Report & commentary by Colin Wilson

I had thought I could hang up my pen for Christmas and breathe in the Christmas air of glad tidings and goodwill to all.

I had thought….

I wasn’t going to comment on McKeeva Bush’s speech Thursday evening (20) as it was nearly all as I expected. There was no surprise in much of what he said. Everyone in authority our ex-premier could not be a master to was blamed. The governor, the UK, the police and he even went back to Eurobank saying the UK had planted spies in the banking sector.

He didn’t explain why the UK would do that but left it to our imagination to conjure up all sorts of things.

We had the same old speech of the UK’s divide and conquer policy, with the Governor being sent here and execute it. His (McKeeva’s) phones are bugged he claimed and called the new government as the “former UDP 5” and their “sham cabinet which won’t make the lame walk”.

The only piece of news from his ravings was when he said the RCIPS warrant listed books and gifts he had purchased in London on a government credit card that were in his home and a missing $10,000.

Explaining the books were meant to start a reference library for the office of the premier and the gifts were for staff he, however, did not elaborate on what the $10,000 had been used for, except he would pay it back!

He also inferred that Justice Williams had been brought from the Turks and Caicos Islands by Governor Duncan Taylor as part of the plot to discredit him because Williams had signed the warrant. He denied having owned Midland Acres, the company that had brought in the explosives and also part of the arrest warrant.

The collusion of the police and the governor extended to the opposition because of how quickly the international and local media were informed about his arrest.

I can assure all readers that anything that gets reported in the local media and goes up on the web is circulated within minutes all over the world, if not directly to other media outlets, but by Google. There doesn’t have to be any collusion between any of us. We receive anything that bears the name “Cayman” as does, the Caymanian Compass, Cayman News Service and Cayman Net News! That also applies to the international news agencies, Associated Press and Reuters.

The reason Bush did not resign was on the advice of his lawyers he said. Perhaps he should get some better advice, as how that could effect and damage his case, if it comes to that, is nonsense. Apparently it would have set a precedent because of his stepping down would provide the UK with future ways of removing anyone they didn’t like with trumped up charges.

Can any intelligent person actually believe any of this?

We had some more dignified speeches from MLA’s Mike Adam and Captain Eugene Ebanks of support and then came MLA Ellio Solomon, and the reason for my not delaying writing and publishing this report.

Ellio Solomon is the General Secretary of the United Democratic Party (UDP) and his nonsense that I would not have normally spoken about comprised comparing McKeeva Bush, his mentor, with US presidents who retain the title of President for life. So we should still call Mr. Bush as Premier Bush.

He attacked, as expected, his past five colleagues of betrayal and called them “Judases”. Additionally he said they had “drank from the bitter cup of betrayal.” As I hold the post of “Cup Bearer” at my church I personally find that remark as distasteful, insulting and completely unwarranted. Solomon obviously doesn’t understand what the sacred act of Communion/Mass actually means.

His cry that the five betrayers were no longer members of the UDP must have them now quaking in their boots.

And now for his worst rant. He attacked the RCIPS. We had Operation Tempura, the false arrests and asked why ex-commissioner Stuart Kernohan hadn’t been brought back (in chains?) for questioning because of his role “in the fiasco”? Mr Solomon should read and digest more concerning Kernohan’s role in that “fiasco”. But at a public meeting it all can make some sense to supporters who follow blindly their King.

But to paint the hardworking RCIPS, our protectors, as a hypocritical group and blaming them as a body for all the past mistakes is unacceptable. He even asked why the former president of UCCI, Hassan Sayed, hadn’t been arrested? He knows full well why because the man absconded and the only reason he brought that up was because a government credit card was involved. He is learning from his master.

Then came this statement.

He said, the police were discredited, not accountable to the people, even though the public paid their wages and paid for their mistakes.

He also claimed Cayman’s police force had a tarnished reputation and were pursuing the agenda of the FCO in trumped up allegations against Bush.

And one final piece of juvenile questioning. He asked, “How is it possible for a person, whether he was premier or not, to lose his job because of suspicion as everyone was innocent until proven guilty?”

I must ask Mr. Solomon if he would let a man who had been arrested but not been charged with suspicion of being a pedophile, look after his child? Would a school allow that arrested man still teach at the school?

That is why a man who holds the most important job in the country and represents that country must be above approach. It is his image that is shown to the world and an image of a leader who is under suspicion of corruption, even though he may indeed be innocent, is not the image we should and thankfully will not now show.

If you, Mr. Ellio Solomon, Mr. Mike Adam and Captain Eugene Ebanks, cannot see that, I am very sorry for you.

And for you, Mr. Solomon, to turn your attack on a police force that is doing its job and showing the rest of the world that no one is above reproach, is contemptible.

And I didn’t even mention that Mr. Solomon actually asked people to donate monies to pay for the expected legal costs Mr. Bush will have to bear in order to fight the expected legal battles ahead. Mr. Bush is not rich, he claimed.

You don’t really want me to comment on that, now do you……?

How does that old Christmas rhyme go:

Christmas is coming, the geese are getting fat, please put a penny in the old man’s hat …….