The rogue’s gallery of American politicians who have been arrested, tried and convicted for all manner of crimes is legendary.
Therefore, I find it more than a little hypocritical for Americans, like FOX News gas bag Bill O’Reilly, to cast aspersions on The Bahamas, my home country, because one of our politicians is alleged to have committed a crime (or because one of them got ensnared in the surreal life of Anna Nicole Smith).
That said, I am profoundly disappointed that two of my compatriots have been arrested for attempting to extort “millions of dollars” from actor John Travolta by threatening to publish photos related to the death of his son, Jett. Perhaps you recall that Jett died a few weeks ago under circumstances even more mysterious than those surrounding the death of Anna Nicole’s son, Daniel.
And, that one of alleged extortionists is Senator Pleasant Bridgewater is bad enough. But that she happens to be a member of the (Opposition) Progressive Liberal Party (PLP) only exacerbates her betrayal of our national trust and the emotional distress she has inflicted upon the Travolta family. After all, one of her fellow PLP members, Mr Obie Wilchcombe, was not only the de facto spokesman for the sympathy we all felt over Jett’s death (which I duly expressed in a related commentary), he also professed to be Travolta’s very close personal friend.
At any rate, I commend Bahamian authorities for apprehending the suspects: Bridgewater was arrested yesterday and her co-conspirator, ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne, was arrested this afternoon. It remains to be seen if anyone else is involved….
Meanwhile, there’s no indication that they ever had any direct contact with Travolta. Because local sources indicate that his lawyer contacted our police immediately, and then flew to The Bahamas pursuant to their instructions to help them catch these greedy nincompoops in the act.
Reliable sources also indicate that Bridgewater, a second-rate attorney, is now singing like a canary – no doubt hoping in vain to bargain for a lenient sentence. Therefore, the resolution of this case will probably be swift, fair and just….
Finally, on behalf of all Bahamians, especially those living in West End, Grand Bahama where Travolta maintains a second home, I would like to express our profound regret for the distress this extortion attempt has inflicted upon the Travolta family.
UPDATE
I thought it was a despicable act. One person should not destroy the character of the country.
9:20 PM: This was how Obie Wilchcombe, the former Minister of Tourism, expressed his outrage just yesterday on Larry King Live at the breaking news about this extortion plot.
Therefore, when I wrote earlier that Bridgewater was singing like a canary, I could not have imagined that she was singing Wilchcombe’s name as the mastermind of this harebrained scheme. Yet reports are that she was so convincing in this respect that Wilchcombe was arrested late this afternoon.
Of course, Wilchcombe is right: one person should not be able to destroy the character of an entire country. Nevertheless, just as Barack Obama enhanced the character of the United States upon his election, Wilchcombe will diminish the character of The Bahamas if facts implicate him in this now-notorious extortion plot.
But talk about a betrayal (of country and friend) and the malicious infliction of emotional distress….
Say it ain’t so Obie … not only for John’s sake, but also for ours !!!
January 24, 6:30 AM: Evidently he has said “it ain’t so.” Because, after being detained for questioning, Obie was released late last night “pending further investigation.” Pleasant might be a good singer, but we all know what a smooth talker Obie is….
In fact, if the police don’t have him on tape saying things (or acting) in furtherance of this plot, he will never be charged. After all, nobody in The Bahamas (i.e., no jury) will ever believe Pleasant’s word over his. (To explain why would be tantamount to airing my family’s dirty laundry in public. So you’ll just have to trust me on this one….)
Speaking of that canary, Pleasant was charged and released on bail. Lightbourne remains in custody … probably unable to make bail….
January 25, 10:30 AM: Latest reports are that Obie was not only caught on tape but can be heard haggling with Travolta’s representatives to extort as much of the initial $25 million he and his co-conspirators demanded.
This of course begs the question: why then was he released without being charged? After all, if what was caught on tape was sufficient to charge Pleasant, one presumes it would have been sufficient to charge Obie as well….
He’s a smooth talker, but this makes no sense. Although, to be fair, the police made a point of noting that he was released “pending further investigation”, which I suspect means that it’s only a matter of time before they re-arrest and charge him too….
* Original article was published yesterday at 8:05 PM
Related commentaries:
Tragic death of Travolta’s son Jett
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JSM Real Estate says
I hope this story is not true, before we accused lets wait for the facts.