Speaker calls port opponents ‘rascals’

| 23/10/2019 | 154 Comments
Cayman News Service
McKeeva Bush, Speaker of the House

(CNS): The Legislative Assembly Speaker has again weighed in on a sensitive political issue, despite the impartiality that is supposed to come with the job as the referee between government and opposition. Posting on social media Wednesday, McKeeva Bush said that some of the “mean ones” that don’t support the cruise port project were “rascals”, as he engaged in a comment exchange about the government’s proposal and next week’s job fair.

A long time supporter of cruise piers, Bush has, however, often said that he believes that the North Sound would provide a better safe harbour for a port. But with many of his constituents in West Bay opposed to that idea during the last election, he campaigned against the original proposal, which government is now pursuing with some design changes.

Bush, who now backs the project, said that the cruise opponents who have criticised government for not creating jobs were now criticising the job fair. He said that if the public votes ‘no’ in the referendum, the opportunities associated with this project that he believes are on offer would be lost.

“Surely if voters say no to the improved facilities then there won’t be those opportunities there,” he wrote. “But why can anyone complain that the developer is making the public aware that here are the benefits which they ask for and some say will not exist. I support the proposed enhanced facilities. It is needed now it will be good for Cayman when and if completed and it will enhance our tourism product in the future.”

Despite his previous positions, he went on to say that to do it anywhere else there would be “much more damage and impact on the marine environment”, as he pointed to George Town being Cayman’s only harbour. “It is the harbour of Grand Cayman. It is not a marine park,” he said.

Cayman News Service
The marine park in George Town Harbour

However parts of the harbour are, indeed, designated as a marine park.

Home to multiple acres of coral reef, including endangered species, twenty acres of which is under threat from the project, the harbour also has a number of historic and culturally significant wrecks.

In his interaction Bush admitted that “at the end of the day there will be cost to the country but the value to Caymanians over the years will outstrip cost”, he said, adding that those opposing the project wanted to be elected. The speaker accused the anti-port campaign of “throwing very conceivable red herring” in their efforts to persuade people not to support the project.

Bush repeatedly said that Cayman must upgrade the port but offered no facts or substantial justification for that position.


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Category: development, Local News

Comments (154)

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  1. breathtaking says:

    Bush, of all people, is calling others “rascals” ??? Wow.

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  2. Anonymous says:

    Can they not buy him a wig that fits.

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  3. Anonymous says:

    I may be a rascal, but youre a rasclat.

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  4. Anonymous says:

    I heard an old caymanian saying that Mackeeva is more slippery than a fresh conch out of the shell.

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  5. Anonymous says:

    McKeeva talks, Fools listen. Cayman.

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  6. Anonymous says:

    I’m a rascal and so’s my wife!

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  7. Anonymous says:

    Out of interest, has Guy Harvey said anything publicly on the matter?

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    • Anonymous says:

      Yes, he signed a deal with Norwegian, and likes to characterize the Harbour area as a desert of lifeless hardpan. Not an ally.

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  8. Anonymous says:

    Mac says it like it is. We needed this dock for over a decade now. We got lucky with the hurricanes pushing boats here recently but this won’t last. Need the dock more now than before.

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    • BeaumontZodecloun says:

      Your hero had a vetted and selected bidder for the finger piers when he was Premier, but cancelled their contract and unilaterally gave it to CHEC. Thank God the FCO stepped in and stopped himself from giving away George Town to the Chinese.

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      • JJTA says:

        The FCO only stepped in when William McKeeva Bush’s yammering about the only reason there was an issue is because the British were anti-Chinese, which then resulted in a small scale diplomatic kerfuffle. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth, but that is par for the course. The reality is that they, the FCO, did not step in when they should have if the best interests of the Cayman Islands and her people were on the radar for them. It is only when the buffoonery reached a level of crescendo which affected the direct interests of London itself that they stepped forward in any measurable way. While one should be thankful that they did, finally, it is and was indicative of an overriding problem which the Cayman Islands and her people are forced to endure. That is not to be forgotten, nor should it be overlooked. If good governance of the Cayman Islands had anything to do with it for them then they would have stepped in long before, including the ‘Great Dart Steal’ which even the Auditor General described as ILLEGAL. Cayman is between a rock and a hard place and a long drop in regards to these ‘powers that be’. It would behoove one to be aware of these realities, regardless of who butters one bread and/or whereupon one’s loyalties are laid. Publish it if you dare, they know where to find me.

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        • Anonymous says:

          You are dreaming if you think the direct interests if London were impacted.
          Some Caymanians have an oversized view of their importance in London and the world.

