On Valentines Day the Ole Seagull attended the grand opening of the beautiful new Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing. Evidently, if city of Branson Alderman Jack Purvis is right, the Ole Seagull should not have gone.
Imagine the Ole Seagull’s surprise when, as he extended his hand to Purvis ,at the event, he pulled back and directed verbiage toward the Ole Seagull indicating that he was a “hypocrite” for attending the opening and expressing his concern that someone who had written what the Ole Seagull had about Branson Landing would have the nerve to show up at the opening. He also indicated that the Ole Seagull was one of the, if not the, most divisive forces in Branson.
The class, appropriateness, and professionalism of Purvis’s statements aside; although it appears that the Branson community is divided over issues, particularly as relates to the current leadership of the city of Branson, he attributes too much power to one lowly Ole Seagull. Can any reasonable thinking person really believe that the opinion of one columnist, who merely writes about what others have said, done, or failed to do, can divide any city, let alone one like Branson with its many extremely talented entrepreneurs, managers, leaders, and independent thinkers?
Is it not more likely that such division, if it exists, is caused by the community’s perception of the actions or failure to act of those in leadership rolls? What exactly could an Ole Seagull have written or write that could possibly have the potential to divide our community more than the letter signed by city attorney Paul D. Link a few months ago. That letter was mailed to a lot of the city’s tourism businesses demanding that they submit a list of their customers to the city.
Was it the Ole Seagull writing about, what he considers the city of Branson’s abuse of TIF laws in the Branson Hills area that has caused division and concern within the community? Or, is there just the possibility that it was the realization of the community that the city of Branson’s TIF practices had the potential to impact adversely on their school district and could cost the tax payers of Taney County, including those living within the city of Branson, tens of millions of dollars to, among other things, keep the “big boxes” from going somewhere else in the county beside Branson?
The people of this community are astute and intelligent enough to realize that anything written by the Ole Seagull is but his opinion applied to the facts as he believes them to be. Whether written by, angels, men, or Ole Seagulls, they will evaluate what they are reading in terms of what they know and believe to be true, make their own decisions, and react accordingly.
“Hypocrisy” is defined as “The practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess.” How is a citizen, even one with opinions that some might disagree with, hypocritical for attending a public event that they had been invited to? Are community members who disagree with some of the actions of the board of aldermen, city administrator Terry Dody, and city attorney Paul Link hypocrites because they attend Branson Board of Aldermen meetings?
Exactly what was it that the Ole Seagull wrote about Branson Landing that made it hypocritical for him to attend the opening? Taken in total, could not a reasonable person, who has actually read what he has written about Branson Landing, not only in his columns but in his online publication www.BransonCourier.Com, comments on the www.1Branson.Com forum, and in associated Blog entries give him the benefit of the doubt and say, “Even Ole Seagulls are welcome at Branson Landing?”
Does the alternative mean that he can’t buy another boat at Bass Pro Shops in Branson Landing or eat another Charley’s Grilled Sub? Will he be forever denied the joy of eating another “Top Shelf Guacamole,” at Branson Landing’s “Cantina Laredo” or spending hundreds of dollars at Belks, GNC, Pass Pro Shops, etc. But most intriguing of all, would it mean that it would be hypocritical of him to even entertain the possibility of him and his wife ever getting the “most refreshing, restful slumber imaginable,” on a Hilton Serenity bed, within the loving bosom of the beautiful Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing? Please tell him it isn’t so!
