JAL 24 August 2013 Nice Radio’s Callaloo presents, Just Another Look. Just Another Look is an innovative, exciting, albeit decidedly provocative and controversial, socio-political analysis of issues of a local, regional and international nature. Just Another Look is heard only on Nice Radio on Saturdays at 6.00pm, with repeat broadcasts at 9.00pm on Sundays. Remember too that you can also catch us on the worldwide web, niceradio.info. You can check our JAL blog - vincyview I am, of course, Keith Joseph Introduction Today is Saturday 24 August 2013. Welcome, welcome, welcome to another edition of Just Another Look. Parliamentary Mess! In the recent past there has been much focus again on the Parliament we have here. As has happened so often in the past the central issue has been on the Parliamentary Representative for West Kingstown, Daniel Cummings. Just Another Look has addressed this matter before and will do so here again if only because of the idiocy that emerged in the Parliament on yet another occasion. It is extremely difficult to believe that in the 21st century a chair that is critical to the well being of an elected member of the nation’s Parliament – the legislative arm of government – could cause so much discussion. Perhaps in the melee that emerges every time the matter of the chair for Daniel Cummings comes up we forget that he is an elected member of Parliament and not some fly-by-night individual who is the beneficiary of someone else’s political largesse. Recognition and Respect Perhaps if we had more respect for the elected representatives of the people there would have been less of a melee in the first place. What is the respect due a member of Parliament? What is the respect due someone who has earned his/her place in Parliament by virtue of having swept the polls in his/her particular constituency? In a previous edition of Just Another Look when we addressed the matter of the chair for Daniel Cummings we reviewed the circumstances that led to his injury in the first place. We need remind ourselves that his injury stemmed from the treatment meted out to him in the hallowed halls of our nation’s Parliament. There was no attempted coup d’etat. There was no attempt to militarily overthrow the government of this country. There was no act of treason committed by the Opposition NDP members of Parliament. Yet the response of the security forces of this country to peaceful protest by Opposition Parliamentarians was akin to what we have come to associate with some of the most brutish regimes anywhere in the world. Just Another Look insists therefore that it was all a matter of chronic failure to recognise the Parliamentarians as representatives of the people. It was a case of crass disrespect for the Parliamentarians It is understandable that given the political divisiveness of the country at present the minions in support of the ruling regime announced in no uncertain terms their support for the actions of our security forces by their silence. There was no dissent from the side of the government in Parliament in respect of the failure to appropriately recognise the Opposition Parliamentarians as the legitimate representatives of the people who elected them to office. One wonders whether the members of Parliament on the government side were gloating at the way in which the Opposition members were treated by our security forces. One wonders too whether the security personnel who led the charge against the Opposition parliamentarians ever gave thought to the fact that one day, while they are still members of the local constabulary, the current Opposition members could be in government. What would they do then? To this day the Minister of National Security has not apologised to the Opposition members who were so shabbily treated in the halls of our Parliament by the security forces. Does this mean that the Minister of National Security approved of their conduct? Who ordered the forces to dole out the kind of brutal treatment that led to the injury to Daniel Cummings? Who on the government side saw the heavy door being slammed time and again on Cummings’ foot and said nothing? How do you sleep at night? Do you not have images of Cummings’ foot being slammed time and again by that heavy door? Do you not have nightmares about the possibility that his foot could have been irreparably damaged? Have the rats so eaten your consciences that you feel nothing, absolutely nothing after seeing what was being done to an elected representative of the people? Chair So the doctors indicated that Cummings needed a chair because of the damage done to his back in the fracas that took place in the House of Assembly. That became an issue. One wonders what it is about being in a position of power that allows our people to become so confused. Is it confusion? We are here referring to the conduct of the Speaker of the House in respect of the matter of the chair for Cummings. Where is the natural justice? Did it ever occur to the Speaker of the House to inquire as to whether Cummings or any member of the Opposition received injuries resulting from what transpired in the House on that fateful day? Or was it that the Speaker and members on the government side considered the actions of the security forces a deserved response to the quiet protest of the members of the Opposition? After all, the whole episode stemmed from Arnhim Eustace’s refusal to take his seat after being ordered to do so. Eustace said nothing. He simply stood there in defiance. The other members of the Opposition simply endorsed the action of their leader and likewise refused to take their seats. The response was exposure to the wrath of the security forces. One can only hazard a guess that given the poor performance record of the security forces in the fight against crime the Opposition