Jackassness...

Bullying & Abuse of Position, Scare Tactics & Legal Terrorism, Gangsterism, Attempted Legal Rape & Thuggery.

I have been unsuccessful at trying to find the right words to describe the reported action taken by Austin Jack Warner against Sasha Mohammed, a fellow journalist at work diligently exposing rot and passing on legitimate news as is the purpose of and reason for her very profession.

In a broadcast on August 26, 2010 on the 7pm newscast on TV 6,  Warner's lawyers say she repeated allegations of impropriety by him (Warner) in his capacity as Vice President of FIFA, the world football authority. 

Possibly frustrated that he will never be able to completely eradicate allegations of his shenanigans no matter how diligently his team of legal contortionists work, he is attacking what he perceives to be a weak link in the hope of scaring others away indefinitely. It is said that you should never try to put a dress on a pig as everyone gets dirty and it upsets the pig. It is my belief that the hardest working people in Trinidad have to be Warner's lawyers, because it is their job to keep the proverbial pig dressed, or at least to try to keep the mud from flying all the time.

In the Pre-Action Protocol letter, the lawyers contend that Mohammed made allegations against Warner that "are defamatory, false and malicious and constitute a serious slur upon his character and his reputation both in his personal and his professional capacities."

Is this for real?

There is no way to hang the blame for the public's view that he may well be a corrupt, thieving, unethical bastard around the neck of this reporter, nor could it be fair to assume that the story itself contained anything new other than the players involved, the location, and the terms of this new accusation of bribery.

Haven't we heard this before?

One just has to Google the name Austin Jack Warner to be inundated with stories complete with video of this paragon of virtue hurling expletives and, in one case disrespecting a jounalist's mother because he was pursuing a story of alleged bid rigging and bribery. There are literally reams of allegations of bribery and sale of favors at all levels across the globe available at a click, twenty four hours a day. Why not sue them all?

How silly an enterprise to attempt to stop a story already around the world and on the Internet, this folly demonstrating new equations that even Newton could not have envisaged when he happened upon the realization that all things occur in an order, and for that to remain true, rules must apply.

Poppycock and Brouhaha.

In any other world where convention, tradition, respect and ethics applied, there is a very good chance that Mr. Warner would never have survived the scrutiny required for the position he now holds in our Government, and his appointment would probably have been quashed by men and women of integrity whose job it is to protect the citizenry from suspected bagmen and snake-oil salesmen. There is a reason for a standard at that level, to allow for the best in men to lead.

Is it possible for enough money to be thrown at a reputation so foul a book was allowed to be published on it? 

Personally, I don't think that much money exists, but I could be wrong. Why not sue the publishers Jack? 

Perhaps it is true what they say, that the greatest trick the devil ever played was to make the world believe he didn't exist. If Jack is lucky, his lawyers may yet sell us on this concept, or greater still, create the illusion that everything ever said about him has all been fabricated completely out of thin air. There are men warming benches in day glow orange all over the world who have done far less than he has been alleged to have done who are in awe of his capacity to deflect and conceal, and who wonder as to how exactly he is still roaming free.

The Founding Fathers of our land knew well the importance of a free media to protect the population from the desperate acts of strong men bent on their own perversions, and enshrined such freedom into the Constitution and guaranteed it as a right for all time.

By this frivolous lawsuit, Jack Warner is attempting to stifle freedom of the press and muffle free speech in one swoop, and we the guardians of the wall of Democracy must repel him with every ounce of strength we possess.

I call on the Media Association of Trinidad & Tobago (MATT) to rally in support Ms Sasha Mohammed and to make her defense front page news. I call on every media practitioner whether established or new, to stand in solidarity with a fellow journalist guilty only of practising her profession.

This attack against the entire media under the guise of due process must never be allowed to prosper, and we are morally bound to stand together now if freedom of the press is to mean anything in this land.