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          • JJTA says:

            Your conceit has exposed you, and it proves the point that the interests of the Crown always overriding the interests of the Cayman Islands and her people remains a tenuous and untenable equation. Scoff if you wish but I watched it happen. When it comes to dreaming, one could only wish to hope that this entire debacle is a nightmare to be woken up from but that is not reality. Reality is stranger than fiction. The truth is ugly. I am sorry for you that your unjustifiable superiority complex disallows you from accepting that which is and was obvious to anyone whose eyes are and were open and who is not hindered by a disingenuous agenda.

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            • Anonymous says:

              Yes, but if you think the Cayman Island government is talented enough and mature enough to self govern – which is where your argument is heading even if you didn’t say that – the you also have a unjustifiable superiority complex. And I am sorry, not for you, but your children and their prodigy.

        • Anonymous says:

          Truth.

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      • Anonymous says:

        Big Beau, You got that one exactly correct. Well done.

    • Anonymous says:

      “Lucky”

    • Anonymous says:

      Bull!! Are you one of the small business owners who want to employ Caymanians at $6.00 per hour?!?!?!!

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  9. Anonymous says:

    Can we do a recall in Cayman?
    Whilst I’m not sure in West Bay I’m pretty sure we would get the votes in Red Bay to recall Alden. Nothing but a disaster.

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    • Jah Dread says:

      Ona sit up de, Missa Bush a run tings bout ya Him learn all I’m know from Bustamamte so I’m strong in the politricks dem. I’m a teach Alden too and if Hew wanna be Premier next time he betta make Mac teach I’m a ting or three. Yes Ona hear it tight ya on CNS.

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      • BeaumontZodecloun says:

        You appear to have a much stronger grasp of verbs than ‘Missa Bush’. Your patois appears to have flaws — at least to my ear — which makes me think you’re just having a bit of fun, hoping for angry responses for your entertainment.

        Whatever blows your dreads back. Why should we care what you think? Until you express a real opinion, you don’t matter.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Yep. Haven’t seen the use of the contractive apostrophe often in written patois. Methinks Jah Dread a little less street than he would like us to think. Probably a bald white guy with a tertiary education out for some trolling fun.

  10. Anonymous says:

    And in related news most of Cayman calls Bush an idiot!

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  11. Ironside says:

    The following quotes are Especially dedicated to McKeeva:

    “Whether a dewdrop is on a flower or a heap of dung, the morning light sparkles on it just the same.”

    And remember folks;

    “Every discussion which is made from an Egoistic standpoint is corrupted from the start and cannot yield an absolutely sure conclusion. The Ego puts its own interest first and twists every argument, word, even fact to suit that interest.”

    The word Egotistic works as well where this relic is concerned.

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  12. Anonymous says:

    You guys, they are just scared they’re going to lose and that’s why they keep telling people that want to vote yes to just stay at home…. because that’s the only way they can discredit this referendum! if people don’t show up and vote whether it’s for or against the port. And a lot of Caymanians are falling for it and actually letting the government keep them stupid.

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  13. Anonymous says:

    That’s still too close I say we send them to Uranus considering they talk out of theirs all the time.

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  14. Anonymous says:

    It is time for the unity team to pack their bags and go.

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  15. Anonymous says:

    Rascals? Pot meet kettle, kettle meet pot.

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  16. Anonymous says:

    Words from the original rapscallion himself.

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  17. Anonymous says:

    The premier himself has stated that this project will not cost 200 million and is expected to rise as much as 450 million. So for all of you feeding into the bag of lies they spewing to get their way I suggest you get as much info before you vote yes for something that will only hinder us Caymanians in the future..

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndsXQGpATLk

    You’re watching FOR THE RECORD with host, Orrett Connor. October 14th 2019

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  18. Anonymous says:

    I think that the 50+1 % of the electorate mandate is very undemocratic.

    Anyway, how can we change this going forward?

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  19. Anonymous says:

    People keep trying to rationalize destroying a NATURAL environment that cannot be REPLICATED or REPLACED. How stupid are these people?! When it’s gone and climate change and all of the garbage floating in our seas stops these very cruise lines from even running on the ocean, I hope these dummies have a back up plan to tourism and another use for that port!!

    Why we can’t focus on making our tourism product more exclusive and focused on the natural and tranquil beauty of these islands?! I’ll never understand. I thought that was Dart’s whole plan, to make Cayman rich peoples playground….but I guess he tired of people talking XXX about him and the obvious fact that the politicians are so money hungry and willing to sell even him out. They’re not very intelligent either.

    Boy I tell you, we going regret this XXXX.