members, standing in defiance in the House of Assembly, simply standing in defiance, were easy prey on whom they could unleash their venom. The progressives of the Black Power era; the progressives of the socialist era, all stilled their tongues. They are now so committed to feeding off the trough of political patronage offered by the ruling regime that they dare not speak ill of that regime. They stayed quiet, and in the process, unwittingly, condoned the actions of our security forces. Shame on you! Shame on you! That it took several months of pleading for Cummings to get permission to have his own chair, based on medical recommendations, is a sad indictment on all of those in Parliament who stayed silent in this matter. The length of time it took for permission to be granted is a reflection of the lack of compassion amongst the members from the very highest level of Parliament. A chair that would benefit the health of an elected representative of the people of West Kingstown, exposed the true nature of those who lead us. There is no compassion. How then could we expect compassion from these people in the face of the decline of the Vincentian economy? How could we expect compassion from the ruling regime in respect of the increasing state of unemployment and underemployment in St Vincent and the Grenadines today? How could we expect compassion from the ruling regime in respect of the state of our health care system? Cummings’ constituents eventually assisted in the procurement of the medically approved chair. After months of begging for a chair for health reasons he had to get his own chair. We could waste resources on a wide range of projects but we could not find in our consciences the compassion to approve funding for a medically approved chair for an elected representative of the people. Remember that we are supposed to be in the era of Together Now, that farcical concept that has never really materialised under the new dispensation. What is unacceptable is the refusal by so many of our people to see things for what they really are. One can understand the tendency on the part of some who are so committed to the political gravy train that they have no choice but to sing for their supper. They can be forgiven. What is unacceptable however is those who know better; those who once walked the streets of this country claiming the title of progressive; those who once encouraged the nation’s youths to join them in the struggle; those who cannot now define the concept of struggle. Cummings finally gets his chair and then he has another problem. The problem is getting permission to bring it in the House. The response of the Speaker was to be expected if only because it is consistent with his conduct since taking the Chair. But was it the best thing to do? What would it have taken to allow for the chair to be brought in to the House? In the realm of politics we are so very petty. So, the Speaker has power in the House. He has none anywhere else in St Vincent and the Grenadines expect perhaps at his home. Just Another Look wishes to suggest that the entire episode in respect of the Cummings Affair starts and ends with the Speaker of the House and the exercise of power. There is nothing else to this. Good sense and sound leadership would have yielded to allow consideration to be given to intervention once one saw the conduct of the security forces in the House. Good sense and natural justice would have demanded readily putting a stop to the conduct of the security forces. Good sense and prudence would have suggested consideration of investigating whether or not anyone was injured as a result of the conduct of the security forces in Parliament on that fateful day and the extent of such injuries. Good sense and a sense of understanding would have compelled an apology to the members of the Opposition who were the object of the conduct of the security forces in the halls of Parliament. Good sense and some measure of respect for the office held by Daniel Cummings as an elected representative of the people would have necessitated a ready indulgence of the medical recommendation for a chair to positively impact his health while in the halls of Parliament. That same good sense and a measure of empathy would have yielded a certain eagerness to facilitate the provision of the chair at the earliest opportunity. Instead, Vincentians were treated to a display of power. What we saw was the transient power of an individual over another. So we get the opportunity to have the minions of the ruling regime engage in the political diatribe from which they cannot now extricate themselves. We laugh to scorn and play politics with the life of a human being in the halls of Parliament. But this should not in any way surprise us given that this is the same institution that featured the display of force by our security forces against a quiet protest against what was perceived by the protagonists of the protest as political bias. The minions who sat, watched and laughed are as guilty as those who did the damage to the elected representatives. Those who did nothing, who said nothing, are as guilty as those who perpetrated the dastardly act in the halls of our Parliament. He who issued the order bears it all. God will be the judge. Religion No one on the government side, whether Christian or otherwise, even lifted a finger by way of condemnation of the response of the security forces at the time, given the manner in which their disrespected the Opposition Parliamentarians whom pushed and flung down the stairs etc. Interestingly, the powerful religious pundits who take to our local media so often, remained deafeningly silent in the face of the treatment of the Parliamentarians. It is remarkable that our religious leaders have conveniently committed themselves to the