Amen.

Well balanced piece, Larry Smith. I tend to agree that this whole exercise was simply a distraction on the part of the Government; and it worked. I never could understand why many Bahamians always felt this antipathy towards Haitians and Bahamians of Haitian descent (to only a slightly lesser degree!) I understand that most of them have arrived here under less than direct means, and they get away with illegal squatting; they over burden the health and education systems, etc. But the hue and cry about them taking Bahamian jobs is a bit of a farce. As you've said, they're largely hired to do menial jobs which most Bahamians have little to no interest in doing. And what's scary is this seemingly endemic disdain crosses all political boundaries. When you think about it, if it is a political slight of hand on the part of the government, it's really quite ingenious.

But I think the bottom line is, the problem is not the Haitian immigrants; the problem is the successive governments, that can't be bothered to ensure legislation is put in place, which would NOT allow for the syphoning of the public services. Additionally, if the various agencies and officers assigned to uphold the existing laws of the the land were allowed to do their jobs unhampered by interference from politicians, we would have a much better handle on the situation.

The UK had a similar immigrant problem in that various people from EU member countries such as Poland and Romania move there simply because they know that the UK had a generous Social Services system. They simply need to register to receive quality health care, enrol children in school, and receive unemployment. In fact, many people migrate there with the sole aim of going 'on the dole'. Their situation was further complicated by the fact that as EU member citizens, they had the right to cross borders. However, the ease of access to social services has now begun to change, and it's not so easy as in recent years. The Bahamas needs to follow suit. If the benighted Haitian immigrants found it more difficult to access these things, they might be less inclined to make their way here and set up shop.

I admire Fred Smith for standing up for what's right. I don't always agree with what he does, and I NEVER forget that for all of his talk about the HCA in Grand Bahama, for many years HE was comfortably ensconced in the pockets of the GB Port Authority. But in this instance, even if he was truly of Haitian descent, given what a pain in the butt he's been over the years, any right thinking Bahamian must surely realise that the Government of the day would surely have expelled him if they could have done so. But alas, like the magpie, we prefer to be distracted from real issues by the shiny objects sprinkled about by the government.

Tiger Beach isn't actually a beach, so this headline is misleading. It's 20 miles offshore. So any encounters with sharks in that area are most certainly deliberate.

I agree with BahamianPride to a certain degree; this is about so much more than Miller's alleged money laundering. This 'poke in the eye' of the Bahamian people is simply the most recent example of Miller's reprehensible behaviour, questionable ethics and gross arrogance. In a civilised society, Miller would have either voluntarily demitted office, or been summarily dismissed by the party leader. Instead, he's being allowed to continue to run amok; chairman of a corporation to which he continues to owe substantial amounts, and overseeing employees who cannot possibly respect him to ANY degree! A man who continues to maintain that he 'stands by his record!' Well, considering how appalling his record is, we need to start listening to him!

I believe BEC absolutely needs strong leadership, and is overdue for re structuring. But this is not an individual who can hold any moral authority, and effect the change that's so desperately needed.

Welcome to live in the 242! We need to wake up.....

For someone who consistently touts his own intelligence, Mr. Mitchell seems to suffer from a chronic case of foot-in-mouth disease. How on earth can he make such a sweeping, moronic statement as 'the public is wrong'??? On the face of it, MPs 'salaries' seem modest, but nothing prohibits them from continuing with their 'day jobs' while serving. Not to mention the numerous perks from which they benefit. I don't know about any of you, but no one has ever stopped traffic or held a flight for me! The only exception would be if they hold a Cabinet post; but then the salary issue goes away, and, considering the apathetic job most of them do, they are richly compensated.

Fred Mitchell really needs a serious reality check. He is NOT the only educated person in this country, and his constant disdain for us 'common' folks is beyond infuriating. He cannot seriously aspire to become PM if he continues to display such unveiled contempt for the populace!! My prayer is that the days of blind allegiance to a party, rather than the individual, will be behind us in the not too distant future.