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  20. Anonymous says:

    Don’t un a know it yet? Our money is welcome, our views unimportant. Please come out to vote on the referendum and on your way back, participate in the #KYVOICESURVEY.

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  21. Anonymous says:

    talk bout arrogance….caymanians…vote for h im and rest in house come 2021…

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  22. Anonymous says:

    How many of our millions in subsidized costs are these goons willing to fork over per new Caymanian job created? Why not just hand these choice subjects a gleaming crisp bank draft for $2-3mln so they never have to work again?!? The Cabinet are so hell-bent on proceeding that they won’t even bother to weigh the true impacts and lifetime project costs beyond the heavily-subsidized construction phase. No consideration to unintended impacts to stayover tourism, resident quality of life, business relocation appeal, and already-strained near-capacity infrastructure (not even getting into enviro and geological). If it is “rascalish” to look at the incomplete/false assumptions as an adult, and still vote no, then sign me up every day!

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  23. Anonymous says:

    Big fat no
    To this project

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  24. Rascal who opposes the cruise piers says:

    I know I am, but what are you?

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  25. Anonymous says:

    America has Trump and we have Bush. Two complete idiots. I cringe every time he opens his mouth Please take your money and retire some where far far away.

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  26. Anonymous says:

    McKeeva wants the port more than ever in history. He finally makes some money from cruise. He, Gene Thompson and Dale Crichton are in business catering to cruise tourists. Picking up where the Kirkconnell’s left off.

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    • Cay-ma says:

      Why do people have to apologize from earning income from Cruise Tourism? The tourism products offered in Cayman are a huge part of the reason they want to come here! Of COURSE people who have a vested interest are for the project. Trying to make a scandal out of that is just ridiculous. Oh and if you want to call someone out, at least check the spelling of their name if you want credibility.

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      • Anonymous says:

        People don’t have to apologize for making money off the cruise business but when you are in a position of power and use your influence for your own personal gain regardless or not is screws the people then it becomes a problem

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        • Anonymous says:

          Of course you are correct. But what is even more shocking is that your point needs to be made. As a Caymanian voter, I will not support any major capital projects until the SIPL is enacted.

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        • Anonymous says:

          Especially when the regime fights to prevent enactment of Constitutional oversight and non-compliance penalties per §117 in regards to Standards in Public Life. If SIPL were enacted, we suspect a lot of the LA would be retiring and/or looking at ACC review and possible jail time. There is a lot more than just the port issue at stake in Cayman. We were all hook-winked into allowing the two losing parties to form an unholy alliance after last election. There is no other party any more, just private caucus with no LA debate, and no shadow opposition!

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      • Anonymous says:

        Why do people have to apologize from earning income from Cruise Tourism?

        Because if it’s at the expense of the environment which we all live in, to that I say £#;## that!

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    • Anonymous says:

      You people need to stop insulting our Honorable Speaker. I hope he kicks your kind off our island. We love you Mr. Mckeeva!

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  27. Anonymous says:

    There will be a referendum. Pitched on the basis that we need more information so one can vote yes or no. Quite reasonable. But as soon as official count was made, the Referendum group publicly went on the attack against the port. Was that their plan all along?

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  28. Voting NO!!!! says:

    Mac and Alden are so arrogant in their methods of trying to convince us to support something we don’t need. It’s quite obvious that only them and their close buddies will reep the benefits of the port. CIG are a bunch of yes men slowly selling our country to the highest bidder, we will soon be some “rascals” that are strangers in our own country if some aren’t experiencing this already!

    VOTE NO!!!

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  29. Rascal #1 says:

    I would rather be called a rascal than a corrupt shady dishonest tyrant that sold out Cayman and is the ultimate muppet.

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  30. Cheese Face says:

    Well if Mac thinks it’s a good idea it must be! Bring me another cocktail waitress, I would like to teach you about my culture……Oh, and use dis credit card ere, its totally legit, honestly.

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  31. Anonymous says:

    Maybe it’s time to make our politicians retire at 60? As he gets older (and I’m older than he is) he seems to spout more and more mindless garbage.

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    • Anonymous says:

      He’s actually been consistently divisive since early 90’s when he led a campaign of BOTs to defy UK and bring back public hangings. He repeatedly demonstrates no change in mindset whatsoever: no schooling, no candor, no class.

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  32. Anonymous says:

    The wig: does each Speaker get a new, fresh wig? Or is this the same one Ms. Mary wore?

    Mackeeva looks like a Muppet from The Muppet Show here… “Rascal” the Speaker of the House…. BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

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  33. Anonymous says:

    Mac is the one voice of reason the truly gets to the needs of his constituents.