Silence of the Lambs where the conduct of the security forces are concerned. In a very real sense therefore our religious leaders have abandoned their commitment to the fundamentals of their faith. He who stands idly by in silence as they ill-treat even the smallest or poorest among us is as guilty as he/she who engages in the act of ill-treatment. The upholder is as guilty as the criminal. Whatever has infected Vincentian society over the past decade or so that has catapulted us into this social and political malaise has certainly negatively impacted our religious leaders, leaving them decidedly politically myopic. One would never have expected that our religious leaders would have remained quiet in the face of what transpired with the Opposition members in the House of Assembly some time ago. Perhaps they were confused. Perhaps too many of our religious leaders choose to lie beside the text that all authority comes from God, failing however to understand that Christ reminded the leaders of the Jews that they possessed no real authority over Him. He epitomised righteousness. Our religious leaders in St Vincent and the Grenadines have, for the most part, seemingly lost sight of their mandate. It may well be that they had a different text when they looked at the scroll that Jesus read from in the Synagogue. We can therefore conclude that like our political leaders and like the government members in the House of Assembly many our religious leaders failed to recognise the Opposition Parliamentarians as legitimate representatives of the electorate and so they too have committed to disrespecting them. It has become fashionable over the past several years for the government’s leadership to chastise those who dare criticise our religious leaders. But that is to be expected since there now seems an all-too-sudden leap of faith impacting so many of them that they are almost more religious than the religious leaders they so readily seek to defend. It is not possible to defend the indefensible. The unfortunate reality is that too many of our religious leaders today have fallen prey to mammon. They seek the earthly glory about which they have been warned. In their anxiety to please the ruling regime they turn a blind eye to what obtains around us all, pretending not to see and hence justify their failure to speak out in strong condemnation. The eagerness of the current political leadership to try to condemn those who chastise the religious leaders is merely another ruse to deceive the Vincentian masses. In a sense, much of what the ruling regime does in this regard relates to their own conviction that most of us are indeed of the lowest common denominator, unschooled and untutored and possessive of a sort of learned helplessness. Cummings Daniel Cummings now has his chair. Just Another Look says simply, take your seat with pride. it is important that Cummings and the NDP not allow themselves to fall victim to the strategy of those who rule roughshod over us at present. Their rule is as those of the colonial powers and the slave masters they encouraged, only transient. It is important that Cummings and his colleagues stay focused. At all cost avoid falling prey to the Politics of Distraction. Trust the people of this country and continue to work for the benefit of those who elected you and who you are committed to represent in Parliament. Continue to work for the masses of this country and expose the lies and deceit as they emerge. The current ruling regime cannot fool all of the people all of the time. They are aware that they are a spent force. The latest strategy is to give the masses the impression that they are retooling and making way for another generation. The truth is that they are merely replacing one set of minions by another. There is nothing new that emerges from the party if only because Papa rules with an iron fist and Papa’s word is law. Vincentians require continued analysis of what is taking place around them and Cummings and his colleagues are to be dispensers of this information. Stay the distance and keep on course. J8 VAX Today the 24th day of August 2013, marks 2,493 days since the disappearance of SVG Air J8 VAX, if we are actually checking the day the plane disappeared on Sunday 19 November 2006 with pilot Dominic Gonsalves and one passenger, Rasheed Ibrahim. J8 SXY Today 24th day of August 2013, marks 1,181 days since the disappearance of another SVG Air aircraft, J8 SXY, a Cessna 402. Just so you would remember, this aircraft left St Vincent in the evening of Thursday 5 August 2010 bound for Canouan. Like J8 VAX, the aircraft never reached its destination. It never completed its mercy mission. The plane disappeared and as yet no word has been received in respect of the lone occupant, the pilot, Suresh Lakram. The sad case of Patricia Bowman Just Another Look wishes to leave our listeners with the sad reminder that on 19 September 2012, the husband of Patricia Bowman, Alban Bowman, will sit in sad, quite reflection on the fourth anniversary of the cruel death of his wife. She died a cruel death on 19 September 2008. Who cares? Where is justice in this matter? Nuff said!!! You have been listening to another edition of Nice Radio’s Callaloo presentation, Just Another Look. Just Another Look is an innovative, exciting, albeit decidedly provocative and controversial, socio-political analysis of issues of a local, regional and international nature. Just Another Look is heard only on Nice Radio on Saturdays at 6.00pm, with repeat broadcasts at 9.00pm on Sundays. Remember too that you can also catch us on the worldwide web, niceradio.info. You can check our JAL blog - vincyview I am, of course, Keith Joseph
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 10:05:55 +0000
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