A Better Clearwater if they did not allow his group to purchase bricks. Citizens For A Better Clearwater agreed to allow the brick purchases and that should have been that.

Later, in an article in the St. Petersburg Times, Mr. Merrett says he was glad that the issue was resolved, but is also quoted as saying, “although it would have been nice to see them squirm.”

If that statement does not outrage you as much as it does me, it should.

I don’t pretend to know anything about the group Mr. Merrett represents, nor do I care about their feud with Scientology. That is between them.

However, when citizens of Clearwater, whose only agenda is to try and do good for the community, are brought into the dispute because “it would be nice to seem them squirm” that is something else entirely.

If that group continues to employ Mr. Merrett as their attorney I will understand them a lot better, and I am sure the citizens of Clearwater will as well.