MIKE PIRTLE, Post Columnist
Posted: Sunday, July 25, 2010 4:16 am

The ocean is blue, the sand white, the sky blue and the pools sparkle.

Despite the impression folks are getting from media coverage of the historically horrible oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the coast remains a great place to visit.

I’m writing this Thursday at Sandestin, TOPS’L Tennis Resort in fact, and all is beautiful.

While the marvelous beaches at Destin and Sandestin have experienced a couple of instances of tiny oil balls coming ashore, the vast majority of the time those coastal wonders are every bit as glorious as always.

But, businesses and the many people who own the many family businesses are hurting.

Folks aren’t coming to visit, and for an area dependent upon providing vacation housing and tourism as its major economic engines that is disastrous.

Florida, of course, is one of the top 10 states suffering from the housing industry decline that has hammered the entire nation.

BP Oil kicked the other leg out from under Florida, along with Louisiana and Alabama, with the shameful neglect and criminal disregard for the safety of its employees and the entire ecological region in which it was drilling before its oil well blew up killing 11 people immediately and put the entire Gulf Coast at risk of financial ruin.

The months of news reports, most showing oil gushing from BP’s underwater well, have been devastating to Gulf tourism, fishing and who knows what else.

When the missus and I realized we had an opportunity to get away for a few days before she returns to work for another year as a teacher, I kinda made plans expecting to have to deal with lots of crowds.

Destin and the entire Panhandle coast area is usually brimming in July and August.

I started wondering when Sharon called one of our favorite restaurants Tuesday and was able to get a 7 p.m. reservation for the next night.

A 7 p.m. reservation at an extremely popular restaurant is rare, in July about as likely as a snowball sunbathing.

The folks down here need help badly. Hopefully, BP will indeed make good on its promise to make good on people’s losses, but big corporations are no fun to deal with despite what they say.

We can help by going and having a great time.

Resorts are offering great deals on stays, the beaches are hardly crowded (nor the swimming pools) and restaurants are giving incredible dining deals.

Most of us feel sorry for the affected, make that afflicted, folks on the coast.

We can help. We can go and enjoy a marvelous time with an absolute guarantee everyone will be tickled to see us.

(Just so you will know: I received no compensation or consideration of any kind from anybody for writing this.)

•••

OK, maybe I have complained about politics too much already.

But, couldn’t folks running for office at least tell us what office and district they are running for?

Is that too much to ask?

We have an incredibly heated race here in the Republican primary for the 6th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Bart Gordon.

And, we have lots of ads on TV for the candidates, but they don’t identify their race.

Nor do candidates in other races.

What the heck is George Flinn running for? I know he says he is more Republican than his opponents, but what seat is he running for?

It makes it terribly confusing for voters.

Oh, well.

•••

The rage this campaign season is to run against Washington, especially as you would expect for GOP candidates since the other party is in power.

And, certainly, plenty of issues exist with Washington as they always do.

Some of the candidates in the governor’s race seem to be making too much of Washington. Tennessee’s governor will have plenty to handle right here without worrying too much about D.C., and it would be good to see more attention placed on state issues.

And, while the BS meter has to be pretty high in political ads, one congressional candidate claims Washington is taking over whole industries.

Really?

Name one.

It’s not the automotive industry. Ask Ford.

It’s not banking industry, just a handful that gambled too much on derivatives and silly mortgages.

Be interesting to learn what the whole industries that were taken over are.

Don’t expect an answer. It’s just part of the gigantic political spin machine we have to contend with in modern election.