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    • Say Wa says:

      Truly if the Hon Premier don’t ask the Speaker to quell his unbridled unorthodox and yes seemingly ignorant of the facts palaver, there will be no other option but to seek his removal via written petition to Her RoyalHighness throughtheOffice of the Governor.

      For a sophisticated territory such as the Cayman Islands that loudly boasts of its international standing in the Financial and Judicial world, and yet countenance the likes of the Current Speaker of the House is nothing short of the highest degree of buffoonery in the annals of Parliamentary history.

      I do declare this day as a National day of reflection on the need to remove this Speaker of the House from the position forthwith.

      Oh no Busha i na going to engage you in no back and forth it would be like committing treason to the Cayman Islands. Stop embarrassing ya country gooooooo long and stay far ya hear! Youse have to go.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Mac is one of many truly incoherent fools who say whatever is in their own best interests.

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  34. Anonymous says:

    Only one scallywag in this equation. Can somebody load solitaire back on his government-issued PC?

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  35. Anonymous says:

    So if we are Rascals what does that make him? I think some other posters summed that up quite well already. Please for the love of these once great, idyllic islands don’t vote for this buffoon in 2021.

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  36. Anonymous says:

    Wow. How did this guy get a job like that???

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    • Anonymous says:

      We put him there thats why

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      • Jotnar says:

        We didn’t. Alden did. Mac got into the LA because 605 people of WB West put him there. Alden did a private deal with Mac to stop him aligning with the independents in forming an opposition. Political expediency – nothing to do with his suitability for the supposedly neutral and statesman like role of Speaker.

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      • Anonymous says:

        sadly, it is because ‘idjuts’ voted him into the House

    • Anonymous says:

      9:45, Because we in West Bay and Caymanians generally, are a politically stupid people.

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  37. Anonymous says:

    The trifecta of Mckeewa Moses and Alden have turned the ppm into the new udp.

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  38. ppm Distress Signal says:

    The only thing worse than McKeeva in Cayman politics is Alden as Premier

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  39. Anonymous says:

    Well we know he cannot be trusted. Big Mac just gave the port project the kiss of death

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  40. Ambassador of Absurdistan says:

    Just Another Day in Absurdistan

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  41. Anonymous says:

    The Speaker is a disgrace and does not understand the definition of impartiality. He should just hush and stay off social media.

    The Speaker and the Premier are killing the port every time they open their mouths. Cayman needs to vote all these dinosaurs out of office including yes men selling out Cayman

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  42. VOTE NO says:

    If McKeeva Bush and Alden McLaughlin can support the dock project without providing all facts to the public that is good enough reason for the rest of us to VOTE NO

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  43. Anonymous says:

    caymanians elect this type of buffoon….you deserve what you get.
    and to think that the most successful and most educated in our society are prevented from running for office……zzzzzzzzzzz.
    welcome to wonderland.

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    • Anonymous says:

      Speaks magnitudes that our wise speaker, and former premier doesn’t even know or care that most of the harbour is indeed marine park.

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    • Anonymous says:

      That’s how it was when they showed up here. We couldn’t go run your country.

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    • Not me says:

      And Americans elected Trump……so what. Not all Caymanians voted for the idiots in the house presently.

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  44. Anonymous says:

    Maybe we can get a few ships to overnight and open their casinos and give Mac the government credit card to gamble with again and then he will be happy.!!

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  45. Anonymous says:

    I honestly hope that this is Bush’s and Alden’s last terms.

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  46. Anonymous says:

    Rascal, red herring sounds like the unity government. ..

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    • Anonymous says:

      Well he likes to call other people liars and out there supporting the other buffoon called Arden for Premier after promises of him keeping the position of Speaker.

      Then also planning to run Rolston against Bernie…

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  47. Anonymous says:

    This is the only time in history that i have agreed with Bush.

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  48. Anonymous says:

    Need to throw this bush away for good.

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  49. Anonymous says:

    As always every utterance out of his mouth is an embarrassment to these islands, to our people and surely must have people wondering exactly why we let a man who couldn’t even finish highschool become Premier and the now chair of the legislature

    The only thing worse than having him incessantly flap his jaws here, is constantly sending him overseas to embarrass us abroad
    The only good thing about the man becoming speaker is that he was meant to do all his speaking in the LA and be quiet everywhere else, but the clown can’t even get that right

    I’m ready for West Bay to secede at this point, you lot can keep that foolishness in house,
    The rest of us have sense the CDP couldn’t find their way to electoral success out outside of west bay with two hands and a map

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  50. Anonymous says:

    I.d.i.o.t.

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