EDITOR, The Tribune
A POLITICAL defeat is like a messy divorce. The ‘blame game’ becomes quickly apparent once a petition for dissolution is filed and served or when political entities are deposed. This is now the case here in our wonderful nation.
Eighteen months ago, I advised the leadership of my party, the Progressive Liberal Party (PLP), that our then leader, Perry Gladstone Christie, had become ‘the most hated man’, politically speaking, in The Bahamas. Very few of those therein wanted to accept that prognostication. The rest, as they say, is history. In his elusive quest for ‘legacy’ the former Prime Minister, took his eyes, so to speak, off the ball.
The PLP sold the Bahamian people a ‘Bill of Goods’ back in 2012 reinforced by the catchy slogan: ‘We believe in Bahamians’. The strategy actually worked and we were elected into governance. Almost immediately, however, many of our parliamentarians and cabinet members dropped the proverbial ball, big time. Our marketing and messaging were terrible. We appeared to many, in my view, to be in hot pursuit of personal and business agendas.
The rest is now history ... we were literally wiped out on May 10, 2017.
The PLP will regroup under the leadership of Philip ‘Brave’ Davis (PLP-Cat Island, Rum Cay & San Salvador). Brave, like the new Prime Minister, Dr Hubert A Minnis (FNM-Killarney), has personal challenges but, as the PM has vividly demonstrated, those, whatever they might be, need not be fatal to a successful climb to the top of the political totem pole.
We wanted to politely ‘retire’ our former leader but there was too much ego at play and too little concern, overall, for the political sustainability of the party and the ‘Gold Rush’ Administration. Had we succeeded in deposing Brother Christie, we would have, I postulate, fared a whole lot better than we did on May 10. It is what it is, however, and the electorate, like the wind, has blown us away. The fabled movie ‘Gone with the Wind’ portrays it all.
Dr Minnis, the Prime Minister of all Bahamians, astounded me, personally, on his unwavering approach to attaining the government, along with an excellent team of new and old members of the Free National Movement (FNM). They are to be congratulated and, where possible, all Bahamians must give them our support as we continue to build our wonderful nation.
To God then, in all things, be the glory.
ORTLAND H BODIE JR
Nassau
May 19, 2017
Comments
banker 7 years, 5 months ago
Ortland is gone with the wind. Whatever way the wind blows, goes he. Now he is singing for his supper with hosannas for the FNM. His support of Brave got him nowhere.
themessenger 7 years, 5 months ago
Amen Banker, gold rust is no longer legal tender and Ortland "mutton fish"Bodie is no longer relevant, not that he ever was.
birdiestrachan 7 years, 5 months ago
The Bahamian people will be singing soon "You never miss the water until the well runs dry" and "you will miss me when I am gone": The PLP might have lost the battle but they will win the war. I use to think Banker was a kind of decent human being but he is just like kalik. . Mean spirited and nasty. I am happy they are FNMs.
concernedcitizen 7 years, 5 months ago
@BIRDIE ,,give it up for awhile ,,it is really hard to defend the PLP,s last term w/ out sounding brain damaged ,and I,m not a diehard FNM .Wait a year if the FNM is as useless and corrupt as the PLP then opine .Right now you sound ridiculous .
banker 7 years, 5 months ago
Birdie, let me put it this way. Suppose that you had a child that you knew about. Suppose in your flint heart, that a tiniest iota of love somehow magically appeared for this child. Now suppose that you saw your weird uncle molesting the child, ruining it, dragging it through mud and totally defiling and destroying it. Now, if possible bring that little iota of love to the fore. What would be your reaction to the weird uncle. (this example is cogent, based on the trial that is going on now)
I would hazard a guess, that if you had any milk of human kindness that is not curdled and rotted, you would want to punish, beat up, kill and destroy the person who violated the child. That weird uncle would be scum of the earth.
Lesson time -- that's what patriotism feels like-- love for that child -- your country -- the land of your birth -- the land that nurtures you, has nurtured your fore bearers, and needs to sustain your children, and grandchildren. Now suppose a weird uncle is elected that maims, destroys and defiles the country -- rapes the treasury and sells the patrimony to the Chinese.
I know that you are totally incapable of absorbing this and understanding this, but most non-PLP's have this feeling of patriotism. This is why they swept out the dirty bottom-feeding vermin PLP who were destroying the country. We spoke as one nation against the likes of you. And you can call it mean-spirited, evil -- whatever you wish. You are truly incapable of higher thought and of having true patriotism. You will still worship at the cocaine-smuggling, man-driving feet of Swindling, and revere him as your founding father, liberating you from the grip of those damn Caucasian overseers. What you don't see, even if you have taken the filthy lucre that belongs to the common people of The Bahamas, is that you have doubly enslaved yourself. Your mind is enslaved, and you are beyond redemption.
So carry on smartly without any cognitive dissonance. You are incapable of this. You are even incapable of understanding this. I feel the same pity towards you, as I do to the cockroach before I splay it guts over a square foot of my patio. God Bless you, because no one else will.
realfreethinker 7 years, 5 months ago
birdie you are one ass. How can you make that statement when the new gov is only 2 weeks old. You just come accross as a bitter human being who didn't get what you thought you were entitled to. banker is one of the few voices of reason in this tribune group. GET A LIFE
sheeprunner12 7 years, 5 months ago
Bodie had one foot in the PLP and one foot out .......... Not good at political forecasting though
Go back to your day job .......... talk show host and leave the PLP Obeah Man (Davis) alone
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