Never underestimate daytime TV and social networking. After putting Whitey Bulger near the top of their Most Wanted list for 16 years, the FBI just learned what Oprah has known all along: prime time is over rated. It only took the FBI’s innovative campaign, which included airing PSA’s during shows such as Dr. Oz and The View, a little over a week to generate a tip, set up the arrest, and bring Whitey Bulger in.
Bulger and his girlfriend, Catherine Elizabeth Grieg, were arrested in Santa Monica, California after the FBI received a tip from someone who recognized Grieg from the FBI video that ran on afternoon TV. According to neighbors of the fugitive couple, Grieg was a “lovely person” and Bulger was “nasty.” With at least 19 murders under his belt and 30 years of controlling organized crime in Boston, “nasty” doesn’t even come close. Check out Jack Nicholson’s character, Frank Costello, in The Departed for Scorcese’s twist on Bulger’s story, and you’ll have an idea of the sort of big bad we’re talking about. And, now, he’s off the street.
So, next time someone gives you a hard time for surfing the internet or watching too much TV during the day, just remind that that you and your kin inspired the Arab Spring and brought down Whitey Bulger in two weeks flat. So there. What did they accomplish this year?