I believe a knee-jerk reaction of any sort, on anyone's part is imprudent. So kudos to Dr. Minnis for making what must have been a difficult decision, as it was the RIGHT decision. It's a shame that the ongoing tomfoolery of some members of the sitting government is allowed to continue with impunity. Had Mr. Christie reacted similarly in the most egregious cases of behavior unbecoming a statesman (Leslie Miller) or that of Ishmael Lightbourne, or even honestly stated his position in ANY of the policy issues put forth over the past 2 years, the voting public would hold a much more favorable view of him, and his abilities as a leader.

Much like the late Sir Lynden, I've always found Mr. Christie to be an engaging speaker, with an ability to come across as sincere and relatable rather than suspect. Unfortunately, he's depended too often on this gift to mask his apparent ineptitude and vacillation following any and all crises. So while Dr. Minnis is unlikely to ever be remembered as a great orator, he will more importantly be remembered as a man of great character and decisiveness.

This is truly troubling. **Firstly**, because Mr. Christie thought nothing of appointing a person of questionable character like Mr. Lightbourne to such a pivotal role in the first place; simply because he was a part of his inner circle - a trend we continue to see over and over again - Stephen Seymour, Leon Williams, Sean McWeeney, etc. **Secondly**, after Mr. Lightbourne's background came to light, rather than taking the opportunity to correct his initial error, he jumps to his defense and further maligns his OWN character in the process. Moreover, Mr. Christie seems to believe he was portraying himself as the hero of this entire farce. Could he really be that clueless??? **Finally**, and perhaps most disappointing for me, is that V. Alfred Gray saw fit to defend this unethical behavior. I had hopes that Mr. Gray was one of the few MPs who was less inclined to be swayed by this ridiculous tendency to support his comrades' actions, no matter how asinine (a la Bradley Roberts).

Unfortunately, this flagrant disregard for the law and basic ethics, speaks to the character (or lack thereof) of our elected officials, not just to our citizenry, but to the world at large.

Simply put, this is indefensible. If Mr. Miller is to be understood, he was either lying in the HOA when he assured the Speaker that he was serious in his claim of abusing a past girlfriend, or he is lying now when he says that he was joking. In any case, the gracious thing, the decent thing, the HUMANE thing to do, would be to apologize. Instead, he comes out belligerently accusing others of impugning his reputation! The arrogance and disrespect exhibited by Mr. Miller, and any and all comrades in the HOA who thought these remarks were amusing in any way, shape or form is frankly disgusting. Moreover, I'm shocked that none of the women present saw fit to speak up at the time! Here we are almost 2 weeks later, and we're only just hearing one of our elected officials heard speak out about this??! I suppose it's better late than never. But I still cry shame on ALL members present! Shame on the PM for remaining silent on any and all controversial behavior on the part of cabinet members and his political appointees; shame on us voters for continually electing a group of philistines who are steadily ensuring the decline of the reputation of this country; and, most importantly, shame on Mr. Miller for not being man enough to simply offer up a resounding apology. We really need to move away from this partisan thinking, and knee-jerk defense of this sort of reprehensible behavior. I'm sure that any time now we should expect a glowing defense from Chairman Roberts, dismissing the over sensitive nature of the 'opposition' from a little 'joke'. No. This is not a PLP or FNM thing. This is an unequivocal wrong that needs to be made right. Man up, Mr. Miller.

How about V. Alfred Gray, Melanie Griffin and Khaalis Rolle? And Loretta Butler, Zhivargo Laing, K. Peter Turnquest and Kwasi Thompson? While not perfect, I honestly believe these people ultimately have the country's best interest at heart. Unfortunately, they were doubtless shouted down by the overwhelming weight of more selfish factions permeating the system, no matter which side of the House they were sitting. In an ideal scenario, the old guard would have ensured there was a succession plan in place to ensure anyone ascending to the position of party leader was well prepared for that role. Sadly, I've seen no evidence of that anywhere. The juvenile tit-for-tat, and blind complacency needs to end. But until people - politicians AND Joe Public - remember that before they were PLP, FNM or DNA, they were bahamians and start to act like it, we're all screwed, no matter who is in office.