Deconstructing Jack... (well, his latest diatribe anyway)

I have been resisting the urge to write on the state of governance and politics for two reasons:

1) others of note are finally doing it and 2) I have no interest in whipping a dead horse.

Like many others who have a love of country outside of Party Politics, I am presently involved in finding ways and means to improve the standard of living for all our citizens from the ground up; there is much good work taking place, and we hope to involve the entire population in the discussion very soon using town hall meetings and other mechanisms for direct feedback and sharing.

As a writer and a political commentator however, I am bound to speak up on matters that deserve public input, and from time to time may return to this forum to accomplish that conversation.

That said, I received this excellent example of why little children should not play with matches and I thought not only would i pass it on, i would deconstruct it so as to help other navigate through the waist high manure that this release is made of.

Please feel free to offer your own opinion on it:

MEDIA STATEMENT

OPPOSITION CREDIBILITY HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE

February 12th 2011: The eternal ranting of the Leader of the Opposition on issues surrounding the Strategic Services Agency in the face of a more than reasonable explanation from the nation's Prime Minister, points to a Leader fighting against the tide and clinging on to political wind for survival.

Jack demonstrates a loose grip on reality here, and I would like to seriously suggest that he gets checked to see if he is still mentally capable. No one in the nation outside of the yellow tee shirt crew are satisfied with the Party's explanations on Resmi-gate, and the people are demanding answers; answers to questions like who was responsible for the appointment of this child to this most sensitive of posts and why, who encouraged Ministers to lie and why, and who is going to be relieved of their posts because of it. 

The matter HAS NOT been laid to rest and the people of this country deserve to know who and what was behind this entire affair.

At a time when the country breathes a sigh of relief to serious crime, a major dent to unemployment, rapid relief to traffic congestion without rapid rail and social services delivery at its very best, the Opposition Leader struggles to find form as a batsman and is on a series of "political ducks".

In a blatant attempt to fool those who will no longer be fooled, Jack pulls out his tired shell game to rally his troops with non-speak, troops who must be wondering who will hire them when this fiasco finally ends, now that they have demonstrated an inability to tell fact from fiction.

Last time I checked the nation was at war with itself, and everyone who knows how to strike is striking. Having made the world of promises on the hustings, the Administration finds that not only can it NOT keep its promises, but that people are not willing to be handled by double speak and fancy footwork any longer.

Leading the Party that he does, I am very surprised that he has the stones to dismiss any other political institution, and were the COP members to finally read the writing on the wall and do the right thing and leave this unholy union, the nation would be left with a Government of Jack Warner, Tim Gopeesingh, Suruj Rambachan and friends. 

In the last nine months Dr. Rowley in his role as Opposition Leader has displayed an unfortunate tendency to depart from the much respected principles which he advocated as a Government back bencher.

This statement is laugh out loud funny, but I will leave it up to the PNM supporters to deal with.

It was Rowley who in his previous political incarnation had “whistle-blowed' on Calder Hart and Udecott. It was Rowley who as captain of his own ship promised the court martial against the proponents of corruption and mismanagement. That Rowley is no more.

All he is doing here is making Dr. Rowley look like a man of integrity, a man who would give up Cabinet salary and Government perks to sit on a back bench for principle.

Jack, who is at war with integrity and ethics on a global scale, will never understand that choice.

The Rowley of today shovels into political sand, finds nothing of value to combat Government's performance and so chooses to be as politically repetitious as a stuck gramophone record. Saying one thing one day and doing another is contradiction at its best and consummate political schizophrenia.

This may very well be an insight into a diagnosis Jack may himself have received from one professional or another, and I wonder if even his tired spin doctors have already abandoned him to his own devices. His duplicity qualifies him for superhero status, and his ability to lie through both sides of his face is a talent that ought to be studied by people in white coats.

He continues to betray the ideals of the role and function of an opposition party in a civilised democracy. The Westminster/Whitehall model of politics to which Trinidad and Tobago subscribes is founded on a well-established principle that the role of the Opposition is to act as a second arm of the State and to effectively perform its functions as if it were the alternative Government.

If i was standing next to him I would hit him two hurry tap for having the audacity to refer to Westminster, when his very presence in  the House of Representatives is an insult to the practices and conventions of good governance.

He must really think that we do not see him for who he is, international icon of corruption and a modern day Ali Baba that he is.

An Alternative Government, as was the UNC nine months ago, exists not merely to oppose but to propose. In nine months however, the Opposition PNM has offered little proposals for nation building. The PNM's political bankruptcy and ineptitude as an Opposition can only be compared to its own incompetence when it had control of the economy.

Is he really asking the Opposition Leader for advice here?

What sort of loony town have we arrived at?

The People's Partnership remains unfazed however by this diatribe. We are satisfied that our accomplishments in nine months have measured with our own expectations. We are satisfied that we have created hope patriotism and inspiration to a nation that was depressed and dispirited.

What he meant to say was: As a Government the People's Partnership is now the fastest failure in our nation's history. Our distractions, deflections, misdirections and outright lies have finally come home to roost and the people are ready to take to the streets to rid themselves of this insult to governance. We have united the people against us.

That reality for a better "Trin-bago" sits on the horizon, not to be challenged by an Opposition party in political decay and fighting for its own survival.

Hmmm. There is much truth in this last statement, and as soon as we can have this UNC Party removed from Governance and hopefully from the politics of our country is the sooner we can return to finding the right model of Governance for our people.

The conversation ought not to end simply because we fire Jack and his pick up side, but we need to engage all of the society, every sector regardless of division and to find the working model that best provides for all. We must not allow ourselves to continue down the road of reactionary politics and must now seek to learn and grow from this failed experiment.

Respectfully,

Jack Warner

Chairman

United National Congress

Is his name really Jack? 

Even at the very end he lies, with a made up name and in using the word respectfully to close a document that disrespects decency.

Look, to me the most interesting thing to note here is that Jack is no longer relying on his puppet Prime Minister to speak on behalf of his Party and is handling business for his investment himself.

This could only mean that he finally understands that the people (aside from the Jonestown-esque rabid UNC followers) are fed up of him and his two bit side show and are desperately looking to others for change.

His tired response here is to attack Dr. Rowley, whose fortunes appear to be rising as some sort of counter balance to the utter madness emanating from the corridors of Government, and who may very well be indebted to Jack for carving him a space to political ascendancy.

To the people this is all refreshing developments, and maybe we wont have to wait too much longer for him to accede to public opinion, pack up his band of incompetents and clowns and walk like an Egyptian.

Or as many are saying, hit the road Jack....